Memo Leaked: Clarification of Facts
We recently received a memo from Robert Otwell to his hospital staff. We decided to publish it, it is not incriminating, it is simply a clarification of facts by him to his staff, and is as follows:
As the HCA/Spring Hill Hospital certificate of need (CON) process continues to unfold, there have unfortunately been some incorrect statements made by a few HCA supporters who were misinformed. There are specifically two items that I would like to clarify:
1. Taxpayer Dollars
Maury Regional Hospital does NOT receive taxpayer money to operate the hospital. In fact, MRH provides the county $900,000 in-lieu of taxes annually. For this reason, taxpayer dollars have not been used to fund the appeal process.
2. MRH’s Financial Responsibility for the Appeal Process
The party that does not prevail in the appeal process would be responsible for costs associated with the administrative appeal, such as fees for the court reporter and the administrative judge’s fees. In no case, would MRH be responsible for HCA’s legal fees. That being said, when the administrative law judge denied HCA’s CON in October 2007, that made HCA responsible for the costs described above. When the HSDA overturned the judge’s decision in March 2008, the responsibility shifted to MRH and Williamson Medical Center (WMC). Should MRH and WMC be successful in Davidson County Chancery Court, the burden of these costs would shift back to HCA.
I hope this clarifies these two issues.
-Robert Otwell
Maury Regional Hospital CEO
Apparently Mr. Otwell has not read the final order from the HSDA where “all of the costs in the contested case proceeding, including the Administrative Law Judge’s costs, deposition costs, and expert witness fees are assessed to and shall be paid by MRH and WMC.”
I would include “Deposition Costs” and “Expert Witness Fees” as “Legal Fees”, but that’s just me.
As for the hospital not using taxpayer dollars to operate, it would probably be a good idea to remind one’s self who actually owns Maury Regional Hospital (The Citizens of Maury County) and who you are accountable to (The Maury County Commission) before making a statement that implies that you operate independently.