The Observation Deck

A blast from the past:
Bill Call

PostSun Aug 03, 2008 8:10 am


I guess we are easily amused.

The Cleveland Clinic thinks that it can pocket it’s $10 million rental subsidy, transfer non-paying patients to Lakewood Hospital, transfer doctors and services further and further West and East, use its rental subsidy to finance its new Avon Hospital and no one will notice as long as it offers lighting ceremonies and arts festivals.

I have a modest proposal: Start paying market rates for renting the hospital and stop bleeding the system dry. Do that and the City will finance its own bread and circuses.

Or at the very least please admit what you are doing and put an end to this false face.

At last nights meeting someone pointed out:

that Lakewood Hospital pays the Cleveland Clinic about $25 million per year for "administrative services".

and that the Auditors found no reason to believe the Hospital would not be able to continue as a going concern.

There's more but the only people that matter in this issue are the Mayor, council, Foundation and Hospital Board and their minds are as closed shut.

Someone also pointed out that it looks like someone or some entity is eager to get its hands on the Foundations assets.

Should the Ohio Attorney General be investigating this deal?

Bill

I was not following this, and I believe most people are mixed up on this. I spoke with Steve
and Marguerite in length last week.

As reported last week. Lakewood Hospital Foundation can do anything it wants to. It is a
stand alone Foundation. In the state of Ohio they can re-purpose or close down with a
super majority vote of the Board. Their possibilities go from shutting down and splitting up
the funds, to re-purposing. About half of their funds are restriced and can either be used
for the restrictions or paid back.

Now the Hospital Association is a different story. And has more money. However the
Association was changed drastically in 1988, and Steve and others are still unsure how
and if their changes were and are legal. Just because a board votes on it does make it legal.

It was a good discussion.

.