When the local hospital Board voted to dissolve themselves, they
did so without looking at options, such as affiliation with Asante
Health System, which operates three hospitals in southern Oregon.
Asante has publicly expressed an interest in our hospital, but to my
knowledge no one on the hospital Board other than me has approached Asante. Now, after intense public criticism of their secrecy, SCH is paying a consulting firm $170,000 to evaluate strategies, including Critical Access. However, Sutter Health controls the study, after refusing outside funding from three charitable foundations. The consulting firm is not permitted to audit the hospital financial records or make any recommendations--they are allowed only to list options for the hospital Board, which already voted to Regionalize SCH.
The most
disturbing aspect of this process is the hospital Board's refusal to
include the public, beginning with their 2011 vote to Regionalize SCH,
cast in a closed Board room at the deliberate exclusion of interested
parties. Hospital Chief of Staff Kevin Caldwell, M.D. objected to the
Board's Regionalization vote, noted that they did not understand the
transfer of ownership, and asked for more time to study the issue.
Nevertheless, the Board voted to Regionalize over his objection. The hospital
Board meeting minutes, hospital financial data, and even the membership
and discussions of the current "steering committee" on the hospital
study, all remain secret.
The hospital
Board has not held a single public forum since their decision 20 months
ago to transfer SCH ownership to Sutter Health. Last month, the
hospital CEO and Board Chair abruptly withdrew from a Town Hall event
they had committed to attend. No observers are permitted to attend
Board meetings. The Board Chair will not allow community letters of
concern to be discussed in the Board room.
Last
week, The Joint Commission, a national accreditation agency which
certifies hospitals, validated physician concerns that the SCH Board had
inappropriately excluded physicians from hospital policies, in
violation of our bylaws. SCH leadership received four Joint Commission
citations for failing to address physician concerns regarding
Regionalization.
SCH is a
locally owned public benefit charity, with a monopoly over local
hospital care and the privilege of tax exemption. Sutter Health, and
the SCH Board, are making decisions which will affect the lives of
41,000 people within the hospital's service area.
Given the level of public concern, is
it not appropriate for Sutter to release the documents the public needs
to understand this issue? Why does Sutter continue to operate behind
closed doors, hold secret meetings, and withhold critical information
this community needs for our long term planning?
I applaud the
County Supervisors for asking Sutter to release this information.
Let's end the secrecy. With Sutter Health's approval, I will make all
the documents available on our website at
www.crescentcityhospital.blogspot.com,
including a link to the audio recording where Sutter Health Regional
President Mike Cohill discusses Sutter's program to outsource jobs, and
confirms that SCH is still a locally owned corporation. Printed
information, and a petition opposing Sutter's plans, are available at my
office on 1200 Marshall St. To receive future newsletters, please send
me an email at
drgjduncan@yahoo.com.
I deeply
appreciate the support from everyone who has joined our effort to stop
Sutter Health, and preserve a locally owned, full service hospital.
No comments:
Post a Comment