Financial critic responds to hospital comments
I would like to point out a misrepresentation by Sharon Nevins, Sonoma Valley Hospital Board President, in her counterpoint to my Letter to the Editor on April 30. She stated, “Current accounts payable is under 55 days…” Coincidentally, I had put in a Request for Public Records on April 21 asking for an update on money owed to vendors. I picked up the information from the Controller on May 1, the day after the letter appeared in the Sun and it states that currently the hospital has $1,290,000 in accounts payable that is 60 days or more overdue. Her statement has misled the public into thinking the hospital has the money to pay its bills.
It seems that the Board/Administration’s new mantra to the almost $13 million in loans that the hospital owes is that “the debt level is within the normal range for a hospital of our size”. I have also seen quotes from the CEO saying that in the past five years the hospital has been “paying down debt”. That statement is also very misleading as I have been told that hospital had less than $1 million in loans when Kelly Mather was hired.
It saddens me when the hospital goes deeper and deeper into debt (much of which is borrowed in order to pay vendors) and yet the Board and Administration brushes it off as “normal”. Sharon Nevins’ statement that “all hospital expenses, including executive charges are audited annually and have been found in compliance with hospital polices and mandated rules” is a white wash. Why does the Board not require the CEO to turn in itemized receipts for the many lunches and dinners with friends, parties, Disneyland conferences, etc? And why do they condone such extravagant spending when vendors are not paid on time?
If the Board “values the community’s trust and are completely transparent”, why do they not want the District residents to know about the website www.svhtransparency.com? The documents received from the hospital in response to Requests for Public Records are posted on this website and I think the Board would want the public to have access and decide for themselves whether the CEO credit card charges, the top executive salaries, amount of debt, etc are “normal”.
I believe that unnecessary spending should be stopped until the nearly $13 million dollars in loans have been paid off and vendors are consistently paid on time.
Brian Johnson
Boyes Hot Springs
One thought on “Financial critic responds to hospital comments”
Comments are closed.
Check out the above mentioned wed site people—-!
Is this how you want your parcel tax dollars spent? What are our board members doing? And, why did the board renew the CEO’s contract early this year 2015, in January instead of June for another 3 years?