Settlement funds eyed by agency
July 30, 2006
Randy Smith: Offered millions to help restore a
hospital in Calexico.
By Eric Galvin, Staff Writer
Calexico – An offer to provide millions of dollars
to help restore a Calexico hospital still stands, according to former
Calexico Hospital Management Group administrator Randy Smith,
Less than two months ago, Smith, the former
administrator of the long-defunct Calexico Hospital, and his former
silent partner Jay Ash were awarded a $12 million settlement in a suit
against the state Department of Health Services.
At the time Smith offered to provide the majority
of the money to the city if it was interested in re-establishing a
hospital.
On Friday, a Calexico Neighborhood House official
confirmed interest in Smith's offer.
“We asked him if he would be willing to help us and
he said yes,” Neighborhood House program coordinator Cynthia Alba said.
“We told him we would send him information and he said he would look at
it.”
Smith said Neighborhood House was the only agency
in Calexico to inquire about the offer.
He said he had not yet received any calls from the
Heffernan Memorial Hospital District or anyone representing the city of
Calexico.
He said he was not surprised.
“No not at all. I'm used to the politics,” said
Smith, now a business consultant in San Diego.
Calexico City Councilman David Ouzan said the
council was aware of the offer, but “has not really looked into it.”
Smith and Ash decided to sue the state when
inspectors, they said, dragged their feet on certifying the hospital to
reimburse for Medi-Cal and Medicare billings. Because it took so long,
Ash and Smith ran out of money wile trying to keep the hospital open and
employees paid through a combination of city loans and their own
personal assets.
A jury in Imperial county Superior Court agreed
with Smith and Ash's contention and awarded them one of the largest
settlements in Imperial County court history.
The city Redevelopment Agency owns the Calexico
hospital building and the Heffernan board is the governing body of
hospital operations in Calexico.
While Smith has been away from hospital
administration since 1998, the same year the Calexico hospital closed,
he said he still has an interest in Calexico having its own hospital or
“medical community.”
“I've never seen a place that needed health care
more than Calexico,” Smith said. “The community still deserves what it
needs, regardless of all political interference.”
Alba said Neighborhood House, which works in
conjunction with the General Board of Global Ministries of the United
Methodist Church to help low-income families with various services, has
been working with the community to help establish a hospital in
Calexico.
And while the contact has been made by Neighborhood
House, there is no guarantee Smith and Ash will receive the money
awarded.
Their lawyer, Dan Lawton, confirmed the state
appealed the verdict. The appeal will be handled on an expedited basis,
so a final decision will be made by year's end.
On Wednesday, an El Centro judge awarded Smith and
Ash $2.28 million in attorney's fees and costs for the case.
Lawton said he expected that decision to be
appealed, too.
“We expect them to continue fighting until they run
out of appeals,” Lawton said.
Lawton said he doesn't believe the appeals to be
standard protocol and conceded he met with state attorneys previously
about discussing a settlement.
He said they “disdained every opportunity.” He also
said while offering to talk about a settlement, a condition on his part
would be that there would be no further settlement talks should an
appeal be made on the state's end.
“We're talking about good sense and fiscal
responsibilities,” Lawton said. “They act like they're completely
disinterested in that.”
Staff Writer Eric Galvan can be reached at 337-3441
or at egalvan@ivpressonline.com
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