Much has been written lately pertaining to the Grand Jury Report entitled “Tower of Shame” and a subsequent response on the part of the Tulare Regional Medical Center entitled “Sins of the Father” in which the TRMC Board attempts to place all the blame for the problems surrounding its troubled past on previous administrators and Board Members no longer serving as Directors. It is, therefore, the purpose of this letter to emphatically state that the Grand Jury rejects the premise that the current TRMC Board of Directors can somehow absolve itself of responsibility for whatever mismanagement of public funds occurred prior to their respective terms of service on said Board.
It is apparent to the Grand Jury that the members of the TRMC Board of Directors need to be reminded that reporting/disclosure requirements are continuous. In other words, the claim that all misdeeds and transgression were “someone else’s responsibility” is at best flawed and leaves the impression that obfuscation as well as outright refusal to provide information are preferred to full disclosure. While the current TRMC Board of Directors may indeed eventually be proven “not guilty” of wrongdoing, the fact will remain that it failed to be forthcoming in terms of producing information (to which the public is entitled) regarding the manner in which proceeds from the issuance of $85 Million in general obligation bonds were spent.
The “Blame Game” is unproductive. It is also unbecoming to those who employ it. The Grand Jury would, therefore, suggest that the TRMC Board of Directors instruct its Los Angeles legal counsel to, “without delay,” respond appropriately to the Grand Jury’s request for detailed information pertaining to how $85 Million in taxpayers’ money was expended.
Respectfully,
Chuck White, Foreman
Tulare County Grand Jury