October 16, 2010
ON THE RECORD
To: Marv Adams, Gil Smart, E. Cornelius
From: Robert Field
Re: Below NewsLanc article
If the funding of dire needs of the hungry, the homeless and the sick were not so demanding on my resources during this great recession, I would raise funds to create a foundation which would explore ways to bring transparency and civic responsibility to Lancaster General Health.
I appreciate the professionalism of the Lancaster Newspapers in prominently reporting the Beeman gift of over $1.2 million. But where are the editorials criticizing the give away and the opaque manner in which LGH conducts its business?
People are talking…including prominent members of the community. Some who have come up to me to praise NewsLanc’s coverage are associated with LGH. LGH is a Public Charity which has taken on the worst trappings for profit corporations, but has no stock holders to hold it to account.
My feeling is that it is not enough for newspapers to report the news. In blatant cases, it should opine.
Regards
Robert
Inquirer: Hershey deal merits investigation. Then how
about LGH?
An editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer calls for an invesetigation by Tom Corbett, Attorney General:
“Revelations regarding the questionable expenditure of millions of charitable dollars by the trustees at the Hershey School deserve a thorough investigation by the state.
The Inquirer reported that the board paid an inflated price of $12 million for a golf course, and then spent another $5 million building a clubhouse. The purchase price was two to three times Hershey’s own appraisal of the golf course…
Coincidentally or not, the purchase bailed out 40 to 50 local businessmen and doctors who had made a bad investment in the money-losing golf course. Along came the school to bail out the executive duffers. One of those investors happened to be Richard H. Lanny, at the time chief executive of Hershey Co. Lanny was also on the board of the Hershey Trust, which oversees the school.” (more)
From the point of view of the Hershey orphans and the poor and needy of Lancaster (not to mention the rest that have to pay inflated health care premiums), how much different is the golf course bail out from gifting $1.2 million to Lancaster General Hospital’s President and CEO, Tom Beeman?
If the Attorney General won’t investigate the give away and the opaque use of public funds at LGH, is the time coming to engage counsel specializing in foundation law and consultants knowledgeable concerning hospital management to investigate what is actually going on at LGH?
