Legislative action is a bad idea...
Here is the Henry Times article on the hospital authority.
The more I read into this situation, the less I am inclined to back any legislative action. The whole thing is a power grab from the Board of Commissioners and they are using the legislature to get what they want. House Bill 151 isn't a piece of local legislation, it would apply to the entire state, not to mention that it adds another layer of bureaucracy...and the BOC hasn't been fiscally responsible and it is hypocritical to complain about a one million dollar donation to the golf tournament from a taxpayer funded entity, when the BOC is doing the same thing through Nash Farm.
The hospital deserves scrutiny for the use of that money, there is no denying that. The first step would be to eliminate taxpayer funding, which is what the delegation and BOC should focus on, not this hypocritical power grab.
Also, the taxpayers in the county deserve an explanation as to why the proposed Emory buyout was turned down.
Comments
I doubt that Emory ever made an offer to purchase HMC. Who has fed you this bit of misinformation?
You might test your source by asking him/her to provide the details of the alleged offer. When was it made, who made it and to whom was it made? What part of Emory made the offer? Was it in writing? Did the Board of Directors consider the offer and vote on it? What was the outcome of the vote? What were the specific terms on the offer, including purchase price, transfer of land holdings, handling of employees and other issues?
An offer to purchase an entity the size of HMC would have been serious business --- it would have been in writing and would have been quite detailed. Unless your source can provide this information, I call the entire claim baseless. Perhaps it's more of the BOC power grab?
Posted by: southsidetoby | March 11, 2007 08:45 PM
When I originally posted this, I portrayed it as a rumor, but it's something that has been verified by a few different sources.
I understand that a vote was taken by the hospital board. As far as your other questions, I don't have an answer.
If I couldn't confirm it, I wouldn't have posted it. But when you have three or four credible sources telling you the exact same thing, it's hard to ignore it.
Posted by: Jason | March 11, 2007 09:12 PM
But did you confirm?
Your sources no doubt believe what they're saying is true, but it's the credibility of the information that matters. If all they are verifying for you is the generalized claim that "Emory" made an "offer" to buy HMC, I remain doubtful that it's true.
This has the hallmarks of one of those internet email hoaxes that my older relatives insist on alerting me to. It's all very general. Much is left unexplained. And none of it makes sense. Why would "Emory" even make such an offer, whatever the offer was? And your information is that the board considered and turned it down? No counter-offer? No explanation? And no publicity whatsoever?
In the business world, an offer is a very specific thing, involving particular terms, including price and other details. This is especially true when the purchase of a multimillion dollar business is involved. Why can't your sources provide this information?
The lack of detail that makes me suspicious. I think your sources may just be rehashing a rumor back to you.