Last fall, Memorial Health Systems, Inc. (hence, ``Ormond'') bought Peninsula Hospital, a failing facility on the beach side, from Columbia. The facility was (and is) enjoying a census of less than 30%, making its future somewhat uncertain.
As the employees have already determined by checking their paychecks, Ormond is hurting. Since Columbia isn't a bank, they don't hold paper. They needed cash on the barrel-head, please. Where did the cash come from? Not from Success 2000, they tell us.
In February, Ormond had to come to the West Volusia Hospital Authority and rattle a tin cup. Seems that not only are they not anywhere close to making a profit, or breaking even, they don't even have enough cash flow to pay their bonds. Oops. The secret, of course, is their fine management. That's why Dick Lind pulls down the big bucks.
In November, Ormond's newsletter described how they had plenty of cash to pay for Peninsula. Shortly thereafter, a flier was distributed to several of the hospital employees, clarifying certain management statements. The text of the flier follows.
| Peninsula - Another Success 2000! | they say | what it means |
|---|---|
| ‘‘A very warm welcome to the employees, medical staff and auxilians of Peninsula’’ | We canned and ran off a bunch of people when we took over West Volusia. Let’s do it again. |
| ‘‘Our new employees at [Peninsula] will find Memorial Health Systems a terrific organization...’’ | We’ll put in our own management geniuses, and get rid of people who are likely to cost us a pension. |
| ‘‘Peninsula has an excellent core group of employees...’’ | ... and we might keep those who don’t want to be paid. |
| ‘‘We have adequate cash (savings) to pay cash for Peninsula.’’ | We don’t have enough cash to pay for coffee, or employee retirement, or Christmas, or flowers, or birthdays, or raises, or ... |
| This won’t be paid for with Success 2000 cuts. | Those were green dollars. These are red dollars. Or something. Please believe us. |
| ‘‘Peninsula is a vital, important resource.’’ | Halifax is already eating our lunch. When we found out about Peninsula, we nearly ruined our pants. |
| ‘‘This acquisition will result in the hospital actually being owned by the community.’’ | It’ll be owned by a private corporation. If they want to see the records at ‘‘their’’ hospital, the community can go pound sand. |
| We are able to defer some very expensive capital projects at Memorial Hospital - Ormond. | If you could see our records, you’d understand why we need to defer expensive projects. The secret is our fine management. |
| We’re well on our way to achieving a small, but positive, operating margin by the end of this fiscal year. | Without taxes, we’d be broke. Our management over-spent last year’s taxes, and needed a huge increase this year. How humiliating! |
Hospital finances may be sound. Bills may be paid timely. You may be promoted if you call Commissioners Jeff Portman (736-9411), Raymond Long (734-1375), and Steve Deluca (734-6654) to share your views on Success 2000. Pigs may fly.
Legal mumbo-jumbo:
I’m obliged to tell you that
this is a paid political advertisement
provided in kind by
P.O. Box 1208,
DeLand, FLA 32721.