| Don Sevrens, San Diego Union-Tribune editor |
U-T Editorial: Code blue, Tri-City
Hospital's board split puts its future at risk
Editorial by Don Sevrens
San Diego Union Tribune
January 7, 2009
In what should be categorized as a coup d'etat,
four of seven directors of the public hospital
district met on 24 hours' notice Dec. 18. They put
the hospital's top administrator and seven
department heads on paid administrative leave.
They cashiered the district's legal counsel. They
hired an accountant with no hospital experience
to both conduct a forensic investigation of past
practices and serve as interim chief executive of
a major hospital that has the county's second-
busiest emergency room.
The board majority – veterans RoseMarie Reno
and Kathleen Sterling, and new directors George
Coulter and Charlene Anderson – used the short
notice to prevent three minority members from
participating. Complex issues were resolved in an
hour.
This week a special board meeting was called to
address Brown Act, or open meetings law,
violations alleged not just by the public and news
media, but by directors Larry Schallock, Ronald
Mitchell and Dr. Madeline Rodriguez, and by
Leslie Devaney, legal counsel for the eight
administrators on leave.
To date, the public has no understanding of
what is happening or what is being
investigated.
Is potential fraud or incredible
incompetence the issue, or is it just petty
political pay-backs?
Procedurally, the latest meeting was a farce.
Various agenda drafts had different numbers so
no one was sure of what was being discussed.
Some board members received backup material,
some apparently did not. The public never saw it.
Directors even debated whether the public, who
are the owners of the hospital, should be allowed
to speak at all. They turned public comment into
board/citizen debates and attempted to intimidate
speakers by asking where they were employed.
Board Chair Reno told audience members that if
they were hospital employees on the clock they
were in violation of state law and should leave.
Vice Chair Sterling tried to silence the hospital's
medical chief of staff...
Education Reform Report
| Stutz Defamation Suit |
| More Lawyers |
| Public Entity Lawyers |
| Daniel Shinoff; Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz |
| Don Sevrens says he did not call ahead to Tri-City Healthcare to ask for a media packet. Mr. Sevrens says he was in the back of the room during the meeting he writes about (SDUT reporter Lola Sherman was in the front), but based on what Mr. Sevrens wrote, it almost seems that he wasn't there. Mr. Sevrens says he will write a correction regarding incorrect statements in this editorial. |
| Leslie Devaney's law partner Ray Artiano said he was giving his three minutes to Leslie Devaney. She spoke for about 6 minutes. She said she was speaking as a member of the public, but then she mentioned her client. The board asked who she was representing, and she wouldn't say. |
| Everyone knew what was going on. The final draft had small corrections, but critics were making a mountain out of a molehill. All members were sent a fax. Karen Arant, executive secretary, is meticulous, a perfectionist. She makes sure everyone gets the material. She always prepares meeting materials, precisely lined up, and sets up refreshments. Educated people were out of control. That's what the discussion was about. Everyone can't speak at the same time. |
| Kathleen Sterling, not Reno, said If you are working for the government, you can't be politicking on government time. This was a meeting for the public. |
| The Chief of staff was sitting on the dais. Sterling asked counsel if he can go to the podium and criticize the hospital when he's there representing the hospital. Attorney Julie Biggs said it was okay for him to do so. The real problem was that he spoke for about 7 minutes even though he was limited to 3 minutes as a community member. An even bigger problem was that he was speaking on topics that were not within the agenda item. He was legally entitled to 0 minutes for that. |
| The public has no understanding? Speak for yourself, Mr. Sevrens. What is being investigated is possible financial wrongdoing. The financial records won't show the motives of actions, only the actions themselves. Surely you are not suggesting that the board announce their suspicions as to whether administrators might be dishonest, or just plain stupid? You have a bad habit, Mr. Sevrens, of demanding this sort of opinion from people you are attacking. I remember your making this precise charge against a Chula Vista Elementary School District administrator when I spoke to you about your cover-up of the true story when you wrote ad nauseum about "The Castle Park Five" at Castle Park Elementary. The administrator couldn't legally or ethically tell you his opinion of employees, yet you berated him for not doing so. |
| Maura Larkins' response |
| Don Sevrens editorial on Tri-City hospital meeting |
All this leaves an accountant still trying to do a
forensic investigation and run a major hospital.
All this left directors interviewing potential
replacement chief executives, not knowing how
long the interim would last, whether the
incumbent on leave would return, or what
exactly they were looking for. All this leaves
eight reputations under a cloud and the
district's legal exposure mounting.
How can the situation be turned around? The
board should slow down and become
completely transparent. Majority directors
should quit hiding behind “privacy provisions.” If
they suspect fraud or incompetence, they
should say so. If they want to do a complete
housecleaning, no matter what the severance
costs, they should say so.
MiraCosta College's Palmgate scandal and
ensuing events are an example of what the
tyranny of a board majority can do to an
institution. Tri-City and the taxpayers do not
need that. This board has seven slots, not four
– for a reason. All seven members need to be
heard in order to move the district forward.
forensic investigation and run a major hospital.
All this left directors interviewing potential
replacement chief executives, not knowing how
long the interim would last, whether the
incumbent on leave would return, or what
exactly they were looking for. All this leaves
eight reputations under a cloud and the
district's legal exposure mounting.
How can the situation be turned around? The
board should slow down and become
completely transparent. Majority directors
should quit hiding behind “privacy provisions.” If
they suspect fraud or incompetence, they
should say so. If they want to do a complete
housecleaning, no matter what the severance
costs, they should say so.
MiraCosta College's Palmgate scandal and
ensuing events are an example of what the
tyranny of a board majority can do to an
institution. Tri-City and the taxpayers do not
need that. This board has seven slots, not four
– for a reason. All seven members need to be
heard in order to move the district forward.