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| EvergreenHealth's "Silver Tower" and their second "Emergency Department" were funded by the District taxpayers of Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, Woodinville, Bothell, Kenmore, Duvall, Carnation, Shoreline, and Snohomish County. |
On July 7th, I received an anonymous letter from an alleged EvergreenHealth Public Hospital employee. The letter was postmarked July 5th and signed: "Concerned Employee." The employee asked me to post the letter on my blog. -- Bob Yoder.
The Letter:
"On Tuesday evening, June 21, 2022, the EvergreenHealth Board approved management's proposal to use Federal Covid CARES money in the calculation of their incentive bonus scheme, which they otherwise did not earn. The CFO stated, "The CARES money is fungible and we can use it to calculate our bonuses." The CEO and Board Chair concurred. The proposal passed 4 in favor and 3 opposed. Management can now use that money to pay almost $2m in bonuses to the administrative team. The hospital is struggling to keep nurses and other key staff to serve its patients and those funds could have been used to serve the community and not line the pockets of the administrator."
The employee went on to say: "In a separate presentation, management prepared a 10-year facilities plan which does NOT include any consideration for behavioral health and will be going to the taxpayers for another bond."
I gave testimony to the Commissioners, CEO and CFO at their Tuesday, July 20th public meeting. The Board Chair Tim McLaughlin and Kayse Dahl, Director of Strategic Public Relations & Marketing gave differing explanations as to "why there was no misuse of funds."
END
U.S. Congresswoman Suzan Delbene was informed of these actions. Her staff recommended contacting King County Council Member Sarah Perry's staff to investigate.
After Council member Perry's staff completed the investigation she said she had a "bad feeling" about EvergreenHealth. She said she needs to hear from the whistleblower to proceed; this may have changed.
DelBene's staff member recommended two places to report EvergreenHealth C.A.R.E. fraud. (Or call Bob Yoder.)
Office of Inspector General:
- HHS OIG: https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/
report-fraud/ - OIG Treasury: https://oig.treasury.gov/
report-fraud-waste-and-abuseIf
Dear Mr. Yoder,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your email of July 19, 2022, regarding a communication you received relaying concerns about potential misuse of CARES Act funds. I have been asked to respond to your correspondence because I am an attorney who advises state agencies and officials on legal issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because CARES Act funds are federal funds, the federal government has primary responsibility and authority for addressing fraudulent use of those funds. The CARES Act established a Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery who maintains a website where one may report potential fraud, waste, or abuse. That website is www.sigpr.gov. While I do not have any information with respect to the allegations in the communication you received, the individual who sent the report to you or any other individual may submit a report to the SIGPR website if they choose.
I hope the foregoing information will prove helpful. Thank you again for your correspondence.
Sincerely,
Eric Sonju
Senior Assistant Attorney General
Chief, Agriculture & Health Division
Washington State Office of the Attorney General
7141 Cleanwater Dr SW, PO Box 40109, Olympia, WA 98504-0109
Office: (360) 664-2475
Mobile: (360) 489-4416
Fax: (360) 586-3564