I was at the same meeting...loved the headline in KV Sun

I can imagine the two "bonded" administrators, CEO, Tim McGlew and CFO, Chet Beedle, are dissappointed this week in the headline beaming down from the Sun Newspaper from the board meeting.

Though the meeting was primarily about the general obligation bond needed by the hospital to carry on its operations as the only people with money are the homeowners and their property tax monies, "owe" so desired by this hospital.

Now I would think since Tim McGlew went through a 118 million dollar construction project while working for the Home for Jewish Parents in Southern California, he would have had enough of this construction, as it's a real pain. Been there, done it.

And interestingly, that construction project was done with the help of Cal Mtg. our very own debt insurer at KVHD. How cozy. And how expensive was that?

The only people enjoying construction are the contractors doing the building, otherwise it's one of the worst experiences of your life.

The bigger the project, the more likely you are to have a heart attack. If it's a government project with over the top, highly expensive standards and tastes, order your plot at the local cemetery because it will age you quickly.

Add medical and government together and you've got plutonium.

Do we need construction, yes we do.

But we also have to get "real" here and stop pretending we can have a bond on the ballot by November, architects with time enough to take in all the considerations including seismic, which brings in more engineers, who by my records, we have paid again and again, but have never done a damn thing. Aspen has years worth of our monies and what do we have from Aspen Street Architects...nothing?

(Lot's of these examples at KVHD. Not good examples.)

Money out the window and it doesn't come back in services to the community.
And because of the lack of planning, you can see the redundant patterns of purchasing, such as engineers, architects, consultants, which have to come back again, after so many years. Then there's equipment never used and eventually will be outdated, such as mammography, and certain computer acquisitions which never manifested but were paid for with hospital money.

It's a disgrace we are as bad as Sacramento and Washington, and don't think it's not the pennies wich make the dollars.

We have wasted money year after year never completing a single project.

Obviously, by the reaction of the Sun and their headline that healthcare reform Obama style is going to save the hospital when everyone is insured (in our fantasies) according to Chet Beedle. Theoretically this is supposed to happen and it would rid the hospital immediately of bad debt.

The headline did not mention the general obligation bond or potential taxes, they ignored what the administrator called a "strategic planning" type of meeting. It had nothing to do with Obama reform or what that reform really might do. One thing it will do is change things and we need to get ready in the outfield to catch this thing.

Even that sagacious Chet Beedle or the Wiccan Covenant in Bodfish can't predict what in the world is going to happen with this healthcare reform bill.

So, why are we trying to get the community to choke up money on an ill timed bond, or ill time-bomb? It's fine with me if the administrators spend their time studying this as it will give them something to do while we look into that second feasibility study from Cal Mtg.

Sometimes a headline is not just a headline, it's a statement. And I think in this case the board of directors and administrators should put their ears to the ground and listen to what the Sun said to them this week, by ignoring the KVHD message...