Hospital hit with another records request Hospital hit with another records request (March 11, 2005)

By Julie O'Shea

A longtime El Camino Hospital dialysis patient has made a formal request to see hospital CEO Lee Domanico's compensation package for the last three years and the salary amounts for several other top administrators and subcontractors.

The hospital has come under intense public pressure over the past few weeks to release Domanico's contract, which officials say is protected from disclosure by a special tax exemption. The Voice is suing El Camino to force the release of the documents.

In a letter dated March 2, hospital board chair Mark O'Connor denied William Teglia's Feb. 15 records request, saying that the healthcare district board, which governs the hospital, doesn't have any employment contracts in its possession.

A lawyer for Teglia, a Mountain View resident and El Camino dialysis patient, said his client intends to push for the documents release, stating that it is important that the public sees where the hospital is spending taxpayer dollars.

"He's not looking for money. He's just looking to make this information public," said Richard Spotswood, Teglia's lawyer.

Last week Domanico, in an effort to deflect growing public scrutiny, voluntarily disclosed that he made $615,000 last year.

According to his lawyer, Teglia has seen service at the hospital's dialysis center decline over recent months. The people that serve Teglia on a daily basis there are being "nickel and dimed to death" while the top administrators continue to receive hefty salaries, Spotswood claimed.

"It's clear that they've [the hospital] has cut back, but they have a healthy cash flow," Spotswood said. "We feel that El Camino is not following its own rules."

The hospital has declined to comment further on the matter.

In his Feb. 15 letter to O'Connor Spotswood asked to see compensation data for Domanico, the hospital's chief financial officer Maria Gularte and the president of the El Camino Hospital Foundation, Jon Friedenberg. In addition, Spotswood's request asks to see all compensation, benefits and travel expenses paid to each member of the hospital district's board of directors for the last three calendar years. Spotswood also wants a detailed profit and loss financial statement for the El Camino dialysis unit.

O'Connor responded last week by stating in a letter that the administrators named by Spotswood aren't employees of the hospital district and therefore the board doesn't have these contracts in its possession. The hospital district's board of directors and the hospital board of directors are comprised of the same five publicly elected individuals.

O'Connor's letter also stated that the district board members receive no compensation from the district. O'Connor added that "the district does not own or operate the hospital dialysis unit and therefore does not posses any records responsive to your client's request."

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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