Un-holy Holy Cross - Part Two
That's Totally Not!
Why of course we take Visa!
Yesterday, I blog-slammed the Sun-Sentinel's dumb-ass brass for naming Holy Cross Hospital CEO John Johnson as the newspaper's Excalibur Broward Businessman for 2010 – this in recognition for his alleged good works in the community and management skills as a hospital administrator.
The problem?
In selecting the CEO of Broward's only 501c3 nonprofit hospital as its Businessman of the Year, Editor Earl Maucker and his fellow newspaper executives proved themselves grossly ignorant of even the most basic elements of the hospital industry.
Like the dumb bastards at the local newspaper clearly didn't know what they didn't know about John Johnson and his very un-holy Catholic hospital .
Fact is, reality suggests Holy Cross could be accused of fraud for claiming its tax exempt status as a 501c3 nonprofit corporation.
Because while Holy Cross boasts of a “providing quality care with Christ-like compassion” and a special “commitment to those who are poor,” the cruel truth says otherwise.
The truth?
As an alleged nonprofit Catholic hospital, Holy Cross provides less care for the sick and the needy than the average tax paying for-profit hospital – both here and Broward and throughout Florida.
Thus, while Jesus once claimed it's “hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven,” it's a total bitch for the poor to find care at un-Holy Cross during John Johnson's years.
In short, under Johnson's leadership, Holy Cross has operated as a for profit hospital while enjoying all the benefits of a 501c3 nonprofit corporation.
Un-Holy Cross - The Johnson Years Part One
(Average Daily Patient Census)
Broward 1997 2008 %
“Nonprofit”
Holy Cross
Total Patients 263 255 (3%)
Insured 248 247 (0.4%)
Uninsured 15 8 (47%)
% uninsured 6% 3%
For Profit
Hospitals
Total Patients 939 850 (9%)
Insured 904 804 (11%)
Uninsured 35 46 48%
% uninsured 4% 5%
All Florida
For Profits
Total Patients 8,317 9,921 19%
Insured 8,008 9,414 18%
Uninsured 309 507 64%
% uninsured 4% 5%
SOURCE: Agency for Health Care Administration
All of which brings to mind several passages from the New Testament, regarding Johnson's brand of 502c3 Christian health care at Holy Cross. Finally...
DISCLOSURE: My dealings with Holy Cross and it's giant parent corporation Catholic Health East go back more than a decade to my years with the Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth.
But …
The un-Holy data get worse.
Like there's the un-Christ-like “charity load”” at Holy Cross – versus Florida's average nonprofit and for profit hospital during the Johnson years.
Un-Holy Cross - The Johnson Years Part Two
(Hospital Charity Loads*)
1997 2008
Hospitals
Broward
Holy Cross 0.7% 1.0%
Florida
Non Profits 4.0% 4.6%
For Profits 0.9% 2.1%
(*Gross Charity deductions as a % of Gross Charges)
SOURCE: Agency for Health Care Administration
Like:
John 11:35
Mathew 25:31-46
Amen.
Oh yes.
When I comes to sticking it to the sick, few hospitals can match the un-holy trends in the obscene sticker price for health care at Holy Cross during the Johnson years.
Like the gross sticker price for patient care at the “nonprofit” Holy Cross is 6% higher than the gross patient care sticker price at the average Florida for profit hospital.
Which, in any other world but Broward, might raise enough eyebrows to spark an investigation by the IRS – or Florida's Attorney General.
Not that any of this kept the Sun-Sentinel from honoring John Johnson for his business acumen and community service as CEO of Broward's un-holy nonprofit hospital.
But moving along...
Un-Holy Cross - The Johnson Years Part Three
(Gross Sticker Price and Cost of Care)
Per Adjusted Patient Day
1997 2008 %
Holy Cross
Gross Charges* $2,683 $9,479 253%
Cost $989 $1,802 82%
Average Florida
Non Profit
Gross Charges* $2,674 $6,964 160%
Cost $1,172 $1,859 59%
For Profit
Gross Charges* $3,225 $8,983 179%
Cost $1,077 $1,633 52%
Gross Charges - the amount for an uninsured patient
SOURCE: Agency for Health Care Administration
As a reward for his stewardship as the CEO of un-Holy Cross, the grateful Sisters of Mercy elevated Johnson to a higher spot on the management food chain at Catholic Health East.
All of which serves as further proof that “God truly works in mysterious ways His earthly wonders to perform.”
In the case of Holy Cross, the Attorney General's Office ruled Catholic Health East could not legally encumber some $70 million in funds donated to Holy Cross by local residents – this after the Sisters shit-canned their entire board of trustees for refusing to let the nuns get their hands on the money.
No matter.
In the end, the Sisters of Mercy and Catholic Health East encumbered the $70 million in local donations – despite the Attorney General's ruling to the contrary.
Again, during my years with the Attorney General's Office, I was involved in the Butterworth's successful court battle to prevent Catholic Health East from closing St. Mary's Hospital, Palm Beach County's second oldest and primary safety net hospital for the poor. In seeking to close St. Mary's, Catholic Health East hoped to turn its back on the poor by taking over Good Samaritan Hospital – the county's oldest and most affluent hospital.
As one of the nation's largest 501c3 health care conglomerates, Catholic Health East operates 34 hospitals under the direction of a flock of aging nuns in Medieval Drag and a growing Millionaire's Club of MBA's.
In short...
Based on my experience with the nuns and their MBA minions, Catholic Health East's greed-driven brand of institutional health care in South Florida is enough to turn the blessed Mother Theresa into a whirling dervish in her grave.
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