Hospital refuses to release housing loan, retirement deal Hospital refuses to release housing loan, retirement deal (April 08, 2005)

Voice files new public records request

By Julie O'Shea

The El Camino Hospital Board of Directors met this week to discuss whether or not to hand over details of CEO Lee Domanico's housing loan and retirement package.

Wednesday night's closed door meeting, after press time, came seven days after the Voice filed a public records act request, demanding the hospital release the documents immediately. By law, El Camino has 10 days to respond to the newspaper's request.

In a settlement deal with the Voice, hospital officials released Domanico's 2000 employment contract with El Camino Hospital and several addendums to the original deal. Domanico had previously revealed that he earned $615,000 in salary and bonuses last year, plus a $9,000 car allowance. These items were listed in the CEO's contract. But the contract did not include Domanico's retirement plan or housing loan, which is reportedly worth between $800,000 and $850,000. Hospital board member Dominick Curatola said last week that if Domanico stays employed at El Camino for the 10-year span of the loan, the interest rate would be forgiven.

Records on file at the San Mateo County Assessor's Office show Domanico's first deed of trust on his three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath Hillsborough home was for $1 million, which hospital officials say was paid with Domanico's own money. The data also shows Domanico entered into a deed of trust with El Camino hospital on Sept. 24, 2004, although the exact dollar amount on that loan was not included in county records.

Curatola revealed last week that El Camino, a nonprofit organization, plans to start filing federal tax disclosure statements with the government, starting this year. Most nonprofits have to file 990 forms. El Camino's previous CEO received a special tax exemption that didn't require him to fill out the disclosure statements.

Hospital officials said all of Domanico's economic benefits will be revealed later this year, when administrators file their 990s on Nov. 15. This, however, does not mean the public will be able to view Domanico's housing loan or retirement package. Domanico, who has repeatedly declined to comment on the matter, simply has to disclose all economic benefits for the immediate year in the Internal Revenue Service form, which wouldn't include retirement perks or housing loans, said Jon Friedenberg, El Camino's vice president of resource development.

The Voice has been asking for Domanico's complete contract -- including all housing loans and retirement packages -- since October. The hospital put off responding to the newspaper's request until a Dec. 10 public records act request forced the publicly run healthcare organization to address the situation.

State law mandates that "every employment contract between a state or local agency is a public record." Under the Brown Act, California's open meetings and records law, both El Camino and the healthcare district that manages the hospital are considered local agencies.

Hospital officials refuse to say El Camino, run by five publicly elected individuals, is a local agency, subjected to the state's open records and meeting law.
E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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