Article: Behind Palm Drive Hospital’s Closing Part II: The Shutdown Playbook

[farmerdan]

Jim,

Ok, so you are NOT claiming that I or Glenn have a conflict of interest, just Dr. Gude.
That was VERY unclear in your earlier posts.

So, here is what you need to know: When Dr. Gude offerred to be the INTERIM CEO (until someone more qualified could be hired), it was with the understanding that OffsiteCare, Jim's company would have to DONATE all of its services to Palm Drive going forward. Jim was willing to do this to save the hospital at great expense to himself.

What we were not aware of at the time was that he would have had to have stopped providing care a year earlier to avoid a conflict. (Remember, we only had 1 week to put together a proposal, not enough time to do any legal research.) When we heard from Colin Cofffee at the start of the meeting that this was the case, we immediately changed course. Unfortunately, we did not have time to get another CEO lined up 5 minutes before a meeting and so asked Dr. Stebbins to stand in, not the best choice as we found out later. If you recall from the meeting, we did not even have a chance to tell Dr. Gude, who discovered that he had been 'fired' during the meeting.

You should now understand that I was the FIRST person to become aware of the conflict Dr. Gude would have and acted on it immediately. So your statement "why can't you recognize his conflict of interest" is deserving of at least a retraction.

farmerdan

[JimHorn]

Dan -

I have to work for a living, so here goes...

No, I still believe that Glenn Minervini-Zick would have a conflict of interest serving as Hospital CFO and an employee of OffsiteCare;

No, the original Foundation proposal said absolutely nothing about Offsite Care donating its services to the Hospital (I just rechecked);

So no, I'm not retracting my previous comments.

Over and out...

Jim,

Ok, so you are NOT claiming that I or Glenn have a conflict of interest, just Dr. Gude.
That was VERY unclear in your earlier posts.

So, here is what you need to know: When Dr. Gude offerred to be the INTERIM CEO (until someone more qualified could be hired), it was with the understanding that OffsiteCare, Jim's company would have to DONATE all of its services to Palm Drive going forward. Jim was willing to do this to save the hospital at great expense to himself...

[John Eder]

Jim,

Your continual insistence that there are conflict's of interest in the physician/foundation plan are absurd. You ran for the district board when your wife worked at Palm Drive. You didn't think this was a conflict when half of your family income was being paid by the hospital? Wow! Amazing!

But let's get real: People are DYING and being PERMANENTLY DISABLED because Palm Drive is closed...

I had to replace my keyboard recently because my “Caps Lock” button kept sticking too.

Most holders of elected office in California are legally required to complete a Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) Form 700, “Statement of Economic Interests”. Spousal income is easily reported, if required by your agency’s conflict-of –interest code. As a former member of the Palm Drive Health Care District Board of Directors, I would think that Mr. Smith would be aware of this requirement.

From their Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (https://www.fppc.ca.gov/forms/700-10...FAQForm700.pdf) page:

Income Questions

Q. Must an official report a spouse’s (which includes registered domestic partner’s) salary?

A. Generally an official is required to report 50% of his or her spouse’s or registered domestic partner’s
salary disclosing the employer’s name as the source of income on Schedule C of the Form 700. If the
spouse or registered domestic partner is self-employed, the business entity should be reported on
Schedule A-2. Officials should check their disclosure category, if applicable, to determine if the
income is reportable. Note: The filer’s regular government salary is not reportable.

They are also required to recuse themselves from voting on matters in which they have a legally-determined interest, and therefore, conflict-of-interest.

Previous concerns over conflict-of–interest led to Mr. Smith’s resignation from the Palm Drive Board of Directors in September, 2011, after his disclosure of his business connections to, and $175,000.00 investment in Dr. Gude’s firm, OffSiteCare. See: https://www.northbaybusinessjournal....smith-resigns/ This occurred after the Palm Drive Health Care Foundation announced in May, 2011 that, “By providing a loan to OffSiteCare Inc. (OSC), Dr. James Gude’s company, the Palm Drive Health Care Foundation has been able to assist with making HarmoniMD, the electronic medical record (EMR) software that OSC developed, certified for meaningful use by the federal government.” and, “In exchange for the assistance, OffSite Care, Inc. and HarmoniMD have offered installation of HarmoniMD at Palm Drive Hospital at no cost, saving Palm Drive well over $1M and allowing the hospital to achieve meaningful use on an accelerated schedule.” As previously noted, this never occurred. See: https://pdhcf.org/2011/11/02/electro...-emr-software/

To simplistically shout at Mr. Horn to come up with a better plan is akin to shouting “cook a better meal” at a food reviewer who criticizes the fare at your restaurant. His job was to analyze and comment on the “Foundation’s Proposal”. He was not asked, nor did he volunteer to craft a proposal- the Foundation did.

I think that it is important to move away from the perception that the hospital exists primarily for the benefit of the residents of Sebastopol. The Palm Drive Health Care District is comprised of approximately 60,000 people, all of whom support the hospital through parcel assessments. Sebastopol’s “sphere of influence” is generally estimated to contain 30,000 to 35,000 people. Therefore, almost half of those people that support the District live far away, are unlikely to utilize the hospital, and are, essentially, subsidizing it for those close by. Who is the “OUR” in “OPEN OUR HOSPITAL”? As pointed out by Mr. Horn, a repeal of the parcel tax may find appeal with those District residents who are tired of paying for what they perceive to be “Sebastopol’s Hospital”.

Many people, on all sides of this issue, are working on ways to reestablish a level of emergency care in Sebastopol that can be financially viable and stable, something that has eluded Palm Drive Hospital through its many iterations over the years. Contrary to Mr. Smith’s comments, the Palm Drive Board of Directors is actively investigating numerous future possibilities for Palm Drive Hospital. Per their still-functioning website (https://www.palmdrivehospital.org/index.shtml), proposals for the reopening of the Hand and Physical Therapy Program are being solicited now, with proposals for the hospital to follow in the near future, after a series of community outreach meetings in the District. As Mr. Smith confirms, this process takes time and requires a lot of work. Please provide your input at: [email protected]

I still concur with Mr. Horn’s conclusions regarding the prior Foundation proposal. The community is now looking forward to a new Foundation proposal (“A Real Plan”- their words). In order to avoid future conflict-of-interest concerns, one would presume that this proposal will preclude the involvement, in either a paid or volunteer capacity, of Mr. Smith, Dr. Gude or any current employees of any of their associated business interests in any aspect of the management or administration of Palm Drive Hospital.

It is important to note that Mr. Horn and I are not engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct the reopening of Palm Drive Hospital or ridicule proponents of the prior or a future “Foundation Proposal”. As he has stated, we have had one short phone call and have never met in person. We both seem to share an absurd obsession with facts, not bluster, and that is why I continue to support his observations.

[Dogenzip]

This post is a reply to Councilperson Eder's recent statements on Wacco regarding Palm Drive Hospital.

I think that it is important to move away from the perception that the hospital exists primarily for the benefit of the residents of Sebastopol. Who is the “OUR” in “OPEN OUR HOSPITAL”? As pointed out by Mr. Horn, a repeal of the parcel tax may find appeal with those District residents who are tired of paying for what they perceive to be “Sebastopol’s Hospital”.

Your statement that "The Palm Drive Health Care District is comprised of approximately 60,000 people, all of whom support the hospital through parcel assessments. Sebastopol’s “sphere of influence” is generally estimated to contain 30,000 to 35,000 people. Therefore, almost half of those people that support the District live far away, are unlikely to utilize the hospital", and are, essentially, subsidizing it for those close by." This is simply an opinion, not verified by factual analysis.

The voters supported the PD hospital district's establishment. Do you not believe that people living in the large areas west of Sebastopol, such as Bodega Bay who require urgent emergency care would prefer to go to nearby Palm Drive Hospital, rather than taking another 35 to 45 minutes additional time to go to Santa Rosa hospitals? Have you not heard the testimony of emergency room physicians who told us that time is of the essence in successfully treating stroke patients? Have you not studied the demographics of west county residents, who are predominantly older? And would the emergency preparedness plans for west county continue to be effective should an earthquake knock out the bridge across the Laguna while Palm Drive Hospital remains closed? Have you not heard the testimony of the Sebastopol Police and Fire Chiefs?

This is clearly not a hospital operated for the sole benefit of nearby Sebastopol residents. It is of substantial benefit to the the entire district.
As the Council liaison to the Palm Drive Hospital I respectfully urge you to fully support and work hard to realize the re-opening of Palm Drive Hospital.

[Sara S]

Absolutely! I lived west of Cazadero for 36 years, and went to Palm Drive for everything; a ruptured appendix, three joint replacements, gall bladder removal, other surgeries. We were "outside" the district, so couldn't vote, but I sure would have. Hell, I had a bake sale for Palm Drive when they first got into financial difficulties. I was over an hour from Santa Rosa, and there are lots of people out there who are even farther out. We NEED this hospital.

...This is clearly not a hospital operated for the sole benefit of nearby Sebastopol residents. It is of substantial benefit to the the entire district. ....

[Goat Rock Ukulele]

Dan -

I have to work for a living, so here goes...

No, I still believe that Glenn Minervini-Zick would have a conflict of interest serving as Hospital CFO and an employee of OffsiteCare;

No, the original Foundation proposal said absolutely nothing about Offsite Care donating its services to the Hospital (I just rechecked);

So no, I'm not retracting my previous comments.

Over and out...

Your article implies that Smith may have a hidden business agenda for trying to keep hospital open. Maybe it’s the same agenda in which he shelled out a couple of million many years ago to keep the hospital open saving local lives. Perhaps its the promised donation through the foundation this time? Accepting the Foundations proposal will only cost Smith as he has again agreed to again donate to reopen the hospital.

I have know Smith for more than 60 years. The agenda Smith has in trying to keep and now reopening Palm Drive is the safety of the local community. Its the same agenda in which he funded the local needle exchange program long before he made his wealth. He did so because every statistic showed that needle exchange saved lives and helped slow the spread of AIDS AiIDs at that time was a death sentence. The county was too afraid to fund it for political reasons so Dan took in upon himself to do so. Smith sees a community problem and if he has the knowledge and means he tries to help solve it.

In one of your posts you say “I have to work for a living” I hope you are not implying that Smith is a man of leisure? Anyone who knows my brother Dan will really get a real kick out of that. Dan routinely worked 14 hour days 7 days a week for 20+ years to build his company, to the constant worry about his long hours to our late mother. When Dan and Joan sold their business and garnered some wealth they didn’t buy a lavish home, purchase fancy cars or build a private label winery.

They live in the same house he built in his twenties Dan and Joan use their time, money, business acumen in an attempt to better our community and world. Any business Dan is involved with are to further those aims. We grew up poor, Dan is thrifty and pragmatic. He would not throw his money down a rathole If he did not believe the Foundation Plan will not succeed and save lives.

Dan probably wouldn’t want me to post any of this but I just can’t stomach you implying Dan and Joan have motives beyond trying to help our local community and save lives.

Sincerely,
Michael F Smith

[rossmen]

thank you for your honesty. i don't know dan personally and have challenged him in his garden market efforts on wacco. i have met him and appreciated his honesty, wisdom, and intelligence in business. the hospital board and horn come across as fearful and liability driven, for years, understandable as this is a major problem with modern medicine. dan is a can do guy with the best of intentions, no wonder his support is difficult to receive and trashed in an environment of bureaucratic ass preservation.

Your article implies that Smith may have a hidden business agenda for trying to keep hospital open. ...I have know Smith for more than 60 years. The agenda Smith has in trying to keep and now reopening Palm Drive is the safety of the local community. ...