David Anderson wrote:James, Tom, Brian, all -
Name one health care management entity that wanted to bid/submit an RFP but could not or did not.
Name one entity that wanted to come into this region as a new market entrant and compete with Metro, UH and the Clinic without access to doctors, referrals (patients), a network with other non Metro, UH or Clinic hospitals while doing so in a building that needs $90M to make it competitive and safe.
We are such bad negotiators, Tom? We struck a fair deal. The city will receive more in lease payments than if the previous lease/MA went through to 2026. $128 million in LHA net assets have been properly allocated. The Clinic is investing another $49 million of its money. An up to $90 million liability is off taxpayer shoulders. And we will benefit from a state of the art medical facility and fully accredited ER all while retaining 5.7 acres of developable land for future sale. Another liability, the Medical Office Building, underperforming and not very competitive, is being replaced with the new FHC and ER. The down side, of course, involves the loss of jobs but Lakewood has always had a diverse tax base and increases in other sources of revenue have already made up for that payroll tax loss. Regarding the medical services of the former hospital, two out of every three beds were empty every night for a year prior to January of 2015 and those revenue producing service lines were also already gone and were not coming back.
David Anderson
Mr.Anderson,
You and I spoke nearly a year ago today while I was standing on a field on Pelee Island hunting pheasant and discussed getting Sam O'Leary, Cindy Marx and other together with Frank Sossi of Surgical Development Partners to discuss their stated interest in leasing Lakewood Hospital. I will never forget it--I know exactly where I has standing on the field when you said none of your colleagues were interested in doing any due diligence on SDP. Mr. Sossi wanted an invitation and you were the only one who would consider that and the needed due diligence.
That was before the election and it told me that the deal was baked and done. Your statement you made amounts to but one fact that supports the conclusion that a decision was made by a public body in secret without a public meeting--Mr. Butler documented that in a letter to Mr. Sossi shortly thereafter. You and I also discussed that day that your colleagues wanted to press the "EASY BUTTON"--as I recall, your called it the "Easier Button."
For her part, Cindy Marx has commented that Metro does not feel welcome in Lakewood--she is right. I can verify from numerous sources I worked with regarding Metro, that Metro executives said they "FELT USED" by Mayor Summers in 2014--Despite that fact, I and others encouraged Metro and Dr. Boutros to come forward in 2015.
But Summers, Nowlin, Bullock and others on Council repelled Boutros by acting totally unprofessionally--Boutros referred to those actions as a "maelstrom"--that was a direct reflection of the failure of leadership in our city.
Please recall my Bad Government 8 article in the LO where I wrote "
A May 18, 2015 email has recently surfaced where Summers wrote to Budish and Miller concerning Metro’s interest in Lakewood. Miller recently stated that Summers had "an excessive desire to manage the process and keep discussions to insider players," that “they had a distinct agenda” and that Summers "carefully controlled" the process. Miller said he “helped facilitate a change" concerning Metro’s public interest in Lakewood. In other words, County leadership knew what Summers was up to in the backroom with CCF and then assisted in the “distinct agenda” to keep Metro out of Lakewood. To make matters worse, at least one Lakewood City Council member recently claimed that CCF pressured County Executive Budish, and Budish pressured Metro to back down."
So it is clear that Lakewood is "NOT OPEN FOR BUSINESS" when it comes to healthcare, and the players out there know it.
