The spin machine revs up!
Doctor’s lounge gossip last week told that the University was in a tizzy over something coming out of Frankfort about indigent care, the QCCT fund, or Passport. I made some unfruitful calls to Frankfort myself and waited for the other shoe to drop. It is clear today that the University of Louisville had received its copy of the Auditor’s report and had been preparing its responses. One of those responses was a press conference announced on apparently short notice for 10:00 this morning. (As usual, I only heard by accident.) There were some TV cameras there and three reporters that I recognized.
The report had only been released to the public around 9:30 this morning so no one in the room other than the UofL people had had a chance to read it, or to prepare appropriate or perhaps even embarrassing questions. I still have not had an opportunity to read it myself, but judging from the press release summary, it is a very critical report. No wonder the University wanted to put a good spin on it right away!
And try they did. You can listen for yourselves to an audio recording (8 MB) of the main portion of the press conference. First out of the blocks was, Dr. David Dunn, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs (above left in photo) , who thanked the Auditor’s office for its work. He claimed that the audit had been requested by Dr. Ramsey himself, as if it was the University’s idea all along to go under the state microscope. What Dr. Dunn did not mention was that Dr. Ramsey’s willingness to be subject to an outside audit came at a time when the University was under increasing criticism for its management (or lack of management) of the QCCT fund from Louisville Metro Council, by County Attorney Mike O’Connell and the consultant who assisted him, and others. I myself had earlier called publicly for an audit by the state of the University and its management of the QCCT. Dr. Dunn also selectively omitted the comment by the State Auditor that the audit was expanded “to address significant concerns surrounding QCCT.” It appeared to me that Dr. Dunn did not wish to go into the very negative things the report said about University accountability for public money.
Stressed was a line in the Auditors’ report that there was “no evidence that taxpayer dollars were abused.” It will be reassuring to see the financial accounting that underlies that statement, or how many of the University accounts were made available to the Auditor.
The UofL folks also stressed a line from the report that “it does not provide justification for those who desire a retreat from that mission [of providing care to the medically underserved.]” I could not agree more. I wonder, who do the Auditor and UofL think are calling for a retreat? I only hear people like me calling for more fair, efficient, and accountable ways of shoring up our safety net using available resources.
Dr. James Taylor, President of University Hospital, and for whom I have always had considerable respect, also spoke about how the Hospital and the various Boards will consider seriously whether or not to accept the Auditor’s recommendations. He could not of course speak for the Boards or the University leadership that controls those Boards. Dr Taylor also expressed hope that the Hospital’s current circumstances would not be used as an excuse to decrease QCCT funding to support indigent care at University Hospital.
I asked a question about whether or not sufficient financial information would be released at this afternoon’s final meeting of the University’s Ad Hoc Internal Review Committee to permit the public to verify or examine for themselves how indigent care funds were being used. The answer to this remains to be seen. [Addendum: No relevent financial data was presented, No attempt was made by the Ad Hoc Review process to determine if the QCCT fund was used appropriately, nor of the effect of the transfer of clinical profits to the Medical School for research and other purposes.]
I was informed that I was incorrect in assuming that the University’s Internal Review Committee was established in response to the announcement by the Auditor of his ongoing plans to look at the University’s books. The Auditor’s announcement was made public on January 26, 2012; and the University’s announcement was made public February 3. Silly me for jumping to conclusions. I will be happy to publish any documents that will remove any doubt.
Today is a big day for the University and its hospital. It will take a while to sort the out all the materials provided and I will comment further at that time.
Peter Hasselbacher, MD
Updated 9:12 pm, 23 May 2012; & 25 May 2012