The Observation Deck

Jennifer Pae is calling for the destruction of Lakewood Hospital in todays Plain Dealer:

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index. ... cart_river

She states that because the Clinic and LHA have mismanaged the Hospital it is in a complete state of disrepair.

She also repeats the canard that bricks and mortar are no longer needed. At least not in Lakewood. Bricks and mortar are alive and well in Avon and Twinsburg.

We all are aware of the incompetence of this administration but is there also a hefty dose of corruption?

What happened to the millions in parking lot revenue?

Who authorized the 68% increase in administrative fees?

City of Lakewood Director of Finance Jenn Pae wrote:You have to have good credit to get the loan or the credit card, and you typically are approved for financing only after you can demonstrate that you have the means to pay over time.

That's why there aren't any offers on the table to buy the old Lakewood Hospital building. Any potential owner would face a $96 million problem, as emphasized in the recent release of the Huron Consulting Group's Final Analysis of the Proposed Plan for Lakewood Hospital. Even the MetroHealth System withdrew its initial interest, since it is currently focused on repairing and rebuilding its own old hospital in Cleveland.

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index. ... cart_river

Team Summers and Build Lakewood continue to ignore the fact that the Cleveland Clinic Foundation will not allow anyone to takeover the Lakewood Hospital TODAY and no entity will attempt to takeover the Lakewood Hospital TODAY without the CCF first providing an unconditional release stating that the CCF will walkway from the Lakewood Hospital TODAY without ever raising a tortious interference lawsuit.

Oh, and as Bill says, where is the money paid to LHA already?

Bill Call wrote:We all are aware of the incompetence of this administration but is there also a hefty dose of corruption?

What happened to the millions in parking lot revenue?

Who authorized the 68% increase in administrative fees?

Jenn Pae,

Here are the problems and the solutions:

The Basic Problem & Obvious Solution. Due to the failure of Mayor Summers’ leadership, the Cleveland Clinic is and has been playing hardball in an effort to destroy the hospital for the and retain its market share in Lakewood. The solution is for the City to use the leverage it has to break the Clinic’s monopoly and open up true choices and options for Lakewood residents---since Mayor Summers has a personal agenda contrary to the will of the people and he has been unwavering in his support for the Clinic’s behavior and won’t use the City’s leverage, the obvious solution to remove Mayor Summers in favor of a valid leader.
Detail of the Problems. The following problems have been established by the facts and evidence and are inextricably intertwined with Summers’ personal political agenda:
1. Summers failed to understand that Lakewood needs a hospital, because he has failed to engage the right advisers—he has a corrupt and incompetent “inner circle” of advisers.
2. Summers did not and cannot properly market the hospital for sale or lease because he never obtained an agreement from CCF to be able to do so and he hasn’t even asked for such an agreement.
3. Summers failed to understand that CCF would not voluntarily surrender its virtual monopoly market share in Lakewood’s service area without the City enforcing its valuable rights and taking control of its assets.
4. Summers failed to understand that Lakewood Hospital is the highest and best use at the hospital site. No alternative economic development exists that can match the economic benefits of the hospital. Everything proposed by Summers is more risky than keeping the hospital open.
5. Lakewood Hospital was profitable until Summers’ Plan caused recent but recoverable losses. The audited financial statements show that LHA made over $2.5 million and $5.3 million in net profit in 2014 and 2013, respectively. It is beyond debate that Mayor Summers’ plan, his announcement to close the hospital and his complicity in allowing CCF to dismantle the hospital are the sole causes for the recent losses.
6. CCF has been allowed to steal and cheat on Summers’ watch with the goal of disabling the hospital to a point that it can prevent a competitor from entering the Lakewood market where CCF enjoys a virtual monopoly—it is not too late to stop this from happening.
7. The taxpayer lawsuit uncovered longstanding plans of CCF to dismantle and “decant” Lakewood Hospital employees, equipment and valuable service lines taking them to Fairview and other CCF facilities without paying anything to Lakewood. That is stealing and Summers is an accomplice.
8. Summers’ Plan is a very bad deal that rewards the very bad behavior of bad actors that created and are now advancing the plan.
9. The Huron and Subsidium valuations of Lakewood Hospital were made without consideration of the prior thefts and looting by CCF---the limitations on the engagement of theses consultants were designed by Summers to support Summers’ Plan.
Here are the simple solutions and steps for the City of Lakewood to take to solve the problems:


1. Elect a new mayor.
2. Elect a new Council President.
3. Appoint two new Councilmembers as Lakewood’s ex-officio LHA trustees.
4. Replace all Lakewood appointments to the LHA board with independent doctors, healthcare lawyers and people experienced in healthcare management free of conflicts of interest.
5. Form a healthcare taskforce of independent doctors, healthcare lawyers and people experienced in healthcare management to advise City Council, the Mayor and Lakewood’s LHA trustees concerning the hospital.
6. Attempt to get a written legal agreement from CCF that the City can market the Hospital and if successful CCF will leave in an orderly manner.
7. If CCF refuses to sign such an agreement, attempt to get LHA to amend the current Lease to give the City the power to terminate the Lease if and when the City finds a new party to operate or buy the hospital.
8. If LHA refuses to amend the Lease, institute legal action against LHA, CCF, CCF employees, and LHA to enforce the Lease, evict LHA and CCF, and recover money damages from all of the bad actors.

Those who support the destruction of the Hospital have become so invested in the decision that they feel the need to defend every bit of mismanagement, misfeasance and malfeasance that is uncovered.

We now have public officials defending the misuse of parking lot funds and the neglect of an important City asset.

Millions missing? Destroy the hospital!
Mismanagement of the parking garage? Destroy the Hospital!
Theft of City property? Destroy the Hospital!

What are the fiduciary duties of an elected official? What are the fiduciary duties of a Board member? Who do they serve?

What happened to the parking lot revenue and why was the garage allowed to deteriorate?

Bill -

You have asked numerous questions in numerous forums. Many of these have already been answered, researched, explained, etc. through various means.

If you haven't already, please take some time and read the Huron Consulting Report: http://www.onelakewood.com/wp-content/u ... report.pdf

It explains the administrative service fees, the facility's needs, the area's healthcare market, industry trends, the release from CCF, and a lot more.

Also read my April 20th presentation to the City Council Committee of the Whole: http://www.onelakewood.com/wp-content/u ... 042015.pdf

It explains the history of the City's financial reporting of Lakewood Hospital. LHA's money is not the City's money - plain and simple.

The only thing that is the City's is the "Additional Payments" per the 1996 lease agreement between the City and LHA, in which those monies go into a special revenue fund towards the city's EMS operations, vital stats, and the City's annual payment to the Cuyahoga Board of Health. The report also discusses the financial impact of the LOI on city government finances.

I would also recommend closely reading the lease document between the City and LHA (http://www.onelakewood.com/pdf/Lakewood ... pLease.pdf), and the definitive agreement between LHA and the Cleveland Clinic (http://www.onelakewood.com/pdf/Lakewood ... eement.pdf)

If you have any direct questions from any of those documents, I'll be happy to try to help you as it relates to City of Lakewood Finances. I cannot speak for City Council, the Mayor, LHA, LHF, or the Cleveland Clinic.

Ms Pae

It is rather conspicuous that you have never addressed any of my posts.

No worries I understand

But the answers you refer to above have been discredited so what's the point of referring to them?

I cannot speak for City Council, the Mayor, LHA, LHF, or the Cleveland Clinic

But Ms Pae, that's exactly what you HAVE been doing all over social media. Telling us how the LHA can't afford this or that, and what the City and City Council need to do in this hospital debacle.

You can't have it both ways. When you don't want to directly answer a question, you quickly claim that it's LHA info or whatever. Then what makes you such an expert on this deal if you don't know their finances?

Sort of funny after you claimed to know so much about Metro's finances that you could summarily dismiss their offer.

Again, you speak with a forked tongue. You claim you know all about this deal, enough to make you so sure it's great, yet you don't know a thing about LHA resources when asked.

Jennifer Pae wrote:Bill -

You have asked numerous questions in numerous forums. Many of these have already been answered, researched, explained, etc. through various means.

If you haven't already, please take some time and read

Jennifer, I have taken time to read those reports. Has anyone at City Hall read them with a critical eye? It's not enough to file and forget it.

The City had an obligation to ensure the proper management of the leased facilities. That includes the physical facilities and the health care delivery system, the Hospital.

Can anyone honestly say the City has fulfilled its duties in that regard?

The Clinic charged Lakewood Hospital administrative fees of $49 million during 2013 and 2014. No where in the lease or definitive agreement is the Clinic given the right to charge those fees. Who authorized those fees?

My original post was about the condition of the parking garage. The LHA was required to maintain the parking garage. They failed to do so.

While it is the responsibility of the Lessee (LHA) to maintain the property it is the responsibility of the Lessor (City of Lakewood) to make sure the property is properly maintained. The failure of the City to ensure that the garage was properly maintain is gross negligence.

Any new development will require parking and a parking garage is the most sensible way to provide that parking in a built up City.

Who made the decision to let the garage fall into disrepair? What happened to the money?