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Volume I
Pages 1 to 87
Joint Public Hearing on the Proposed Sale
of Assets of Caritas Christi Health Care,
Including Caritas Good Samaritan Medical
Center, Inc. to Steward Health Care System
LLC, including Steward Good Samaritan Medical
Center, Inc.
By
Department of Public Health, Commonwealth of
Massachusetts
Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of
Massachusetts
HEARING PANEL:
Department of Public Health
(By Joan Gorga)
99 Chauncy Street, Boston, MA 02111.
Office of the Attorney General, Non-Profit
Organization/Public Charities Division.
(By David G. Spackman, Chief)
One Ashburton Place, Boston, MA 02108.
* * *
Held at:
Manthala George Jr. Elementary School
180 Colonel Bell Drive
Brockton, Massachusetts
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
6:07 p.m.
* * *
Jane M. Williamson, Certified Merit Reporter
2
1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 MS. GORGA: Welcome this evening to the
3 public hearing on the Caritas Good Samaritan Medical
4 Center.
5 I'm joined this evening at the table by
6 David Spackman, who's the Director of the Division
7 of Public Charities in the Office of the Attorney
8 General.
9 Are you going to lead off with your
10 comments?
11 MR. SPACKMAN: Go ahead. I'll go next.
12 MS. GORGA: Okay. I'm from the Department
13 of Public Health. And this is a joint hearing with
14 the Office of the Attorney General.
15 My name is Joan Gorga. I'm here this
16 evening with Jere Page and Ray Cryan from the
17 Department of Public Health.
18 The hearing has been called regarding the
19 Determination of Need application filed on May 18,
20 2010. The application is for the transfer of
21 ownership of Caritas Good Samaritan Hospital Medical
22 Center.
23 Before I begin the hearing, I'd like to
24 describe the role of my Office, the reason the
3
1 hearing has been called, and the ground rules I will
2 employ in conducting the hearing.
3 The Determination of Need statute empowers
4 the Department of Public Health to issue an original
5 license for a hospital or a freestanding ambulatory
6 surgery center in which there has been a change of
7 ownership, only if the Department has determined
8 a need for such a facility at the designated
9 location.
10 In order to accomplish this objective, the
11 Department of Public Health considers compliance
12 with the Department's regulations governing the
13 alternative process for change of ownership of
14 hospitals and freestanding ambulatory surgery
15 centers. Specifically, the Department determines
16 if:
17 1. Individuals residing in the hospital's
18 primary service area or health systems area comprise
19 a majority of the individuals responsible for making
20 decisions concerning borrowings in excess of
21 $500,000; substantial change in services; capital
22 and operating budgets; and the filing of a
23 Determination of Need application.
24 2. Consultation has taken place with the
4
1 Department of Public Welfare prior to submission of
2 the application regarding access problems of
3 Medicaid recipients to medical services in the
4 facility's primary service area.
5 3. The Applicant and any health care
6 facility affiliates of the Applicant have not been
7 found to have engaged in a pattern or practice of
8 violating the provisions of Massachusetts General
9 Law Chapter 111, Section 51(D).
10 4. The Applicant has agreed to maintain or
11 increase its level of free care -- actually, we
12 don't use that one anymore, so I will not read that.
13 5. The Applicant is a hospital licensed by
14 the Department or is an affiliate of a hospital
15 licensed by the Department.
16 Residents of the hospital's service area --
17 primary service area or health systems area often
18 raise questions related to the probable effects of
19 the proposed transfer of ownership on the
20 availability, cost and quality of health care
21 services, as well as on non-health related matters.
22 These concerns may fall outside the considerations
23 upon which the Department is required to base its
24 Determination of Need. However, to the extent
5
1 possible, the Department will work cooperatively
2 with the Applicant and the community to address
3 those health-related concerns.
4 Massachusetts General Law Chapter 111,
5 Section 51 requires that a public hearing be held
6 when requested by at least ten residents of the
7 Applicant's service area.
8 This hearing is held not at the request of
9 the residents, but because the Department of Public
10 Health feels that this is an important issue. So we
11 have arranged the hearing ourselves, with the
12 cooperation of the Attorney General's office, as
13 well as the Applicant.
14 This is not intended to be a trial-type
15 hearing, but rather a hearing to gather information
16 and opinions about the proposed transfer of
17 ownership. All people wishing to speak will be
18 heard. The final Determination of Need decision
19 will be made by the Public Health Council. Staff of
20 the Determination of Need Office will take all
21 relevant information into account in preparing its
22 recommendation to the Public Health Council.
23 For those who have just arrived, there's a
24 sign-up sheet for those who wish to speak. I will
6
1 be using the sheets to determine the order of
2 speakers. I will call up each speaker individually.
3 Elected officials and former elected officials will
4 be taken out of order.
5 After a brief presentation by the
6 Applicant, please limit your comments to three
7 minutes, so that everyone will have a chance to
8 speak.
9 If you have written comments, I am
10 collecting them in a folder up here. We can take
11 them back to the office, and they will be considered
12 part of the record.
13 To begin the hearing, the Applicant will
14 present their comments. And I'd like to call Dr.
15 Ralph de la Torre --
16 MR. SPACKMAN: I have to get my one speech
17 in here quickly.
18 MS. GORGA: I'm sorry.
19 MR. SPACKMAN: My name is David Spackman,
20 as Joan indicated. I'm the Chief of the Public
21 Charities Division of the Attorney General's Office.
22 I did want to thank Joan and Commissioner
23 Auerbach for helping us to arrange this joint
24 hearing.
7
1 Each of us, both agencies, are required to
2 hold a public hearing, and we hope and expect that
3 it would be more convenient for all if we did it at
4 once, because we expect we'll hear much of the same
5 comments, and having two of them didn't seem to make
6 an awful lot of sense. So I do appreciate this
7 level of cooperation.
8 Tonight the Attorney General's office is
9 here, together with the Department, to hear from the
10 public regarding a potential transaction by which
11 Caritas Christi proposes to transfer its assets and
12 operations to Steward Health Care System, an
13 affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management.
14 The office has a long history of an
15 established role in transactions of this nature.
16 Caritas Christi, like all other public charities,
17 holds its assets, including Caritas Good Samaritan
18 Medical Center, in trust for the benefit of all of
19 you. That is, in sum and substance, the nature of
20 being a public charity.
21 It is long established law in Massachusetts
22 that if a public charity chooses to transfer all of
23 its assets to a for-profit entity, that transfer
24 requires court approval. And it's also been long
8
1 established in Massachusetts that the responsibility
2 to look after the public's interest in that
3 proceeding is left with the Attorney General. And
4 that's a responsibility she takes very seriously.
5 This is not the first time the Office has
6 reviewed a transaction of this nature. Prior to
7 2000, when these types of reviews were done by the
8 Attorney General's office under common law, we had
9 transactions involving -- I wasn't there --- but
10 MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham and St.
11 Vincent Hospital in Worcester were transferred to
12 for-profit under a proceeding very similar to this
13 one.
14 Under a new statute in 2000 [sic], the
15 Nashoba Medical Center in Ayer, Massachusetts, was
16 transferred to a for-profit, again under a similar
17 process as we are employing here.
18 We now have this transaction before us.
19 And our obligation is basically to ask five
20 questions.
21 First, we need to understand whether it is
22 truly impossible or impractical for Caritas to
23 continue as a public charity.
24 Organizations such as Caritas cannot simply
9
1 sell to a for-profit because it may operate better
2 or more effectively with private equity. A strong
3 case must be made that continuing in its current
4 form is unlikely to be successful.
5 Second, did the organization carefully,
6 thoughtfully and deliberately explore and evaluate
7 available options. Was due care exercised in
8 selecting the option proposed. These are charitable
9 assets, and their sale must be considered and
10 approved in a very deliberate and prudent fashion.
11 Third, did the organization appropriately
12 and effectively manage any conflicts of interest.
13 Our office has said many, many times that conflicts
14 of interest are not necessarily bad, but they do
15 need to be handled appropriately to make sure that
16 the decision was in the best interest of the
17 organization and not individuals.
18 Fourth, is the compensation to be paid,
19 taken as a whole, fair and reasonable; or stated
20 differently, does it represent fair market value.
21 Again, these are charitable assets held for your
22 benefit, and the public is entitled to receive fair
23 compensation if they are sold.
24 And fifth, is the transaction in the public
10
1 interest. While clearly the public interest is
2 implicit in the first four criteria, ultimately the
3 public's interest must be better served with the
4 transaction than without it.
5 So that is the criteria that we employ and,
6 frankly, the criteria that we employ in these kinds
7 of transactions and in other transactions not
8 involving hospitals for generations.
9 The Attorney General is therefore very
10 interested in your views, and we look forward to
11 hearing your comments and concerns; because after
12 all, you are the folks for whose benefit this
13 institution is currently held.
14 For the record, two administrative things:
15 Comments may also be submitted to us by
16 regular mail or electronically. Out on the table
17 there is a little cheat sheet that looks like this
18 with addresses and emails. Please feel free to send
19 us comments. There's no particular deadline for the
20 Attorney General; but of course, the longer it takes
21 you, the less likely we'll have a chance to look at
22 it.
23 Descriptions of the transaction, copy of
24 the Asset Purchase Agreement, and a copy of the
11
1 Stewardship Agreement with the Roman Catholic
2 Archbishop of Boston are accessible on our website.
3 The website address is here, too. So those
4 documents you can obtain simply by going on the Web.
5 At this point I think we'll turn this over
6 to Ralph de la Torre, who is the CEO of Caritas.
7 DR. de la TORRE: Thank you.
8 Hello and thank you all for coming. I'm
9 Ralph de la Torre, the President and CEO of Caritas
10 Christi Health Care. I'm delighted to be here
11 tonight as we solicit your comments on a transaction
12 that will provide substantial immediate and
13 long-term benefits to all members of the Brockton
14 community.
15 Caritas Christi is a system of six
16 hospitals in Eastern Massachusetts, including Good
17 Samaritan Medical Center right here in Brockton.
18 Our hospitals not only provide critical care to our
19 communities, but they also serve as major economic
20 engines. As a system, Caritas Christi employs over
21 12,000 full-time employees, making us approximately
22 the tenth largest employer in the Commonwealth. In
23 Brockton alone, we employ 1,800 full-time employees.
24 We come here tonight eager to hear comments
12
1 from the Brockton community on an agreement by
2 Steward Health Care System to acquire Caritas
3 Christi. This transaction with Steward Health Care,
4 a portfolio company of Cerberus Capital Management,
5 will secure the future of our system. Your comments
6 will help guide us in delivering to your community,
7 to our community, a clear vision. As a show of
8 their commitment to this transaction, we are joined
9 tonight by a representative of Steward, Lisa Gray,
10 who will say a few words momentarily.
11 For the past five years, Caritas has been
12 searching for a financial sponsor to stabilize our
13 system and lay the foundation for continued growth
14 and service to our communities. We strongly feel
15 that the future of health care in Massachusetts lies
16 in a robust, integrated, community-based health care
17 system.
18 Caritas however, faces significant
19 challenges. Our physical plants are among the
20 oldest of any hospital system in the state;
21 investments in new technology have been lacking; the
22 pension obligation is enormous, seriously
23 underfunded, and has no federal insurance backstop;
24 and our debt service is draining our operating
13
1 funds.
2 In order to simply meet our debt
3 obligations and pension obligations, we would need
4 approximately $65 million a year of cash. These
5 hurdles, compounded by an erratic and declining
6 stock market, has made it impossible to fulfill our
7 mission and vision without a partner. In short, we
8 need capital to be able to continue.
9 In the two years preceding my arrival and
10 in the two years subsequent, we have aggressively
11 sought a way of recapitalizing our system. We
12 explored affiliations with non-profit entities, both
13 Catholic and non-Catholic, acquisitions by
14 for-profit hospital companies, and by direct private
15 equity institutions.
16 After a competitive review, we selected
17 Cerberus Capital Management, because they shared our
18 vision of world class, community-based health care,
19 as well as our commitment to pensioners, employees
20 and communities. They are committed to building a
21 low-cost, high-quality community-based Accountable
22 Care Organization and maintaining the company as a
23 Massachusetts-based operation.
24 Steward Health Care will commit between
14
1 $830 and $850 million to acquire Caritas. Of this,
2 $116 million is being spent immediately for much
3 needed and overdue capital improvements: New
4 operating rooms, cardiac cath labs, new emergency
5 departments, new radiation therapy centers and good
6 old-fashioned infrastructure, like roofs and
7 boilers. We have held five groundbreakings in the
8 past month to jump-start these projects, which will
9 produce up to 4,000 new jobs in Massachusetts.
10 Here at Good Sam, we recently broke ground
11 to build a new emergency department to support
12 60,000 patient visits, including 42 treatment bays
13 and 32,000 feet of new medical space. The cost of
14 this project is over $30 million.
15 In addition to these immediate construction
16 projects, this transaction will allow us to pay off
17 virtually all of our outstanding debt --
18 approximately $230 million -- and free up over $40
19 million in annual cash flow.
20 In addition to the massive construction
21 initiative and the repayment of our debt, this
22 transaction allows us to fulfill our obligation to
23 our current and past employees. Caritas has nearly
24 13,000 pensioners. This transaction will provide
15
1 the means to fully fund the pension of those
2 employees who have given so much to our system.
3 Since our pension is a non-electing church
4 plan and substantially underfunded, without this
5 investment, our pension would likely default,
6 leaving current and future pensioners at risk.
7 In summary, the initial Steward commitment
8 guarantees and secures our pension, eliminates
9 virtually all of our debt, and begins a massive
10 construction effort aimed at revitalizing our system
11 and our community.
12 In addition, Steward has agreed to preserve
13 our identity and to embrace our vision. Steward has
14 agreed to embrace our charity care policies and to
15 continue to fund our pastoral care and community
16 benefits. This represents an annual commitment,
17 system-wide, of over $60 million. In Brockton, that
18 means that we will continue to invest over $11
19 million a year in free care, community benefits and
20 programs such as our Community Resource Day, our
21 cardiovascular and wellness screenings and so forth.
22 In fact, one of the reasons we are soliciting your
23 comments at this hearing is to understand what
24 community benefits you find most appropriate and
16
1 worthwhile.
2 Furthermore, as part of our identity, our
3 Catholic heritage and mission will be perpetuated.
4 I've had many meetings with Cardinal Sean and the
5 Archdiocese, and we have entered into a stewardship
6 agreement that perpetuates our Catholic identity and
7 mission. This is a bedrock of our culture, and it
8 will not change. These beliefs not only shape our
9 views on charity care, but reflect our appreciation
10 of social justice and specifically their embodiment
11 in labor relations.
12 A commitment to past and present
13 obligations, however, is not enough. Through this
14 transaction, Steward is investing in the future of
15 our communities and in the future of Massachusetts.
16 We believe that in order to fulfill our mission of
17 providing high-quality, low-cost health care to
18 everyone, a new model is needed; the Caritas model,
19 the Steward model. We believe in a regional
20 accountable care organization that is
21 community-based.
22 To this end, this transaction brings a
23 Steward commitment for $400 million in capital
24 investments, locally, in our communities. This will
17
1 ensure that community-based care thrives in
2 Massachusetts; bringing not only great care, but a
3 solid employment base to our communities,
4 communities like Brockton.
5 Securing our pension, paying debt,
6 revitalizing our facilities, funding our community
7 benefits, investing in our future, are all admiral
8 and are all essential. But being good citizens
9 means a commitment to pay taxes wherever possible.
10 In our case, it is more than possible; it is a
11 reality.
12 Caritas for the first time will pay state
13 and local taxes. Over the next five years, we
14 estimate paying up to $100 million in new taxes to
15 the state and local communities. In an era of
16 painful belt tightening and hard municipal choices,
17 new tax revenues should be a godsend.
18 Good Samaritan and Caritas have a proud
19 tradition of providing world-class health care to
20 our community members where they live. This
21 transaction not only ensures, but enhances this
22 commitment. Just as important, however, is that
23 this transaction helps ensure the livelihood of this
24 community. It ensures the continuity of our
18
1 pension, expands the municipal revenue base,
2 provides for the stability and growth of our
3 workforce, and provides a real stimulus when this
4 community needs it most.
5 For all of these reasons, I am happy to
6 welcome Steward Health Care into our community and
7 into our family.
8 Thank you.
9 MS. GORGA: Lisa Gray.
10 MS. GRAY: Good evening. My name is Lisa
11 Gray, and I'm here and pleased to be here in
12 Brockton tonight as a representative of Steward
13 Health Care system and Steward Good Samaritan, the
14 Determination of Need applicant.
15 Dr. de la Torre has described the sale and
16 what it will mean for Good Samaritan, its excellent
17 doctors, medical staff, other employees and
18 especially the families here in Brockton.
19 I know your time is valuable, so I won't
20 take more of it by repeating what Dr. de la Torre
21 has already said, but I would like to take a minute
22 to acknowledge that this process is an important
23 one, not only for the residents of Brockton and the
24 surrounding community, but also because it
19
1 represents a key step forward towards our shared
2 goal of enabling Good Samaritan and the other
3 Caritas Christi health care providers to continue
4 their role as vital elements of a strong
5 community-based health care system.
6 We share the Caritas leadership team's
7 vision of community-based health care, and we are
8 impressed with what the team has been able to do in
9 just a short couple of years. We are looking
10 forward to supporting their success by providing
11 additional resources to help achieve their goal of
12 providing high-quality, state-of-the-art care in the
13 communities where people actually live.
14 Tonight is our first public hearing on our
15 application, and obviously, it is an important part
16 of reviewing and understanding the overall
17 transaction between Steward and Caritas. We realize
18 that this process will take and place significant
19 demands on the time and resources of lots of people,
20 particularly the public officials who are here with
21 us tonight, and I want to express our appreciation
22 for the diligent efforts of the Office of the
23 Attorney General and the Department of Public Health
24 and their staffs, who are undertaking a thoughtful
20
1 review of this important opportunity. We look
2 forward to working with you and your agencies as we
3 move forward.
4 And before closing, I really want to take
5 the opportunity to thank each of you who are here
6 tonight to give your views on this application. We
7 are looking forward to hearing your valuable input,
8 and we appreciate your participation in this
9 process. I'm so glad to be here and so glad for the
10 opportunity.
11 Thank you.
12 MS. GORGA: We will now hear from the
13 elected officials, starting with Mayor Linda
14 Balzotti.
15 MAYOR BALZOTTI: Good evening, everyone.
16 My name is Linda Balzotti, and I am the proud Mayor
17 of the City of Brockton.
18 I wish to thank the Attorney General and
19 the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for
20 holding this hearing on the proposed acquisition of
21 Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center.
22 Brockton is an attractive place for
23 businesses, and Cerberus' investment in Good
24 Samaritan Medical Center is further proof of this.
21
1 The investment includes 30 million for new
2 emergency rooms that will expand the size of the
3 existing space by over 100,000 square feet, and it
4 is expected to support 60,000 patient visits
5 annually.
6 That financial support keeps a local asset
7 local, which is important for this City, where this
8 hospital has been located for more than four
9 decades.
10 Being around for that long a period of time
11 has made Good Samaritan an essential part of the
12 Brockton community, and it will only get better
13 through this expansion.
14 Good Samaritan has been an attractive part
15 of our community for public service, and that will
16 continue. Local cardiovascular and wellness
17 screenings will continue. And the Community
18 Resource Day, during which the hospital partners
19 with over 25 local agencies to provide information
20 to the community on a wide range of topics will also
21 be maintained. And that is very important for the
22 community and for all the surrounding area as well.
23 But providing services to the community is
24 not Good Samaritan's only asset. As a corporation,
22
1 Caritas, which owns six hospitals statewide, is
2 Massachusetts' tenth largest employer, and 1,800 of
3 those employees work here in the City of Brockton.
4 In addition, the expansion of the
5 hospital's emergency room, which began last month,
6 and other capital improvements planned for other
7 facilities across the state will help generate jobs
8 locally and put our residents to work.
9 Lastly, supporting this move to a
10 for-profit model will also generate much needed tax
11 revenue for the City.
12 Municipalities like Brockton, across the
13 state and across the nation, are facing tough fiscal
14 decisions, many of which I've already had to make in
15 the last few months, and Brockton is no different.
16 An investment like the one Cerberus is
17 poised to make in our community is one that will not
18 only help our residents, but will help others, not
19 only through health care and services, but also
20 contributing to the local tax base. And as I have
21 said in many places, as Brockton goes, so does the
22 area communities.
23 For these reasons, I ask the Attorney
24 General and the Department of Public Health to
23
1 support the Cerberus acquisition of Caritas Good
2 Samaritan. And I thank you for your time this
3 evening.
4 MS. GORGA: Former Mayor, Jim Harrington.
5 MR. HARRINGTON: You can tell by the smile,
6 I'm the former Mayor. I want to thank you for this
7 opportunity to address the Committee.
8 My name is Jim Harrington, and I served the
9 City of Brockton as an elected official for over 20
10 years, the last four of those as Mayor.
11 Now, I'm speaking tonight to support the
12 position of Mayor Balzotti and letting the Attorney
13 General and the Department of Public Health know how
14 critical the Caritas Good Sam Hospital is to this
15 community and the broader regional community.
16 Brockton has become a regional medical help
17 for Plymouth County. And the patients who either
18 cannot or choose not to go to Boston can receive the
19 same quality of care and the same technology, thanks
20 to the investment of the Caritas Good Sam Hospital.
21 It is my opinion that this proposal will
22 allow us to grow the medical community in Brockton
23 and use this as an economic engine to provide jobs
24 and additional revenue to the city. Please give
24
1 this proposal the support it needs, so that you can
2 provide us with the support and service we need.
3 Thank you very much.
4 MS. GORGA: Michael Brady.
5 MR. BRADY: Thank you. I also want to
6 thank the Attorney General's office and the
7 Department of Public Health.
8 I've been a State Representative for about
9 two years in this community and on City Council for
10 14 years, and I want to say I support this endeavor
11 as well.
12 Good Samaritan Hospital, as a local
13 institution, is an essential part of our community,
14 and I want to make sure that this hospital stays in
15 our community. It's so crucial to the needs of our
16 community, with approximately 100,000 people. And
17 we once had three hospitals in the area. One was
18 closed in the Town of Stoughton, and we're down to
19 two. It's so important that we keep this hospital
20 in our community.
21 I'm glad to hear we had the groundbreaking
22 for the new emergency room recently, and it's so
23 crucial that we're moving forward with a new
24 endeavor on that and as well as new jobs for our
25
1 community. And the jobs are very important to stay
2 in our community.
3 Our patients as well and our citizens of
4 our community definitely need the hospital in our
5 community, and it's very important.
6 Also, another important endeavor is all the
7 revenue that we need for our community that's so
8 crucial in these tough economic times. The revenue
9 from the new jobs created, the new revenue from the
10 new endeavor and from a non-profit agency to a
11 for-profit agency is so crucial to our community.
12 And last, but not least, keeping contacts
13 in place. I know the hospital has stated that they
14 will keep the current contacts in place, keeping our
15 union staffing up to par with our local MNA and
16 SEIU, just to name a few -- it's so crucial for our
17 community -- and proper pay scales as well, which
18 are very important in these tough economic times.
19 So I want to thank the Hospital's
20 commitment and all the workers' commitment in the
21 staffing, all the way down from the doctors who are
22 on board down to the local workers.
23 So thank you for all you're doing. Please
24 keep in contact with my office. The lines of
26
1 communication, keeping them open is so crucial if
2 any changes do arise down the road, because we want
3 to make sure that everything that we have in place
4 continues. And also the pensions -- the commitment
5 to keep those pensions in place as well, because
6 these people have paid their dues, and it's very
7 important.
8 Thank you.
9 MS. GORGA: Mike Mullen, for representative
10 Christine Canavan.
11 MR. MULLEN: Thank you all and to the
12 Attorney General's office and to the Department of
13 Public Health for holding this hearing.
14 I'm here on behalf of Christine Canavan.
15 She wasn't able to be here tonight. However, she
16 did send a letter in strong support of this
17 proposal.
18 And just to highlight, as she mentioned in
19 her letter, Caritas has long been a partner with the
20 City of Brockton. And this proposal would allow for
21 much needed infrastructure, improvements for the
22 hospital and also for the residents of the Greater
23 Brockton area.
24 The proposal would also shore up the
27
1 pensions of more than 1,800 current and former
2 employees of the Good Samaritan Hospital; and
3 further, she really supports this proposal, because
4 she truly believes that it will help chart a
5 stronger future for the Good Samaritan Medical
6 Center, its patients, employees and the entire City
7 of Brockton.
8 So to close, she looks forward to working
9 with all of you. And also as Representative Mike
10 Brady said, if there's anything we can do to further
11 help you in the conversations, just be sure to let
12 us know.
13 So thank you.
14 MS. GORGA: Robert Sullivan.
15 MR. SULLIVAN: Good evening, ladies and
16 gentlemen.
17 My name is Robert Sullivan, and I serve
18 here in the City of Brockton as a
19 councillor-at-large, but I also proudly serve as a
20 member of the Board of Trustees at Caritas Good
21 Samaritan Hospital. So I'm here wearing two hats
22 proudly. I support this.
23 The due diligence that has been portrayed
24 coming out of the Caritas is exceptional. This
28
1 makes sense from a financial standpoint for the
2 present, but more importantly, for the future of the
3 hospital and the medical -- the wonderful medical
4 facility here in this City of Champions, the City of
5 Brockton.
6 I also, as a Roman Catholic, strongly
7 support this because of the Catholic affiliation.
8 But after doing my own research outside of being a
9 board member, this makes sense. What the Mayor
10 indicated today, it's going to be coming out of a
11 not-for-profit for a for-profit status. So from a
12 financial standpoint -- and now I'm putting on my
13 elected official hat -- it makes sense. We need
14 this money, and it's going to be important to
15 Brockton.
16 So to all of the respected people here
17 tonight from the A.G.'s office and also the
18 Department of Health, I would like to go on record
19 saying that I support this 100 percent, without
20 question.
21 Thank you.
22 MS. GORGA: Geri Credon.
23 MS. CREDON: Thank you. And for the
24 record, I'm Geraldine Credon, and I represent
29
1 Brockton and the Town of Easton, which would be
2 contiguous to Good Samaritan Hospital. And I'm here
3 in support of the merger.
4 In an attempt not to be redundant, I will
5 certainly welcome you to this beautiful new school,
6 which is named after someone dear to our heart --
7 he's sitting in the front row -- Matt George.
8 But what this new school is is a sign of
9 the fact that Brockton is still growing. We have
10 wonderful children in the system, families, and they
11 all need medical care. I would hope that some of
12 the parents would become or are employees. We spend
13 most of our time on Beacon Hill trying to figure out
14 how to retain and bring companies into the
15 Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And we're very proud
16 of the fact that there are 1,800 full-time employees
17 at Good Samaritan.
18 This is a capital project that couldn't
19 come at a better time. Since there appears to be no
20 stimulus money and most of it went to roads and
21 bridges, this will employ a different kind of
22 person, and it's such good news for this community.
23 And we want to thank Good Samaritan for the
24 free care that they do do. I attended a public
30
1 forum at the hospital where there was an in-depth
2 explanation. And since then, I have not heard
3 anything but positive word from my constituents
4 about this merger.
5 Thank you.
6 MS. GORGA: Are there any other elected
7 public officials who wish to speak?
8 MR. CRUISE: Yes.
9 For the record, my name is City Councilor
10 Tim Cruise. I'm the Ward 1 representative, which is
11 where the building is situated. And for the record,
12 I am very, very much in favor of this.
13 As I followed the travails for the last few
14 years of the system, it's worried us, as local
15 officials, as such a large employer, but not just a
16 large employer; it's a beacon for many people in the
17 city.
18 My youngest son was born at Good Sam. And
19 we need it to be there. We need it to be strong.
20 The infusion of capital has been very, very
21 important. It makes me feel much more confident for
22 the hospital for the future, for the immediate
23 future and the long-term future.
24 And after having just finished our city
31
1 budget last night, I can tell you that the chance to
2 have such a large property become a taxable property
3 is a huge plus for the City of Brockton. And we're
4 excited about that, because we need everything we
5 can do. But it's not just the real estate taxes we
6 will realize, it's the strength that I believe this
7 will give to the hospital for the long-term future.
8 So I'm very much in favor of this, and I
9 want to thank the Attorney General's office and the
10 DPH for having the hearing. Thank you.
11 MS. GORGA: Gene Wallace.
12 MR. WALLACE: Good evening. Thank you all
13 for coming to Brockton tonight for the opportunity
14 to speak to you about the proposed acquisition of
15 the Caritas system by Cerberus Venture Capital.
16 My name is Gene Wallace. I am the interim
17 CEO of Signature Health Care, the parent
18 organization of Brockton Hospital.
19 I speak to you tonight based on nearly, oh,
20 my God, four decades of working in health care,
21 including the past 18 months at Brockton Hospital.
22 This proposed acquisition of the Caritas
23 system is a momentous transaction which will
24 fundamentally change the way health care is
32
1 delivered in our community and the Commonwealth.
2 Tonight I will focus on your essential role
3 in orchestrating this sale that present and future
4 generations of our citizens are not cheated of good
5 care because of their economic circumstance.
6 Brocktonians benefit from two hospitals;
7 our own, as well as Good Samaritan, which is part of
8 the Caritas system, which brings us here tonight.
9 Brockton also benefits from a very active
10 environment community health center. And yet, with
11 all these resources and with the hundreds of medical
12 professionals who are part of these institutions,
13 Brockton still suffers from some of the worst public
14 health indices in the state.
15 Our colleagues at Good Samaritan have been
16 providing quality care to Brockton for many years.
17 They support good causes. They join important task
18 forces struggling with these large policy issues.
19 They provide free care for those who can't pay.
20 Under the new ownership, the likelihood
21 that they will continue to answer to the community
22 in any real sense is diminished, and that is at the
23 core of what we are asking tonight.
24 How can this transaction be structured to
33
1 benefit our community, when one of our hospitals
2 will soon be accountable only to the investors of a
3 distant venture capital firm and to all of the
4 shareholders of a yet unnamed public company.
5 The Cerberus checkbook will pump badly
6 needed dollars into Good Samaritan's facilities to
7 erase debt, invest in bricks and mortar, high
8 technology and new medical facilities, and
9 desperately needed new jobs will be created as well.
10 All of this is good for Brockton. In return,
11 however, the obligation of this new for-profit
12 entity will be to maximize profits for the investors
13 who are bankrolling the purchase.
14 When Good Samaritan moves to a for-profit
15 ownership, there is a real concern that the
16 relentless drives for profits to repay the initial
17 investors and then create an enticing asset for the
18 future will require the hospital to concentrate on
19 care for patients who can pay for their services
20 versus care for the poor, the underinsured or the
21 uninsured.
22 I am asking tonight that you recognize that
23 by taking Good Samaritan into the for-profit sector,
24 Brockton risks these real realities: The newly
34
1 wealthy hospital, where we recruit physicians and
2 care providers with larger salaries and more
3 benefits, the hospital will now have deep pockets
4 and use the extra cash to attract the paying
5 patients, while sending the patients who, frankly,
6 do nothing for their stockholders or the bottom
7 line, to the community hospital, which unfortunately
8 almost has empty pockets today.
9 The well-marketed hospital will seek to
10 expand its profitable lines of care and the service
11 at the expense of the no-frills and no-markup
12 basics.
13 Your decision about this transaction will
14 be formative in determining how Brockton delivers
15 health care to all in the community. I ask that you
16 remember that it is the community hospital which
17 remains as the community asset, and that it is our
18 collective responsibility to ensure that the
19 decisions we make are not those which further the
20 creation of a two-tiered system.
21 I have four suggestions to ensure the
22 creation of a for-profit system that can withstand
23 the market forces and ensure the best benefits for
24 the patients and the communities, the center of our
35
1 world.
2 First, to address free care. Within the
3 parameters of this acquisition, do all that you can
4 to make certain that the health care playing field
5 is level. Require a written commitment from
6 Cerberus or Steward Health Care that the for-profit
7 Samaritan serve the same percentage of uninsured
8 patients as the non-profit Good Samaritan does now.
9 And if that percentage should be reduced in the
10 future, that Good Samaritan will be required to make
11 up the difference through a financial calculation.
12 And we would trust that this would continue through
13 further sales.
14 Second, to make sure that our community
15 benefit guidelines or some variation apply to
16 Cerberus and to make sure that this arrangement for
17 the care of the community health services survives
18 into the future.
19 Third, fashion a charitable foundation for
20 the community and not just the church. Under other
21 conversions of non-profits to to-profits serves a
22 precedent for creating a well-funded foundation
23 endowed by the for-profit entity, which is dedicated
24 solely to providing a steady, healthy stream of
36
1 funding to the underserved communities in need of
2 health care. Give the communities their due.
3 Something in the range of a $100 million foundation
4 would appear reasonable.
5 Finally, recognize how this transaction
6 will exacerbate the already terrible inequities that
7 exist in reimbursement from private and public
8 payers.
9 A knee replacement at Brockton Hospital is
10 every bit as good as a knee replacement at Caritas,
11 and the same goes for the delivery of a baby, but
12 why are we reimbursed substantially less.
13 Generally, the Attorney General's own
14 report says it's because we lack market clout. And
15 the hospitals in the Caritas system already have
16 enough clout to be paid well above the median and
17 well above the Brockton Hospital level.
18 The hospitals which are part of this sale
19 will benefit from a checkbook of a balance starting
20 at almost 400 million.
21 The disruptive aspect of spending such
22 money is distressing, especially to institutions
23 like Brockton Hospital, which operates with
24 virtually no margin.
37
1 So my fourth request of you is that you
2 work assiduously to ensure that hospitals like
3 mine -- those bearing the disproportionate
4 responsibility for the care of the under and
5 uninsured - begin to receive adequate reimbursements
6 for that care.
7 For a hospital like Brockton to be forced
8 to sue the Commonwealth to be paid for our services
9 or to await for the vagaries of politics in Boston
10 or Washington to receive a short-term boost from
11 Medicaid is almost an impossible business model.
12 So make certain that Cerberus is required
13 to provide a full accounting of that checkbook, lest
14 a few years of unrestrained spending by a new
15 corporate player cause greater escalation of health
16 care costs in our state.
17 These are big ideas for a big transaction,
18 and your window of opportunity is small. May I
19 respectfully suggest that you take the full
20 advantage of the brain power in our Commonwealth and
21 pledge to convene a small group of affected parties
22 like Brockton Hospital and let us help you assess
23 the impact on this transaction on our communities.
24 Look especially at the circumstances of
38
1 safety net community hospitals like ours, and use
2 our knowledge to flesh out the standards and
3 conditions to be imposed as conditions of approval,
4 conditions which assure fair and transparent
5 competitive practices in areas such as health plan,
6 physician contracting, and prohibit predatory
7 behavior that will inhibit access to quality care
8 for vulnerable populations.
9 Again in the long-term, I would ask that
10 you also consider the appointment of a health care
11 access monitor to be funded by Cerberus for at least
12 three years, to monitor the Steward/Cerberus
13 compliance with the conditions.
14 Making community hospitals stronger is
15 making Massachusetts health care better. We are
16 grateful that you have given us the time to talk
17 about this proposed acquisition and for what it
18 could mean for Brockton Hospital, for the people of
19 Brockton and the surrounding region.
20 Please keep us in mind as you contemplate
21 this enormous shape-shifting decision for our
22 Commonwealth.
23 I thank you for the chance to testify.
24 MS. GORGA: Former Mayor Jack Yunits.
39
1 MR. YUNITS: Distinguished Panel, thank you
2 for having this hearing.
3 I served as Mayor from 1996 to 2006,
4 providing me an opportunity to sit through one of
5 the toughest challenges community hospitals ever
6 faced in Massachusetts, with both community
7 hospitals.
8 Relentless, persevering, determined CEOs,
9 especially Caritas, helped turn it around, from a
10 point where I lived with the horror that we might
11 lose the hospital to knowing that by the end of my
12 term, we were talking about quality control within
13 the floors of that hospital. To the great staff at
14 Caritas Good Samaritan who persevered, to the docs
15 and all the employees of Caritas Good Samaritan, we
16 owe them this opportunity. We owe them because
17 they're our friends and neighbors, and we owe them
18 because they served us so well under such dark
19 times. Their pensions and their jobs we hope will
20 be protected by this move.
21 I share not the fears that so many people
22 have raised that this will change the mission
23 statement of the Caritas Good Samaritan hospital,
24 because I know these people.
40
1 I know Dr. Richard Herman, who served as a
2 volunteer of my emergency medical response team
3 during those critical years following 2001.
4 I've seen Good Samaritan people and
5 employees everywhere at our charitable events and at
6 our corporate events.
7 That mission statement won't change. I
8 have great confidence in our Cardinal that our
9 Cardinal will continue to pursue the Catholic
10 mission in our hospitals.
11 But Caritas needs to compete as well;
12 because as Gene Wallace just pointed out, community
13 hospitals are the foundation of Massachusetts health
14 care. They are the first stop. They are the
15 lifesavers, and they have a right to advance
16 themselves to new technologies, and the patients
17 have a right to expect it. This provides that
18 opportunity.
19 Just two weeks ago, we had witness to the
20 opening of this new $30 million redo emergency
21 department, which will become a regional trauma
22 center so needed in the fastest growing region of
23 Massachusetts and so well deserved. I applaud this
24 move.
41
1 Like the other two Mayors who stood before
2 me, I recognize that this is not only good for our
3 taxpayers, this is good for the faith of our people
4 and the confidence that we can have in the medical
5 community. We need both our community hospitals.
6 The State needs both our community hospitals. And
7 they have a right to compete with Boston. This
8 helps us get there, and I urge you to support it.
9 Thank you very much.
10 MS. GORGA: Christine Gainey.
11 MS. GAINEY: My name is Christine Gainey.
12 I'm a medical lab technician and a 1199 SEIU union
13 steward at Good Samaritan Medical Center. In both
14 capacities, I strongly support the sale of Caritas
15 Health System to Cerberus.
16 As a union Steward, I have learned that the
17 merger documents recognize the union contract. In
18 addition, our contract has strong successorship
19 language. The clear recognition of the current
20 contract terms and obligations adds a large measure
21 of security to the SEIU unit.
22 As a technician, I feel that the sale would
23 be a huge boost to our hospital, employees and our
24 community. Financial stability will allow Good Sam
42
1 to invest in new technology, providing for the
2 Caritas mission of better, high-quality, low-cost
3 health care for our community and additional
4 training and experience for our workers. Good Sam
5 will be able to renovate and add on to our facility.
6 We have needed a new emergency room for the
7 past 15 years. This addition can actually become a
8 reality, providing our community with
9 state-of-the-art emergency care in a much more
10 timely fashion.
11 All of these improvements will allow Good
12 Sam to be more competitive with area hospitals,
13 which will provide job growth, with the potential
14 for career advancement and additional job security
15 for our employees in a better work environment.
16 With Cerberus backing Caritas with substantial
17 resources, employees can feel secure in their jobs
18 now and well into the future.
19 In the final analysis, the sale of Caritas
20 Health System to Cerberus is a win/win situation for
21 our patients, our community, our employees and Good
22 Sam.
23 MS. GORGA: Matt Wilson and Amy Summer.
24 MR. WILSON: It's just me.
43
1 MS. GORGA: Just Matt Wilson.
2 MR. WILSON: Good evening. My name is Matt
3 Wilson, and I'm a campaign director with Health Care
4 For All.
5 Thanks to the Attorney General's office and
6 the Department of Public Health for this opportunity
7 to testify tonight and for holding similar hearings
8 like this in the five other Caritas host
9 communities.
10 We, as an organization, look forward to a
11 comprehensive and thoughtful discussion of the key
12 issues that will shape the future of Good Samaritan
13 and the other five Caritas hospitals and their
14 ability to provide quality, affordable and
15 accessible health care to their respective
16 communities.
17 Health Care For All is a statewide advocacy
18 group that seeks to create a consumer-centered
19 health care system that provides comprehensive,
20 affordable, accessible, culturally competent, high
21 quality care and consumer education for everyone,
22 especially the most vulnerable. We work to achieve
23 this as leaders in public policy, advocacy,
24 education and service to consumers in Massachusetts.
44
1 We work to bring social justice values into the
2 health care system.
3 We are looking forward to engaging in this
4 public process before the Attorney General and the
5 Department of Public Health, both through these
6 formal hearings and throughout the entire
7 deliberative process, in order to analyze the
8 impacts of this conversion and to see whether it
9 will indeed serve the public interest and the needs
10 of the host communities.
11 We want assurance that this review is
12 carried out on two levels. First, on a macro level,
13 we want to ensure that a comprehensive analysis of
14 the impact that the conversion of the entire Caritas
15 network will have on the Commonwealth's health care
16 system. What does the conversion mean to other
17 health care facilities and to the overall mix of
18 resources and services across the Commonwealth?
19 On a more micro level, we want to ensure
20 that the Attorney General and the Department of
21 Public Health conduct a distinct, comprehensive
22 review of each specific hospital. It's essential
23 that the proposed conversion of each hospital gets
24 its own review and attention it needs in order to
45
1 document the needs of each host community and the
2 ability of the new owners to address these needs.
3 This process must not be one big bundle, but six
4 unique and community-specific reviews.
5 Health Care For All believes that community
6 hospitals are an integral part of the community
7 fabric and its well-being. When run well, these
8 hospitals provide vibrant and robust outreach, care
9 and support for the communities and its population.
10 We need to make sure that community hospitals all
11 across the Commonwealth continue to provide
12 top-notch affordable, accessible and high quality
13 health care that we know and expect from facilities
14 like Good Sam.
15 We certainly understand a number of the
16 issues that have been detailed before here currently
17 facing Caritas' operation. We understand the
18 pension fund is broke, and we know the physical
19 plants are in need of help. We know that Caritas
20 has been looking for an infusion of capital for over
21 five years.
22 With that context, Health Care For All
23 enters this review process with a dose of
24 skepticism. The proposal in front of us considers
46
1 selling six not-for-profit charitable hospitals,
2 owned locally by the social justice oriented
3 Archdiocese of Boston, to the New York-based private
4 equity firm Cerberus, which has never owned nor
5 operated a hospital. This conversion raises many
6 questions.
7 We are here today and are focused on this
8 conversion process because we want to make sure that
9 this is the right deal to make. We know that
10 Caritas and Cerberus have negotiated many hours to
11 formulate their mutually accepted deal. Now we need
12 to expand that process to a new set of eyes and give
13 the public a seat at the table. We expect this
14 process will be transparent, that the resources will
15 be put into third-party fact finding, and that the
16 principals of this project will be accessible to
17 all.
18 As we begin to analyze the deal and the
19 documents and look at the pieces of this conversion
20 proposal, a number of big questions arise:
21 As the profit motive is now a brand-new
22 variable in this hospital's financial equation, what
23 impact will the need to satisfy investors have on
24 the quality, affordability and accessibility of the
47
1 care at Good Sam?
2 The proposed conversion has an agreement
3 for the current administration to stay on for three
4 years. What happens after the three years are up
5 and what is to guard Cerberus from making radical
6 changes, such as the elimination of key programs or
7 even the closing down of a hospital?
8 Does the price tag upon which the two
9 parties have agreed adequately represent the true
10 value of this hospital and the network? We urge the
11 Attorney General to hire an independent analyst to
12 evaluate the assets and liabilities of this network
13 to make sure that the financials make sense.
14 Why have Caritas and Cerberus failed to
15 propose the formation of an independent community
16 foundation in Brockton to provide the community
17 resources to address health concerns? Such a
18 foundation is usually a staple in similar hospital
19 conversions.
20 As the Department of Public Health conducts
21 its Determination of Need and Determination of
22 Suitability, we need to make sure that a
23 comprehensive assessment of the needs of the
24 community is conducted.
48
1 We encourage Caritas and Cerberus to hire a
2 third-party analyst to conduct a Community Health
3 Study, which would document the current health
4 status of the community and the local health
5 insurance market and analyze the conversion's effect
6 on the community's access to health care.
7 And finally, how can we ensure that the
8 conditions set out in this agreement are measurable,
9 reviewable and enforceable?
10 As we take part in this process and better
11 understand and document the health needs of this
12 community, we also need to ensure that the community
13 benefits provided by this hospital are not only
14 maintained, but are improved upon.
15 For example, what are the hospital's plans
16 to address important issues such as mental health
17 care, cultural competency on hospital employees and
18 services, children's health, transportation for
19 patients, green building principles, HIV services,
20 substance abuse, domestic violence, community hiring
21 practices, and other community concerns.
22 As Health Care For All, we are counting on
23 all parties and the public to do the due diligence
24 necessary to answer these questions and to make the
49
1 process a thorough and effective one. We are
2 encouraged by the improvement in management of the
3 Caritas operation over the past two years and the
4 ability of the current management to right the ship.
5 With the health of so many residents at
6 stake, we want to make sure that the potential new
7 ownership will have the capacity and the will, now
8 and in the future, to continue to provide
9 accessible, affordable and high quality care to the
10 residents of the Brockton area and beyond.
11 MS. GORGA: Angela Herring.
12 MS. HERRING: Good evening, ladies and
13 gentlemen. Let me start by introducing myself. My
14 name is Angela Herring, and I have been an employee
15 of Caritas Good Samaritan for the past six years,
16 working as a certified nurse in the system.
17 As I speak for the majority of employees
18 who are certified nursing assistants, unit
19 coordinators, transportation and emergency room
20 technicians, the job security and financial
21 stability and ways to improve our deliverance of
22 care to our patients and community remain as a
23 forefront.
24 Day in and day out, Good Samaritan
50
1 employees perform services that strive to fulfill
2 our mission to become an exceptional integrated
3 regional health system. Through compassion,
4 accountability, respect and excellence, we provide
5 outstanding care to our community and to each other.
6 It's with great confidence that Cerberus
7 Management will share our common goal and that we
8 will strive into the future generating great
9 investments for our employees and community, as well
10 as providing excellent care and safety for all
11 patients with up-to-date, modernized technology and
12 expansion of our emergency department.
13 I feel as though this deal with Cerberus is
14 a great opportunity that will provide us with many
15 positive avenues. Their management skills with
16 Caritas' Catholic mission will take us into a new
17 and prosperous era.
18 I am also a member of the 1199 SEIU as a
19 union delegate. We, as a union, look forward to
20 working with Cerberus management under the terms of
21 the purchase agreement. Cerberus' documents
22 acknowledge the 1199 SEIU union contract and also
23 our contract as a successorship clause to show that
24 it stays in effect in events such as this.
51
1 Caritas Christi Health Care and the sale to
2 Cerberus with the former commitment in place makes
3 me happy and comfortable to continue to receive the
4 following obligations for our current and former
5 employees.
6 In closing, this is going to be a
7 beneficial adventure, and I'm proud to be a part of
8 it. Thank you.
9 MS. GORGA: Tiffany Jadotte.
10 MS. JADOTTE: Good evening. My name is
11 Tiffany Jadotte. I'm a Human Resources Advisor at
12 Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center.
13 I recently joined Caritas Good Samaritan
14 four months ago exactly to this date, previously
15 working at the V.A. Hospital in Brockton. So I'm
16 very familiar with the area, as well as working in
17 health care.
18 Since joining Good Samaritan, I've had the
19 good fortune of working with very dedicated and
20 compassionate employees, who have provided
21 exceptional care to their patients, as well as their
22 families.
23 I feel that Caritas Christi will only
24 benefit from the Cerberus acquisition and will
52
1 promote job growth for our employees that will
2 ultimately create career advancement.
3 I also feel that the investment in new
4 technologies will provide additional training and
5 experience for our employees; and finally, attract
6 the highly qualified candidates that will help
7 deliver our mission of quality care.
8 Thank you.
9 MS. GORGA: Manthala George.
10 MR. GEORGE: Members of the Department of
11 Public Health, Attorney General's office. My name
12 is Manthala George.
13 I'm a retired Superintendent of the
14 Brockton Public Schools, former Chair and Trustee of
15 the Brockton Hospital, and I'm currently the Chair
16 of the Board of Trustees of Trinity Catholic
17 Academy, which is a regional Catholic school
18 established in 2007 and is serving as a model for
19 Cardinal Sean O'Malley's initiative to revitalize
20 and reform Catholic education in the Archdiocese of
21 Boston for Grades pre-K through 8. I also served as
22 a member of the Department of Public Health Council
23 from 1998 to 2006.
24 The Caritas Good Sam Medical Center has
53
1 become a critical partner with our schools,
2 providing medical and nursing assistance to our
3 students, as well as health education for our staff,
4 as well as the students.
5 The hospital's leadership, when John Oliver
6 was there and Stephen Gordon, the medical staff and
7 the trustees, have been extraordinary in supporting
8 the schools and the communities and have ensured
9 that the students' medical and health needs are a
10 priority and are being addressed in a timely
11 fashion.
12 Brockton is fortunate to have two excellent
13 hospitals. And with the proposed acquisition, it
14 will continue to ensure the fiscal sustainability
15 needed to be an outstanding medical center and
16 maintain its commitment to the community.
17 The City of Brockton is a community with
18 extraordinary civic pride, and having a
19 well-respected acute care hospital such as the Good
20 Sam ensures the perception of our community and
21 focuses the view that Brockton is the hub of
22 outstanding medical care in this area.
23 I strongly endorse the transfer and
24 respectfully ask for your consideration. Thank you.
54
1 MS. GORGA: Glenn Ohlund of 142 Crescent
2 Street in Brockton.
3 (No response)
4 MS. GORGA: William A. King.
5 MR. KING: Good evening, ladies and
6 gentlemen. My name is William King. I've been a
7 resident of Brockton, MA, for 38 years, and I've
8 been an environmental service employee at Good Sam
9 since March of '08. I am also a union delegate.
10 I would like to begin first by thanking
11 Cerberus for funding and joining Good Samaritan
12 Hospital and also thanking Cerberus for honoring and
13 respecting our union contract and not to forget the
14 management staff.
15 The merger between Cerberus and Caritas is
16 important for the livelihood of the hospital and the
17 employees. The funding will open up doors for
18 better equipment and services, such as patient care
19 and safety for employees.
20 The expansion of the ER and other
21 developments will benefit our community, which will
22 open up more jobs and security.
23 For us to deliver quality care to our
24 patients and community, the funding is vital for us
55
1 to maintain and deliver the patient care which we
2 are expected to provide each and every day, so that
3 we can continue to be the five star hospital which
4 we are.
5 Thank you.
6 MS. GORGA: Barry Arkin.
7 DR. ARKIN: My name is Dr. Barry Arkin.
8 And I am a member of Brockton Cardiology Associates
9 and also Chief of Cardiology at the Good Samaritan
10 Medical Center.
11 I am very pleased to speak today on behalf
12 of what I consider to be a very positive venture for
13 the Good Samaritan and for this community.
14 A physician learns early in his or her
15 practice that in order to be effective, it is
16 necessary to be skilled in both the art and science
17 of medicine.
18 The art of medicine centers on the very
19 personal relationship between a doctor and patient.
20 It involves communication -- particularly being a
21 good listener -- prompt response to a patient's
22 needs, attention to detail and compassion.
23 The science of medicine requires the
24 physician to be a lifelong learner. Each patient
56
1 appropriately expects that his doctor is expert in
2 current diagnostic and treatment methods.
3 The physician must provide for his patient
4 a knowledge-based approach to contemporary
5 medications and diagnostic testing of, which the
6 ladder may involve very sophisticated and high-tech
7 procedures; and yes, often necessarily expensive.
8 Patients deserve expert care and treatment
9 in the community in which they live. Obviously not
10 every treatment and test can be provided in every
11 hospital, but many facilities, including ours, can
12 and should be equipped to take care of the vast
13 majority of patients' problems locally.
14 Medicine is very expensive, and there are
15 no simple solutions. Providing services requires
16 significant expenditures by your local hospital in
17 order to service its patients with state-of-the-art
18 medical technology.
19 In cardiology, for example, at the Good
20 Samaritan, we provide a very comprehensive array of
21 services, which certainly can match the type of
22 treatment provided in Boston hospitals, including
23 many of the most sophisticated procedures. We want
24 our patients to be seen in our office, and we desire
57
1 to manage their cardiology care through a firm
2 partnership between the office and our local
3 hospital, the Good Samaritan.
4 To continue to provide and expand the
5 services in cardiology and other areas, it requires
6 money -- lots of it. We are most fortunate to have
7 Cerberus Capital Management backing us and investing
8 in this hospital's future growth and success.
9 I believe most sincerely that the future of
10 the Good Samaritan Medical Center is bright; that
11 this hospital will continue to provide compassionate
12 and comprehensive care for the patients in this
13 community, and that we will deliver these needed
14 services with the appropriate combination of art and
15 science which the practice of medicine demands.
16 Thank you for your attention.
17 MS. GORGA: Sue Joss.
18 MS. JOSS: Good evening. My name is Sue
19 Joss. I'm the Executive Director of the Brockton
20 Neighborhood Health Center, and I also serve on the
21 Board of Trustees at Good Samaritan.
22 I'm here tonight on behalf of the 20,000
23 patients that we serve, some of the most vulnerable
24 and low income patients in our community, and here
58
1 to thank Good Samaritan Medical Center, as well as
2 Brockton Hospital, for the support that they have
3 given us over the years in support of our patients,
4 many of whom are uninsured and have cultural and
5 linguistic barriers to care.
6 So my hope in this transaction, which I
7 think is very positive for the community and for the
8 hospital, is that all of that will continue. We've
9 seen a new collaboration between the two hospitals
10 that I'm hoping will continue. We've seen very
11 significant investment in community benefits by Good
12 Samaritan directly to the health center in the form
13 of supporting our care for the uninsured, which
14 we -- for care that we can't provide within our
15 walls, and providing support in recruiting new
16 physicians.
17 And as we grow -- we're growing at about 25
18 percent a year -- we need to have two strong and
19 vibrant community hospitals working together.
20 So my hope for this program, this Cerberus
21 merger, is that all of that will continue. As a
22 board member at Good Sam, I worry about the
23 employees whose pension hasn't been funded, and I'm
24 delighted to see a solution to that. As both a
59
1 board member and a patient, I've seen how awkward
2 the emergency room can be. And I'm thrilled to see
3 that being addressed as well.
4 So I commend Good Samaritan and Caritas on
5 finding a way to ensure services for the community
6 and assure that their commitment to the uninsured
7 and to the low income patients that we serve
8 continues. And I'll look to that continuing well
9 into the future and beyond the initial term of this
10 agreement.
11 Thank you.
12 MS. GORGA: Laura Raymond.
13 MS. RAYMOND: Good evening, everybody. My
14 name is Laura Raymond. I have been employed as a
15 Registered Nurse at Good Samaritan Medical Center at
16 the Brockton campus since 1979. I am currently the
17 Patient Care Director of the Emergency Department.
18 I'm speaking tonight in support of the
19 Cerberus acquisition of Good Samaritan Medical
20 Center, as I believe that the significant financial
21 resources this acquisition provides can only serve
22 to benefit both the employees and the people in the
23 community we serve.
24 We are in the process of building a new
60
1 emergency department. The improvements to our
2 facility will increase the number of patients who
3 seek high quality, world class care close to home.
4 This increased financial stability will provide new
5 technology to improve care to our patients. New
6 technology will necessitate increased skill,
7 education and career opportunities. Job growth will
8 result.
9 Having the ability to provide new and
10 renovated facilities offer an improved work
11 environment. This will lead to attracting new
12 services and new talents to the community. Good
13 Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton will attract
14 new employees, who will in turn become contributing
15 members of the community.
16 I believe that the people residing in
17 Brockton and the surrounding communities will
18 benefit from this acquisition. I believe that our
19 mission to provide care that is high quality, with
20 positive outcomes, compassionate and respectful,
21 will remain steadfast.
22 Thank you for giving me the opportunity to
23 speak tonight.
24 MS. GORGA: Renee Puryear.
61
1 MS. PURYEAR: Hi. My name is Renee
2 Puryear, and I have proudly served the Caritas
3 organization since 1997 in radiology.
4 Health care is constantly growing and
5 expanding, and diagnostic imaging is no exception.
6 We remain committed to our obligation to provide
7 exceptional care to our patients with compassion,
8 sympathy and with timely quality service. To remain
9 competitive in today's health care market, we need
10 to invest in capital, so we can provide the latest
11 imaging technology.
12 Good Samaritan has well educated and
13 experienced technologists, exceptional radiologists
14 and cardiologists, state-of-the-art cutting edge
15 technology that rivals Boston health care. However,
16 we need to be mindful that CAT scan, MRI,
17 angiography, digital mammography, cardiac cath lab,
18 nuclear medicine, ultrasound and x-ray equipment are
19 extremely expensive and must be current with
20 ever-changing and advancing technology.
21 A vascular imaging suite and MRI scanner
22 will require a valuable upgrade soon. Costly
23 maintenance and service contracts, essential
24 upgrades and replacements are needed as a result
62
1 from continuous use of our equipment.
2 We must remain advanced in digital
3 technology so that physicians can diagnose and view
4 images remotely from their homes, their offices and
5 even during surgery in the OR.
6 Heart disease will take the lives of
7 approximately 630,000 people this year. Cancer will
8 take 560,000 lives and cerebral vascular disease
9 140,000 lives. Our radiology department is crucial
10 in the diagnosis of these illnesses.
11 To provide easy access for service, Good
12 Samaritan offers the Moakley outpatient Center. We
13 have great appointment flexibility with a wide range
14 of days and times available to those who struggle
15 with long work days, child care, or with
16 transportation. Appointments for CAT scan,
17 ultrasound, MRI, nuclear medicine, mammography, PET
18 and the cardiac cath lab are readily available.
19 Our radiology department cares for 150,000
20 people each year, and our ER for approximately
21 54,000 people each year, in which nearly half of
22 them require radiology services.
23 Radiology needs to be ready to accommodate
24 the expected growth with our new ER. This new ER
63
1 will provide an imaging suite for CAT scan and
2 digital x-ray, which will expedite the care of our
3 patients.
4 CAT scan and X-ray is available 24 hours a
5 day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and plays a
6 critical role in the Code Stroke protocol where
7 timing is crucial. A head CT and chest X-ray must
8 be obtained within minutes of our patient's arrival
9 into the ER.
10 Radiology alone employs 150 people, ranging
11 from per diem to full-time status. Outside of these
12 150 employees, we need the support of many others,
13 ranging in skill from schedulers and transporters to
14 registered nurses and physicians. Our employees are
15 the foundation of this medical center, and their
16 talents and strengths need to be utilized right here
17 in the community in which they reside with their
18 families.
19 The last several years have been a
20 financial struggle, and the money invested by
21 Cerberus will help us reach our overall goal of
22 achieving the highest quality care with compassion,
23 accountability, respect and excellence. Let's keep
24 our employees, cutting-edge technology, physicians
64
1 and our patients right here in our community.
2 Thank you.
3 MS. GORGA: Daniel Smith.
4 MR. SMITH: Good evening, everyone. My
5 name is Dan Smith, born and raised in Brockton, MA,
6 a current Easton resident.
7 I would like to thank the Office of the
8 Attorney General, the Board of Health, as well as
9 the staff and members of the Metro South Community
10 for holding this public hearing on this transaction.
11 I'm here tonight to voice my excitement and
12 strong endorsement of this pending transaction.
13 When you think about the dollars that are
14 represented -- almost $800 million -- it's
15 astronomical, but I'd like to try and personalize it
16 to what it means to a father of two, whose both sons
17 were born at Caritas Good Samaritan hospital, one of
18 which doesn't have perfect health, and I actually
19 have the doctors at Caritas in its emergency
20 department to thank for saving his life.
21 The other piece that I'd like to talk about
22 is I'm also the co-founder and director of a
23 non-profit organization called "Strike Out Cancer"
24 that provides patient aid to families and
65
1 individuals that are burdened by cancer. And we
2 have a partnership with Good Sam and their
3 tremendous team that helps us reach our mission.
4 My son Zachary is about a year and a half
5 old. About four months ago he had a heart rate over
6 200. His breathing rate was just -- almost panting
7 like a dog.
8 So my wife Jennifer and I rushed him over
9 to Good Sam. And thankfully, the team that they had
10 in place provided the necessary services to save his
11 life.
12 But while I was there, I noticed that it's
13 a dated facility. And having had the opportunity to
14 read about the groundbreaking that took place a few
15 weeks ago -- and actually hadn't been there -- to
16 know that my child, my family, my friends will have
17 these services available to them, and the doctors
18 and the nurses that will be able to provide better
19 services in a better facility, it's incredibly
20 exciting and inspiring to myself and my family.
21 So I'd like to thank the Caritas team for
22 putting this transaction in place and providing
23 better services for us here in the community.
24 As the cofounder of Strike Out Cancer, it's
66
1 an all-volunteer organization, so it's important to
2 us to know that this transaction that's taking place
3 is not going to affect the ability to reach the
4 folks that are fighting cancer that are having a
5 difficult time paying their bills.
6 And the team with Margaret Carr and the
7 leadership of individuals like Chris Shepherd and
8 the President of the Caritas network in Brockton,
9 it's good to know that these folks will be in place
10 and the ability to help a number of people won't
11 change.
12 So again, thank you for holding this public
13 session. I can't tell you enough how important this
14 is to the people of the community, throughout the
15 Commonwealth; and just again, I strongly urge you to
16 accept the transaction that's proposed.
17 Thank you.
18 MS. GORGA: Richard Herman.
19 DR HERMAN: Good evening. My name is Dr.
20 Richard Herman. I'm a resident of Easton. I'm the
21 Chief of the Emergency Department at Good Samaritan,
22 and I'm here to speak in support of the Cerberus
23 acquisition.
24 I'd like to say that I've been an emergency
67
1 physician in the City of Brockton for the past 30
2 years, but that would be an exaggeration. It's only
3 been 29 years, 11 months and 8 days.
4 I've devoted my entire professional career
5 to providing health care in the city. And besides
6 my experience in the ER, I've worked on a number of
7 public health initiatives.
8 I'm passionate about emergency medical
9 care, and I am passionate about achieving a standard
10 of excellence, and that is why I support this
11 Cerberus acquisition.
12 This deal will bring an infusion of capital
13 that will allow Good Sam to attract new doctors and
14 expand its services, so that more people can get
15 health care in the City of Brockton and won't have
16 to travel into Boston.
17 I support the Cerberus acquisition because
18 of the financial stability that it will bring to
19 Good Sam, to the hospital and to the community.
20 We've seen enough businesses close down. We've seen
21 enough empty store fronts in this region. The
22 Cerberus deal will ensure that the hospital that
23 sees over $50,000 visits in its emergency department
24 every year will be on sound financial ground.
68
1 But most of all, I support the Cerberus
2 acquisition, because it will mean a new emergency
3 department for Good Samaritan, for the people of
4 Brockton and Stoughton and Easton and all the
5 surrounding towns.
6 The emergency department is the front door
7 of the hospital, but that front door is a bit old
8 and weather-beaten right now. Our current emergency
9 department is showing its age, and that makes it a
10 hard place. It's a hard place to be a patient and
11 it's a hard place to be a provider.
12 In the year 2010, it's hard to deliver
13 modern health care in a place that was built nearly
14 50 years ago. The people of this community deserve
15 better. We deserve an ED based on the bedrock
16 fundamentals of excellence in emergency care;
17 quality, safety, comfort and privacy.
18 And with the Cerberus acquisition, we can
19 build that new state-of-the-art ED; a new emergency
20 department with dedicated space for trauma, for
21 pediatrics, for infectious patients, for patients
22 with behavioral health emergencies. In short, a
23 modern emergency department with everything to meet
24 the needs of our community. That is why I support
69
1 the Cerberus acquisition.
2 Thank you.
3 MS. GORGA: Karen Gavigan.
4 MS. GAVIGAN: My name is Karen Gavigan, and
5 I'm here to speak as a nurse with 35 years of
6 experience. I have worked at the Good Sam for over
7 20 years.
8 I grew up in Canton, Massachusetts, and my
9 family used the Cardinal Cushing/Good Samaritan
10 Hospital for its care. I currently practice at the
11 Same Day Center surgery department. I am also here
12 as the elected co-chair of the local bargaining unit
13 of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which
14 represents more than 300 nurses and health care
15 professionals who are the backbone of this hospital
16 and a reason for their success.
17 I care deeply about the hospital and am
18 committed to ensuring that it continues its mission
19 of providing quality care to all, regardless of
20 race, color or creed.
21 As nurses, we don't see the hospital as a
22 business or profit center, but as a center for care
23 for the surrounding communities. If we forget this
24 or neglect this, we will fail our moral and ethical
70
1 responsibilities.
2 I am here to say that I support the sale of
3 the Caritas facilities to Cerberus, but I do so with
4 some concerns. We support the sale because it will
5 provide capital funding for the much needed
6 upgrading of the facility, particularly the
7 emergency department, which will allow us to better
8 serve our community. And the ER is the busiest of
9 all the Caritas facilities.
10 We are pleased to see that the existing
11 administration is staying on board for the next
12 three years and to see that there is a commitment to
13 ensure the current mission of the hospital.
14 As a union nurse and member of MNA, I can
15 speak to the fact that providing collective
16 bargaining will protect the public and keep a safe
17 workplace for our patients.
18 The MNA is a supporter to establish safe
19 staffing standards in all hospitals, and we do
20 support a bill that hasn't become law, but we hope
21 that it does, to guaranty optimum safety for our
22 patients.
23 We know that given the economic climate,
24 for-profit providers are inevitable. They are
71
1 interested in managing investments, where we, as
2 nurses, are interested in patient safety, quality of
3 care and dignity of our patients.
4 As a member of MNA Board of Directors, I've
5 spoken with my colleagues who work for other
6 for-profit providers, including nurses from St.
7 Vincent Hospital in Worcester and MetroWest in
8 Natick. I was alarmed to learn that they are
9 somewhat discouraged about their experience working
10 in the environment. They describe a struggle to
11 have administration adhere to basic standards.
12 So we believe that the Attorney General and
13 DPH should put in protections and hope that there
14 will always be a local Board of Trustees with real
15 power to govern the operations, so that our mission
16 is followed and protected. We are committed to
17 working with our new employer to ensure the hospital
18 continues to provide care to all.
19 As one of my colleagues, Maureen Healey,
20 stated, our goal is to continue to provide care to
21 all, whether they are from Park Avenue or the park
22 bench.
23 Thank you.
24 MS. GORGA: Margie McLuskey.
72
1 MS. McLUSKEY: Good evening. My name is
2 Margie McLuskey, and I'm here to speak as a
3 registered nurse who has a long history with Good
4 Samaritan Medical Center.
5 I worked on the building fund for Cardinal
6 Cushing Hospital as a teenager and was the first
7 captain of the Candy Stripers. I then worked as a
8 ward secretary and a nurse's aide while in nursing
9 school.
10 I started my career as an R.N. in 1974 at
11 Cardinal Cushing and have been there ever since. I
12 guess you could say that I've grown up at Good
13 Samaritan.
14 We have seen many changes over the years.
15 We have been through a merger, a fire, and multiple
16 administrations. This proposed acquisition by
17 Cerberus is much needed for capital improvements,
18 which are necessary to improve the physical plant
19 and to help our hospital to better serve the
20 community we are so closely connected to, especially
21 the new emergency department.
22 However, I am hoping that Cerberus will
23 continue to follow the present mission of the
24 hospital to provide the highest quality care to all
73
1 who enter our doors, regardless of race, creed,
2 color or economic status. My fear is that if we
3 abandon that mission in order to keep investors
4 happy, then we will have failed as a major health
5 care provider to the people of Brockton and all of
6 the surrounding communities that we serve.
7 Given the current economic climate and the
8 changing health care environment, I believe that
9 for-profit health care systems are inevitable. My
10 main concern is the potential to place profit ahead
11 of patients; to let the bottom line be the sole
12 determination for decisions made in the future.
13 As an R.N., presently working as a case
14 manager, I have on occasion had to make decisions
15 that were not always the best for the profitability
16 of the hospital, but I knew they were the best for
17 my patients. Because of the mission of the
18 hospital, I was generally supported in these
19 decisions by the administration, because it was what
20 was best for our patients.
21 I hope that as long as I continue to work
22 at Good Samaritan, I will be able to make the best
23 choices for patients and their families, even if
24 that decision may not be the most profitable
74
1 decision for the hospital.
2 My hope for the future is that Cerberus
3 will continue this mission that I have worked under
4 for the last 36 plus years. Thank you.
5 MS. GORGA: Kerry McCollem.
6 MS. McCOLLEM: Good evening. My name is
7 Kerry McCollem, and I work in the Critical Care Unit
8 at the Good Sam. More importantly, I have lived in
9 the community served by the Good Sam, and my family
10 and I have been patients of the Good Sam.
11 I'd like to speak tonight in favor of the
12 Cerberus Capital Management acquisition of Caritas
13 Christi.
14 For the past three years, I have worked
15 side by side with nurses, physicians, therapists,
16 technicians, administrators and others in the
17 Critical Care Unit. We have always provided
18 compassionate, exceptional care to the patients and
19 families we serve, but we have not always provided
20 this in an exceptional facility.
21 We now have the opportunity to continue
22 this exceptional care with the latest and most
23 advanced technologies. The influx of new monies
24 into our hospital from Cerberus will allow us to
75
1 invest for the future in our people, facilities and
2 technologies. Even before the acquisition is
3 completed, we have begun construction of a world
4 Class 32,000 square foot emergency room, only a
5 stone's throw from where we are seated tonight. And
6 I know that's the first time you've heard that
7 tonight, so I apologize.
8 The improved financial stability made
9 possible through the acquisition allows us to
10 continue our mission with a sure-footed future.
11 This clear future gives security, confidence and
12 peace of mind to our current employees, while also
13 enabling us to attract the best and brightest talent
14 in health care.
15 This financial vitality extends beyond the
16 walls of the medical center as well. Our new tax
17 status will allow us to spread the tax burden faced
18 by the people in our community. Responsible growth
19 will create new jobs, and our capital projects will
20 stimulate other local businesses. It's a wonderful
21 cycle that I hope continues for years.
22 On a very personal level, I have comforted
23 many families through difficult times in my Critical
24 Care Unit. I have heard their life stories, the
76
1 stories of their husband, wife, parent, and
2 unfortunately even children that they are losing.
3 Some of these people have been coming to the Good
4 Sam in one form or another for most of their lives.
5 We deserve world class health care where we
6 live in this community. My family deserves it and
7 so does yours. Cerberus is the vehicle to that
8 world class care. And that is why I completely
9 support this new magnificent future.
10 Thank you.
11 MS. GORGA: Mary Waldren. 50 School
12 Street, Brockton.
13 (No response)
14 MS. GORGA: Melissa MacLeod.
15 MS. MacLEOD: Good evening. My name is
16 Melissa MacLeod. I'm the clinical leader in the ICU
17 and the Senior Behavorial Health Unit at Good
18 Samaritan. I've been working there for the past
19 seven years as a registered nurse in the ICU and
20 just recently joined the administration team.
21 I'm very excited about the acquisition of
22 Caritas Christi by Cerberus Capital Management. To
23 me, this will mean several things.
24 The financial stability of the hospital
77
1 will increase job security and allow for further
2 career advancement. As we have seen in surrounding
3 hospitals, the lack of nursing positions and job
4 freezes has been overwhelming. Knowing that Caritas
5 will be expanding their workforce and not decreasing
6 it brings comfort to me and my fellow co-workers.
7 From the new emergency room to new
8 state-of-the-art equipment, we will be able to
9 provide the finest medical care in the area. The
10 new facilities will offer a better environment and
11 enable us to focus on what we are truly here for;
12 the patients.
13 My mother has worked here at Good Samaritan
14 for almost 40 years. This acquisition gives me the
15 confidence that I may see the same longevity with
16 Caritas.
17 Thank you.
18 MS. GORGA: Senator Tom Kennedy.
19 SENATOR KENNEDY: Good evening. I
20 apologize for being tardy. I'm just coming from a
21 long hearing at the State House regarding the
22 expanded gambling and racing bill, and obviously
23 there's strong interest of me and my constituents in
24 this area.
78
1 The last time I was in this auditorium was
2 my first time. It was when we dedicated this
3 beautiful facility to Matt George, a living legend
4 here in Brockton and an educator of the highest
5 renown across the Commonwealth.
6 So I'm so happy to see this building used
7 for a full purpose; education for our young folks
8 and for community service for hearings such as this.
9 And I thank the authorities and the bureaucrats for
10 taking the time to come here, a long hearing and a
11 long evening.
12 I'm here just to say a few words of support
13 about my feelings for Good Sam and its newest
14 chapter in its long history.
15 My original exposure to Good Sam was in
16 1965 as a 14-year-old alter boy at St. Patrick's
17 Parish. My pastor was Monsignor Peter Tooey, one of
18 the first members of the Board of Trustees of the
19 Cardinal Cushing Hospital. He recruited a couple of
20 us for the groundbreaking, what was then a farm just
21 up on the edge of the city in a little developed
22 section.
23 And I was there when the Cardinal moved the
24 earth himself to commence the construction of what
79
1 turned out to be such a beautiful, beautiful
2 facility and a lovely campus. Its setting alone is
3 very special and eye-catching.
4 I was there again in 1968, when his
5 Eminence cut the ribbon. And there's a picture, I
6 think, of him and myself behind the Cardinal in the
7 corridor leading down to the emergency room.
8 So my affection and my bond with the
9 Cushing Hospital, Good Sam, go way back. And I'm
10 happy to be part of this hearing and this new
11 endeavor in a very small, but enthusiastic capacity.
12 Good Sam has truly been an essential part
13 of our community fabric. This action that we're
14 discussing today solidifies the long-term stability
15 of the tenth largest employer of the Commonwealth of
16 Massachusetts, with 1,800 employees, workers,
17 valuable workers at Good Sam in the Greater Brockton
18 area.
19 As I understand, this acquisition will
20 permanently secure the pensions of 13,000 current
21 and former employees of Good Sam. And that's a
22 great relief and a source of comfort and
23 satisfaction to families wide and far, that you
24 folks that make such decisions cannot truly
80
1 understand or appreciate how much that means to so
2 many.
3 The conversion to a for-profit organization
4 will help generate badly needed local tax revenues.
5 And as someone on the Ways and Means Committee up in
6 the State House who is having to make tough
7 decisions in our budget recommendation for this
8 year, "tax revenues" are the sacred words, and it's
9 the key words that we grab onto in these dark days
10 of the Good Sam coming along and now going to use --
11 provide badly needed tax revenues on the beautiful
12 campus I just spoke about is a big shot in the arm
13 to Brockton.
14 In a time when companies are leaving
15 Massachusetts and do so causing great pain and
16 anguish for many of us, this is most encouraging to
17 have guaranteed that Massachusetts will not lose
18 ownership or control of the Good Sam or the Caritas
19 system; but rather, it will be a home-based
20 business.
21 The capital projects that are being
22 discussed and are currently undergoing up at Good
23 Sam in the form of a beautiful new emergency
24 department, again, is most encouraging and a real
81
1 commitment as to the truism of the promises of the
2 takeover of Caritas Good Sam.
3 And the commitment that has been made and I
4 know will be fully recognized and lived up to is
5 most encouraging; a pledge to maintain over $67
6 million in yearly community benefits and spending
7 programs that benefit the Greater Brockton area,
8 benefits like the local cardiovascular and wellness
9 screening clinics.
10 Lots of folks go up there and use those
11 open houses to go in and take those simple tests
12 that are life-saving movements and measures. They
13 feel very comfortable and very much at ease in
14 dealing with the personnel; and the end results,
15 again, are beneficial to the individuals, the
16 families and to our community in general.
17 The Community Resource Day at Good Sam
18 partners with approximately 25 different agencies on
19 a variety of medical issues, including low income
20 prescription costs, mortgage assistance, health care
21 insurance, daycare. The whole gamut of the social
22 programs that, again, are very viable to a community
23 like Brockton are so nicely addressed in the past by
24 Good Sam and now in the future by the new takeover.
82
1 So Good Sam's influence is widespread in
2 over 56 community organizations in the Brockton area
3 that have on their boards as advisors, as mentors
4 and as members staff personnel emulated in the
5 standards of Good Sam that have come forth from
6 their free time after their labors as employees and
7 spend their free time in civic and volunteer
8 capacities for the betterment of our community.
9 So we're very grateful for what Good Sam
10 has done, and we're even more grateful for what she
11 is going to continue to do under this new
12 leadership.
13 So I wholeheartedly endorse it and urge all
14 parties to support it in every way possible. Thank
15 you.
16 MS. GORGA: Dr. Peter Gordon.
17 As Dr. Gordon walks to the podium, I'd like
18 to tell you that we are coming to the end of the
19 list of those who have signed up.
20 If you didn't sign up as you came in and
21 you would now like to speak, I'd like to invite
22 you to go out into the hall and sign up. And
23 we will then call you after Dr. Gordon. Thank
24 you.
83
1 DR. GORDON: Thank you very much.
2 Members of the Committee and Audience,
3 first let me introduce myself. I'm a diagnostic
4 radiologist who has spent my entire 30-plus-year
5 career in this community. I'm Chairman of the
6 Department of Radiology, immediate past president of
7 the medical staff of Caritas Good Samaritan and was
8 even president of the medical staff at the Cardinal
9 Cushing. I was also past president of the
10 Massachusetts State Radiology Society.
11 I would like to speak strongly in favor of
12 the proposed acquisition of Caritas Christi Health
13 Care by Cerberus Management.
14 We have always attempted to provide the
15 highest quality and cost-effective medical care to
16 our Brockton community. Over the past decades we've
17 been quite successful in this endeavor. Cerberus
18 Capital Management will infuse substantial funds
19 such that Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center will
20 be capable of fulfilling this mission now and well
21 into the future.
22 My specialty requires significant capital
23 investment in order to provide state-of-the-art
24 imaging. We have been long leaders in imaging and
84
1 wish to remain so. It is obvious to all that our
2 emergency room and operating rooms, although
3 serviceable, require major upgrades to better serve
4 our patients.
5 It is my desire that patients should feel
6 that Caritas Good Samaritan provides the environment
7 and equipment, such that in times of stress,
8 patients and their families can feel confident that
9 the best medical care is right here in our community
10 of Brockton.
11 The employees of Good Samaritan Medical
12 Center have incredible longevity with the
13 organization, and it has been my great pleasure to
14 work with them through many years.
15 As you may know, Cerberus Capital
16 Management plans to fully fund the employee
17 pension fund. Our hardworking employees, many of
18 whom are part of our Brockton community, deserve to
19 receive the retirement that they have earned and
20 expect.
21 The multimillion dollar construction that
22 is ongoing as we speak will employ many Brocktonians
23 in the construction phase and will allow for
24 long-term employment as our hospital expands.
85
1 It is my belief that there is no
2 significant difference in the medical care provided
3 by a for-profit and a not-for-profit organization.
4 We have a strong board, a strong medical staff,
5 strong nursing, strong technologists. People in
6 this community are committed to strong medical care,
7 and we will do so with the help of Cerberus.
8 Furthermore, a for-profit organization will generate
9 tax revenues for the people of Brockton.
10 In closing, I hope that you will favorably
11 consider the acquisition of Caritas Christi Health
12 Care by Cerberus Capital Management. Our patients
13 will be better served, and an improved medical
14 center will be a source of pride and comfort for
15 Brockton.
16 Thank you very much.
17 MS. GORGA: Thank you. There are no more
18 speakers, unless anyone would like to step forward
19 now and speak.
20 (No response)
21 MS. GORGA: I declare the hearing
22 closed.
23 The record will be kept open until July
24 30th. If you have comments and you wish to submit
86
1 them, you can either do that tonight or you can send
2 them to me.
3 The address is in the ad that many of you
4 probably saw in the Brockton Enterprise; or if you
5 wish to stop at the desk on the way out, I can give
6 you the address.
7 Thank you very much for coming.
8 (Whereupon, the hearing was
9 closed at 7:52 p.m.)
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1 C E R T I F I C A T E
2 I, Jane M. Williamson, Certified Merit
3 Reporter, do hereby certify that the foregoing
4 transcript, Volume I, is a true and accurate
5 transcription of my stenographic notes taken on
6 Tuesday, June 8, 2010.
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10 Jane M. Williamson
11 Certified Merit Reporter
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D I S C L A I M E R
This transcript in any format is a confidential
communication between Doris O. Wong Associates,
Inc., a professional court reporting firm, and the
parties to this matter and their counsel. Any
reproduction or distribution of this transcript
without the express permission of the parties is a
violation of this confidentiality. To fulfill any
request to the court reporter for an additional copy
or copies from persons or entities without standing
in this matter will require the consent of the
parties and/or counsel and/or a court order for such
delivery.
