Dear Editor,
I am writing this in response to the news article relative to the hospital. It comes as no surprise that the hospital is loosing money. It has been for a few years. What surprised me the most in the article was a statement by Kevin Vickerman that with due diligence and a sharp eye they can bring it back. If this is the case why has it taken so long for them to do it? In my opinion, this board, has mismanaged the hospital for many years. Did you know that under the management of this board the hospital lost 642,836.00 dollars in 2018 and 633,550.00 in 2017. I am sure if I go back a few more years the numbers will be similar. I am extremely confident that had the interim CEO, Michael Ladevich not been hired that by the end of this year the hospital would be completely out of funds and would be up for sale. He has come in and identified problems and is moving in the right direction, whether or not there is still time to save the hospital remains to be seen.
The board is the entity that is responsible for the operation of the hospital. In the bylaws for the Murray County Medial Center it states in Article III Section 3.1 that the business and affairs of the Murray County Medical Center shall be managed by and under the direction of its board of directors.
The Murray County Medial Center does have a management agreement with Sanford Health Network. Article IV of that agreement states that Murray County through its hospital board, shall at all times exercise ultimate control over the affairs of the facilities. In this agreement under article V section B item 10 it states: Fiscal Service: Support for the facilities’ fiscal service staff regarding budgeting, auditing and financial management, investment, reimbursements and collection, and policies and procedures will be coordinated/provided by Sanford Health Network Vice President of Finance including review and consultation for Sanford Health Network fiscal service staff including the Senior Vice President of Finance.
A while back I filed a Freedom of Information request with the Murray County Medial Center for all data from past CEO’s of Murray County Medial Center to Sanford Health Network. I did this to see if the past CEO’s had made any attempt to correct the financial situation at Murray County Medical Center by making use of services offered by Sanford Health Network. A search of the records revealed that there was no documentation of such communications.
In my opinion, these are a few factors that come into play with the hospital operations.
1. The board has not held Sanford Health Network accountable to the provisions of the management agreement and the board has not taken advantage of the assistance available to them through Sanford Health Network.
1. Sanford Health Network has not lived up to the requirements of the management agreement. I believe that Sanford Health Network has purposely mismanaged this hospital with the plan to purchase it and they are as responsible for the hospital being in this financial situation as is the board.
1. The Murray County Commissioners have failed to properly over see the financial problems of the Murray County Medical Center. Even though the board is ultimately responsible the commissioners have an obligation to the tax payers to review the actions of the board and take any actions it deems necessary to change the situation.
I believe the only due diligence the hospital board has done is to consistently mismanage the hospital. It would only be prudent if all the hospital board members resigned immediately so a new board could be appointed who will have a deep desire to see the hospital succeed.
I would like to urge all the citizens of Murray County to call their commissioner and voice your concerns. There are other management companies out there besides the Sanford Health Network. If the situation does not change we the citizens of Murray county will be driving 30 miles or more for our medical needs, that may be too far in an emergency situation. We have a great facility and an even greater staff of dedicated employees, show your support for them, call your commissioner, tell them we need a new hospital board! The bylaws for the Murray County Medical Center state that the County Commissioners can replace any and all board members with a 4/5 vote of the commissioners.
Gerald (Jerry) McCord
