100 signatures reached
Join Raymond K. in signing this petition.
To: Citizens of Lee county Florida
Request for full audit of Lee Health's assets
Lee Health as an organization is owned by the Lee County public. The public and the present board representing the public is being asked to consent to a transfer of ownership to a private not for profit new governance and business status. The decision will transfer all the public's Lee Health assets to the new entity.
As Lee Health moves forward with seeking dissolution of its public charter with intent of dissolution of it's public board, and in order to provide the public shareholders of Lee Health full and accurate information, the public is owed a full disclosure of all Lee Health assets by item and business relationships by contract. To date the public has only been provided an analysis of potential costs and market concepts via the Kaufman report paid for by Lee Health for public consumption.
It is possible that the public would be better served by diminishing Lee Health's current assets and allow for a sale of assets to other market participants. It is not possible to assess the impact of such a proposal without a full accounting and understanding of the public's assets. Lee health would have to pay for such accounting and reporting and thus it needs to be demonstrated that there is adequate public interest in posing the questions and requesting the information.
This petition is seeking signatures to show to the board and the Lee county commission the level of public interest in gaining this information. Further, the signatures represent an interest in an honest assessment of how taking an alternative path as suggested would benefit and or potentially harm the public.
Why is this important?
Lee Health is proposing a change in governance which will remove public voting control of its board of directors. Lee Health has not been fully transparent in its business holdings as acknowledged in its public financial statements. Specifically, the accounting firm reviewing their reports state the Lee Health Foundation business and accounting is not part of the analysis of Lee Health's financials.
Lee Health is historically a hospital system with special government sanctions and benefits that in exchange has agreed to provide charitable health care to the Lee county citizen's that need it. Its structure has provided the development of Lee Health foundation which has received unknown amounts of donations and assets as presently structure. Further it has benefited from tax protection allowing higher usable capital to purchase assets and good will in the community.
The present proposal of changing governance will disband the requirement of charitable care as well as increase Lee Health's geographic reach into the health care sector. Lee Health has stated its intent to move away from hospital services and into more non hospital specialty care and outpatient (non hospital) health business. There is no evidence that this is the business Lee Health needs to support especially for charitable care. This is a decision to move beyond the purpose of a hospital and due to the history of Lee Health's past charter, Lee has experience a significant market advantage to expand physical and business assets. Lee Health is proposing to take the public's assets under its new entity with private board supervision and management. The public needs to be provided a sober view of what the accumulated assets are and to consider the benefit of a value added tax as part of any sales of assets. The tax revenue could be placed in Trust for the citizens of Lee county to provide financing for charitable care in a new and different Lee county health care market.