Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Tri-City CEO Art Gonzalez gets a job in Minneapolis after $1 million payout from Tri-City Hospital

UPDATE: ART GONZALEZ WILL MAKE $490,000 IN HIS NEW JOB

See all posts about Tri-City Hospital

Tri-City ex-CEO lands job with Minneapolis health system
By Keith Darcé, Union-Tribune Staff Writer
June 10, 2009

...Gonzalez's annual base salary with the Oceanside medical center was $483,000. He will earn $490,000 a year in his new job, said Hennepin spokesman Tom Hayes.

Tri-City delivered large surpluses toward the end of Gonzalez's 10-year tenure there.

But critics blamed him for Tri-City's three failed bond initiatives, bonuses for executives that some considered excessive and a debt-refinancing program that became costly after the collapse of auction-rate securities markets last year. Tri-City faces an $8 million loss in the current fiscal year.


ORIGINAL POST:

Former CEO Art Gonzalez' severance deal with Tri-City Healthcare was finalized less than two months ago (see second story in this post). Today Hennepin County Medical Center announced that Gonzalez has been hired in Minnesota.

The forensic audit that was conducted while Art Gonzalez was on administrative leave has been kept secret, but I suspect that similar shenanigans take place at most hospitals, and the folks in Minnesota apparently agree with me.

All posts about our Tri-City Healthcare scandal. are here.


HCMC names new CEO
by Elizabeth Baier
Minnesota Public Radio
June 9, 2009

St. Paul, Minn. — The Hennepin County Medical Center has named a health care administrator from California, Arthur Gonzalez, its new chief executive officer.

Gonzalez will lead the Hennepin Healthcare System, which operates the Minneapolis trauma center and public hospital and clinic system...

Gonzalez has a doctor of public health degree from the University of Texas, and a master's degree in health care administration from Trinity University.

Most recently, he was president and CEO of Tri-City Healthcare District, a public health care system in Oceanside, Calif., where he spent 10 years...

Gonzalez has also served as the chief executive officer of Schumpert Health System in Shreveport, La., St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas; and Kino Community Hospital in Tucson, Ariz.

Gonzalez comes to HCMC at a time of budget uncertainty...Officials said cuts in state funding since 2008, and a drop in inpatient volume this year have resulted in a loss of approximately $10 million on operations.






Tri-City's severance deal tops $1 million
Former CEO agrees to drop legal action
By Lola Sherman
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
May 5, 2009

Online: To read the settlement agreement, go to uniontrib.com/more/gonzalez

NORTH COUNTY — The Tri-City Healthcare District board and former chief executive Arthur Gonzalez have agreed to a severance deal worth more than $1 million in cash and benefits....

Gonzalez was Tri-City's chief for almost a decade. He was placed on paid leave in December.

He could not be reached to comment yesterday. His attorney, Leslie Devaney, said Gonzalez was pleased with the deal...


The deal also indemnifies Gonzalez from any litigation that might name him during the period he was a district employee.


The agreement ends Gonzalez's turbulent tenure at Tri-City. When he was hired in December 1998, the district was in financial trouble...

In December, a newly-elected board majority put Gonzalez and eight other administrators on paid leave and launched a “forensic audit,” the results of which have not been released...

Tri-City's chief of medical staff, Dr. Richard Burruss... has warned that recent controversy harms the hospital's reputation.

“The medical staff feels strongly that the community deserves to know the final findings of the audit so the confidence of the community in the hospital can be restored,” he said.

Devaney yesterday would not discuss the seven other administrators she represents. A ninth district employee placed on leave has not been identified.

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