Salary comparisons and expenses: Kern Valley Healthcare district's frugality: response to Kern Valley Sun

Here are a few documents and emails relating to the costs the district has spent over the last four years.

You will see more as I will use this post to add other figures, such as the costs and expenses for a former CEO, Rick Carter. Carter was paid $153,000 along with expenses such as housing, plane trips, train and lunches.

The financial manager in another email, not yet posted, said the "high end" of the salaries for a CEO in 2008 was $175,000, thereby, justifying the costs for the former CEO.

Questions have been asked of me, and the Kern Valley Sun Newspaper had a question and answer forum with CEO Tim McGlew two weeks ago, and the concerns are the costs paid to administrators over the last four financially arduous years.

http://kvsun.com/articles/2010/09/23/opinion/editorials/doc4c8fc97faea1a289917162.txt

Here are some of the answers so we can begin to look at the costs at the top, and the deep cuts to the staff such as nurses' aides who are the people who actually care for the patients.

We all should ask ourselves as the patients, taxpayers, employees, what is the most important way to spend money at the hospital?

Please peruse, and as I'm having some computer problems right now, I will have to come back to this post and add on the other documents.

(I'm sorry, but due to MSN internet I have lost three comments which were posted yesterday when my computer went down. If you need to resend, feel free, as I don't know where they went...The only reason I select to keep this defiant giant, MSN, is so nobody can say I "doctored" the emails; they remain to this day on the server...)

----- Original Message -----
From: Beedle, Chet
To: Laura Hart
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 11:06 AM
Subject:

RE: Hi Chet

Thanks for the vote of confidence. The CEO salary in Bakersfield of $300K doesn't sound right? The latest market information that we have for a CFO and CEO are: CFO - mid-range (5-10 yrs) - $116,966. I make $106,000. CEO - mid-range (5-10 yrs) $150,297. I believe that Pam is making about $141,783. I hope that this gives you what you need.

Chester N. Beedle

----- Original Message -----
From: Beedle, Chet
To: Laura Hart ; Hoffman, Debra ; Sage,Heidi
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 1:33 PM
Subject: RE: request for clarification....

The District has received and reviewed your request for documents under California's Public Records Act. We have attached the one document we have that is responsive to the request. Although it is not required under California law, we are also providing answers to the questions in your request:

Salary Comparison Sheet. - Attached is the Salary Comparison sheet from April 2008 identified in your request. The District has no other document responsive to the request.

Clarification regarding "additional expenses". - The District has no documents responsive to this request. As an explanation, the column "additional expenses" refers to the difference between the columns "FY 2009 Budgeted Salary" and "Current Range". These "additional expenses" were not approved by the Board.

SNF Administrator salary. - The District has no documents responsive to this request. As an explanation, $408,000 reflects compensation paid to Sycamore under its contract with the District for the year. The $215,000 represents compensation payable to Tracy Brown (as SNF Administrator) on an annual basis under the terms of the consulting contract approved unanimously by the Board after the termination of the Sycamore contract. Of that amount, $200,000 is standard compensation and $15,000 is a potential bonus that may be earned under the terms of the contract.
The District has not withheld any documents in responding to your request.


-----Original Message-----
From: Laura Hart [mailto:muymala@msn.com]
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 9:46 AM
To: Hoffman, Debra; Sage,HeidiCc: Beedle, Chet
Subject: request for clarification....

Hello:
I would like to request the most recent administrative Salary Comparison which would include the SNF or the new director's salary, and the added expenses.
And could I have some clarification on the comparison sheet as to what these additional expenses are being used for?
And in the April comparison, under SNF administrator, there was a $408,000 figure for "salary." Was this all the money paid to Sycamore Management for a full year or what is it?
On the same sheet, the 2009 budgeted projection shows a figure of $215,000. Why the

difference? It's still a large figure, bigger than the CEO, but what does it mean?
I can come down and pick it up later today or tomorrow or you can even email it to me.
Thank you, Laura Hart



----- Original Message -----
From: Beedle, Chet
To: Laura Hart
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 3:38 PM
Subject: RE: interview....
I regret that you have employees going to you with wage concerns. There exists a mechanism in established policy and procedure for employees who have grievances of any sort to take first to their manager, then to administration if not resolved and finally to the Board of Directors. This is the chain of command in every hospital with which I have worked for over 35 years. Employees who don't get their way because management and the Board have made the best decisions for the organization will try to "grasp at any straw" that they can in an attempt to circumvent the system. No matter what the "threats" are, if management or the Board give in to the meteoric and allow this circumvention, in my opinion, the organization is doomed and will undoubtedly return to the days of its existence when it teetered on the brink of bankruptcy.

Let me assure you that the salary administration plan and the current management of the Healthcare District is appropriate. As the insurer for our revenue bonds, the Cal-Mortgage division of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development gets a copy of our financials and board packet each month. They have been and continue to be very complimentary. As a matter of fact, there is a clause in the paperwork of the last bond refinancing from 2003 that speaks to the need for the District to get their approval before changing the individuals in senior management.
If the District is to remain successful, we must rely on the management and the Board to make the right decisions for the organization. Those decisions should not be circumvented in any manner by outside organizations. The community has the right and I believe the obligation to elect Board members whom they believe will best represent their interests. Thank goodness that is what our free enterprise system is all about. Should that elected board as a body believe that there should be a management change, then and only then should that take place. The systems are there for all of us . We all need to use them as established and as intended.

Just let me know when you would like to speak with me, I will gladly and willingly make myself available to you individually or with the administrative team including Dr. Pormir. I would also like to express my personal appreciation for your efforts and know that you are trying to give the community the best facts that you can. I also appreciate your support of our efforts as the management to do the best we can for the organization.

Have a great day!

Chester N. Beedle Chief Financial Officer Kern Valley Healthcare District



Good Afternoon Laura,
We are in receipt of your request for documents however we do not have any documents responsive to your request. There have been no modifications or waivers made with regard to Tracy Brown’s contract. Her contract is an evergreen contract that automatically renews each year unless notice is given by either party. The District rented housing for the consultants as a whole, not individually therefore there are no specific housing documents for Mrs. Brown. Mrs. Brown does not receive compensation for travel, gas, or mileage as that is not a provision in her contract.

In response to your email dated July 8th, I believe I have provided you with a copy of the Sycamore contract in the past but if you would like another copy I would be happy to get that for you.

Thanks,
Heidi

Laura,
Here is the information that you requested on the three consultants.

As a reminder, this is the total amount that each of them received for the last fiscal year (July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009).

Beth Clark - $89,389.13
Nolan Stewart - $62,409.05
Fidel Morgadez - $77,092.86

--Heidi