Statement to El Camino Hospital Board of Directors

Jane Turnbull, Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Los Altos/Mountain View, presented a statement at the El Camino Hospital Board of Directors meeting on September 7th, 2005.

September 7, 2005

Members of the El Camino Hospital Board of Directors, Mr. Domanico and other staff and colleagues:

I am Jane Turnbull, Vice-president of the League of Women Voters of the Los Altos Mountain View Area and a resident of Los Altos, and I am here tonight on behalf of our President, Ginny Lear, who is on travel.

On behalf of the League, I wish to thank each of you for your attention to the points raised by the League, and in particular to thank Mr. Alles, for meeting with a committee of League members to go over the small print of our concerns. It appears that we are moving toward greatly improved communication between the hospital administration and the League + and more important between the hospital and the communities that it serves.

We are pleased that there no longer is an issue regarding the filing of Form 990 with the IRS + both by the hospital and by the hospital foundation. We look forward to receiving both documents in November.

We recognize that many hospital committees perform important advisory functions having to do with medical operations and competency, and we certainly support the existence and the work of those committees. We do, however, continue to have questions about special board committees that are comprised of just two board members and Mr. Domanico, that are asked to provide recommendations on budget and strategic planning concerns. We would suggest that such committees either be disbanded or that their meetings be conducted in accordance with the Brown Act.

We are pleased that you intend to post Hospital and District Board agendas and minutes on your web page. If this is already being done, I suggest that you indicate where they may be found, as I was not able to locate either yesterday. It is clear that the public, as well as the League, would appreciate the posting of other relevant materials prior to meetings when it is reasonable to do so. We also believe that it would be desirable to maintain a link from the web site to the by-laws of both boards and to the District and Hospital Conflict of Interest Policies, when the latter are revised.

We are pleased that you intend to expand the existing citizen's committee to include an advisory subcommittee with the express responsibility of interfacing with the general contractor and hospital staff charged with rebuilding the hospital. We are pleased tonight to be able to submit the names of three highly qualified local residents who have offered to work with the staff and with the contractor in reviewing plans, budgets and contracts. The three who have offered are Ralph Adams, Bud Ratts and Milt Nicholas. As Mrs. Lear indicated previously, a similar committee served our communities very well recently when our local public schools were being renovated, We expect that this subcommittee will be equally effective.

The League continues to be concerned about the delays that have resulted from the Katz lawsuit. While I am not able to make a definite commitment at this time, we would like you to know that we are in touch with the state League of Women Voters office in Sacramento in an effort to determine if an existing League policy position would allow us to support the hospital in its legal stance. We will let you know as soon as we have an answer.

Meanwhile, we thank you for your commitment to our communities and to this hospital.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: May 10, 2008 10:21 PDT.

© Copyright League of Women Voters of the Los Altos-Mountain View Area, California. All rights reserved.