The Board of Trustees of the Lancaster General Hospital went to the extraordinary length of adjourning their annual meeting for an hour in order to clear the audience from the room during the time permitted for public comment. Whether this was a violation of federal rules for 501(c) 3 public charities will be researched.
Below is the letter that NewsLanc reporter Christiaan Hart-Nibbrig sought to read on behalf of publisher Robert Field who was on a business trip abroad:
Gentle Persons:
I regret that I cannot attend in person but wife Karen and I are in Eastern Europe visiting with son Richard and his family and dealing with business and philanthropic matters.
In reviewing the latest federal 990 report, we were again disappointed that LGH did not donate more of its outsized earnings for regional health and education purposes. But I expressed my views on that matter at some length and passion last year, so let me focus here on the dire need for LGH to help bring about an effective syringe exchange program here in Lancaster.
I spent about half a million dollars over the past decade in cooperation with the Bethel AME church in providing a very limited service. However, the necessity to feed undernourished children and help house the homeless during these hard times have caused us to discontinue support of that worthy but minimal effort.
An explanation for LGH failure to accept and support the Union League offer to operate a facility has been there may be legal obstacles. The body of evidence makes this stance highly questionable. Nevertheless, LGH could have supported the Union League’s other efforts and, by doing so, freed up League funds for the exchange.
Not only does a syringe exchange provide assistance to the patients and their loved ones, but it prevents the spread of social diseases through the community. There likely is no one sitting in the audience or on the stage whose loved ones are not susceptible as disease spreads through the general population.
Furthermore, not that this needs mentioning, treating addicts through the Medicaid program is one of the few areas where LGH probably loses money.
An exchange doesn’t just give out injection devices; it is the back door to counseling, medical assistance and referrals to detoxification programs and subsequent methadone and buprenorphine treatment. It gets people off the streets, off welfare, and back to homes and jobs.
I feel confident that most of those present here today share my concerns and believe that a syringe exchange would well serve the estimated 5,000 to 10,000 heroin addicts, their loved ones and safeguard the general public.
If LGH does not want to intervene directly, it certainly can play a behind the scene role in encouraging others to organize and support a syringe exchange.
This isn’t how you feel about Robert Field. This is about how you feel about your family and your community. You represent the medical leadership of our community. I implore you to take up the task and get the job done.
