elpasospeak

The May 31, 2015 financial report from our county hospital shows them continuing to lose money.

This is our county hospital alone, not considering the children’s hospital.  We have already learned that the children’s hospital loses money every month.

The report shows the total loss for the first eight months ended May 31, 2015 at $3,570.972.

If we project that out for a full twelve months at the same rate they will lose $5,356,458.

Then again they may feel the need to add to this loss by increasing their bonuses.

We deserve better

Brutus

As part of the posturing going on between two dysfunctional organizations, the children’s hospital has claimed in a bankruptcy court filing that it might move to a different location.

Our county judge reacted with this statement according to the Times:

County Judge Veronica Escobar said that if Children’s Hospital was to move, it would break faith with the public.

“They wanted to leave the taxpayers high and dry,” she said in a text message.

Her statement was deliberately misleading.  The taxpayers voted to build a children’s hospital.  They did not vote to give our county hospital an extra $10 million a year from charging rent to the children’s hospital.  The county thus gets both our tax dollars to pay for the bonds and the money from the children’s hospital.  Our county leaders and the county hospital are the ones that have broken faith with the public.

Reality Checker posted this comment the other day:

If you consider that EPCH only occupies four or five floors of the 10-story building that was built with children’s hospital bond money, you begin to realize the level of UMC’s greed. UMC is charge EPCH more than $10,000,000 in annual rent, which works out to about $46 per square foot annually for the 225,000 square feet occupied by EPCH. Compare that to $23 per foot for medical space in Houston.

So UMC built the EPCH building with dollars earmarked for a children’s hospital and is now having EPCH pay for the entire building, despite the fact that EPCH occupies half the building or less. UMC of course doesn’t have to pay rent for the half of the EPCH building that it occupies.

Why is it that both our county officials and the media refuse to dig into the lease rates and service fees UMC has been charging?

Why is the county refusing to share publicly the details of both sides’ offers and counter offers?

Which is better?

High and dry sounds a lot better than getting soaked the way the taxpayers are in this deal.

We deserve better

Brutus

For Immediate Release

DATE: September 29, 2015

El Paso, Texas: El Paso Children’s Hospital issued the following statement today:

This morning, the Board of El Paso Children’s Hospital (EPCH) asked for representatives of UMC and County Commissioners Court to explain the rejection of EPCH’s acceptance of an interim proposal that the parties have been negotiating for nearly two weeks.

EPCH Board Chair Rosemary Castillo reaffirmed that the EPCH board had accepted, UMC’s counter-offer.  “We were only given a couple of hours Monday morning to respond to UMC’s counter proposal.  We gave approval to the terms as explained by UMC’s counsel.  We still don’t know why they think we changed any terms. The interpretation of this last issue was first discussed between counsel last Thursday when UMC surprised us with a totally new term in its counteroffer.”

On Friday, EPCH gave a timely response to UMC’s Thursday offer of an interim agreement with two alternative proposals, including one that would have resolved the litigation completely.  EPCH gave UMC three days to consider and respond to the opportunity to end the litigation.

“We wanted to show them that we are more than willing to drop the litigation if they recognize that the obligations to UMC have to be modified to reflect the market place for the children’s hospital to thrive,” said lead litigation attorney Patricia Tomasco, a partner with Jackson Walker in Austin.  “Despite discussions between counsel all weekend, UMC has yet to even respond to EPCH’s global offer.  Rather, UMC went back to its prior offer delivered on Thursday and then rejected EPCH’s attempt to accept it.”

Tomasco reiterated that. “We offered to talk at 11 p.m. last night and again at 6 a.m. this morning.” EPCH Board Chair Rosemary Castillo expressed frustration with UMC’s and Commissioners Court’s actions. “It certainly looks like they don’t want to settle. We make a global offer and they don’t even respond. We accept their interim proposal and they say ‘no you didn’t!’ It makes no sense.”

El Paso Children’s Hospital is committed to serving the best interests of the critically ill and injured children of our community and surrounding region.

TIMELINE

Thursday, September 24^th

o        UMC adds totally new term to counter-offer:  Children’s gets 45 more days to find a strategic partner, Children’s postpones lawsuit till January

Friday, September 25^th

o        10:00 am – EPCH presents UMC with counter-offer (Plan A and Plan B) to UMC

o        Commissioner’s Court indicates…”want the weekend to review”

o        Escobar says Commissioner’s Court will convene with UMC Board of Managers at 8:30 am Monday in a special session before the Commissioner’s Court regular meeting

Monday, September 28

o        10:00 am  – UMC sends EPCH counter-offer rejecting abated rent, requires approximately $5 million Disproportionate Share payment EPCH expects to receive in December to go to UMC

o        11:00 am – EPCH agrees to terms of counter-offer, says, “Yes” to concessions.

o        12:00 noon – UMC Board of Managers and Commissioner’s Court respond rejecting EPCH plan which includes EPCH’s agreement to concessions requested two hours earlier.

Tuesday, September 29

o        Emergency hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Austin.  UMC will ask Mott to allow UMC to submit its own plan and end EPCH exclusivity.

Monday, October 22

o        Trial set to determine whether the Children’s hospital has been overcharged for rent and/or services by UMC.

A helpful reader sent us a copy of our county hospital’s May 2015 financial report.

The report is fascinating in what it does not disclose.  Nowhere in their listing of assets does the report show the $100 million or so that they claim they are owed by the children’s hospital.  It also does not show the income that they say they are owed from the children’s hospital every month nor does it show any bad debt reserve or expense.

In other words their balance sheet and income statement make no mention of the children’s hospital.  If you did not know to look further you would not know that the situation even exists.  Convenient huh?

On a separate page they did publish this:

No muss no fuss

As of May 2015 we can see that they have written off the entire $102,306,000.  That means that they do not expect to see any of the money and that the taxpayers have already eaten the bill.

Now we are hearing talk about the children’s hospital trying to find a strategic partner but having trouble because of their debt.

It seems that this is just another ruse.  If the county wanted to they could forgive the debt and the taxpayers would be no worse off.  That might allow some outside organization to start fresh and maybe keep the children’s hospital away from the county hospital and thus our tax bills.

We deserve better

Brutus