What’s going on at our county hospital, formerly known as R. E. Thomason General Hospital, but now called University Medical Center of El Paso?
The hospital district wants us to sell $162 million of bonds that we will pay for (with interest it will be a lot more — twice as much? — I don’t know yet) through our taxes.
This deserves some attention, so I think I will do my part. I went over to their web page to find out more about a recent board of managers meeting (March 12, 2013).
What I found is disturbing:
- The report of the President/CEO was on the consent agenda
- “Review and take appropriate action on financial statements for the El Paso County Hospital District…” was on the consent agenda
- No backup material for items was posted
The board considers consent agenda items as a whole, without discussion. That means that the CEO’s presentation and the financial actions were to be considered without public comment or scrutiny.
Most governing boards ask staff to provide backup material relating to agenda items to the board members before the board meeting. Even the El Paso city council makes those items available to the public through their web site. In my opinion that actually makes city council more transparent than this board.
I guess we can save money on their vision center if they have one. This board meeting had no transparency.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 