Flaws abound in the AB 918 law which is mandating the dissolution of Heffernan Healthcare District and Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District by the end of the year. Here are the some of the flaws of the law:
- There is no mechanism to tax all parcels after PMHD and Heffernan are dissolved with no vote of the district’s citizens.
- El Centro Regional Hospital is NOT required to join the district.
- All assets of PMHD and Heffernan are confiscated and put in the new district.
- Assets of ECRMC must be acquired by the new district.
- Representation on the new board is not fairly assigned by population with Northern half of the Valley having one representative.
- Possible assumption of the ECRMC debt incurred by El Centro but paid for by the rest of the citizens.
- Presumption of UCSD continued management of all facilities. They were the architects and cause of ECRMC’s debt and finance issues.
- AB 918 calls for seven (7) board members which conflicts with Health and safety code 32000 which calls for a maximum of five (5) board members unless the public agree to an increase by a vote on a ballot measure.
- AB 918 calls for dissolving a viable hospital with all licenses and contracts before new licensing can be obtained and contracts transferred.
- No buildings have been inspected. What if there is asbestos or other pollution issues, who cleans it up?
- Kaufman Hall and BAE Reports are only based on executive summaries with no detail and are dated with inaccurate assumptions and omissions.
- No Mergers and Acquisitions people are hired yet or even discussed to take care of the hundreds of detailed items of a merger of this magnitude.
The new board of IVHD is under marching orders from our Comrades Eduardo Garcia and Senator Steve Padilla and seemingly nothing will slow them down. Why be in such a hurry? Why not study the situation, ask important questions, do your due diligence and only when all licenses and contracts have been transferred and less important details tended to THEN complete the transaction.
If the IVHD Board needs more time, ASK FOR MORE TIME. You’ve all heard the expression “Haste makes waste”. It’s never been truer than it is NOW.