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Published on 05/22/1995 All articles from this issue

El Camino Hospital CEO accused of conflict of interest

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By Clyde Noel / Town Crier Staff Writer

In the middle of the ongoing physician-led indictment over the Camino Healthcare System at El Camino Hospital, a hospital district board member has introduced another controversy: the possibility that Richard Pettingill has a conflict of interest by being both chief executive officer of Camino Healthcare and CEO of the district board.

After two hours of heavy debate at the district's May 16 meeting, the board elected to have a committee look into the issue. The committee, consisting of legal counsel, two board members and one community member, will offer a recommendation to the board in two months.

In the third meeting since March, often marked by mean-spirited comments, the district's legal counsel Paul Lion reported that the State's Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has issued an advisory opinion on whether the chief executive officer of a hospital can also serve as head of a public hospital district that funds and monitors the hospital.

The FPPC ruling opined that a CEO is not legally barred from holding the position, but is disqualified from participating in any hospital district decision affecting the hospital corporation.

"We believe that under the state's conflict-of-interest law, the CEO of El Camino Healthcare is not per se barred from also serving as the CEO of the El Camino Hospital District, " counsel concluded, "but is disqualified from participating in El Camino Hospital District decisions pertaining to El Camino Healthcare."

However, the report continued, since nearly every El Camino Hospital District decision pertains to El Camino Healthcare, there is almost nothing that the CEO of El Camino Healthcare can do as CEO of the Hospital District without running into a disqualification.

Counselors further considered the question of conflict of interest concerning two members of the board who are physicians and admit patients to the hospital. Lion, representing legal counsel, declare no conflict of interest since board members are elected by the voters and their physician should not disqualify them.

The issue marks the latest development in a series of contentious public meetings as physicians and nurses addressed problems with the new Camino Healthcare System. Some doctors claim the system, which combines Sunnyvale and Shoreline medical clinics with El Camino, favors a minority of doctors.

Administrators say the consolidated system is necessary for the survival of health care at the hospital, which has too many doctors and not enough patients.

Board member Dominick Curatola said from a practical standpoint, he could not attack Pettingill since he is a valuable resource to the board.

Pettingill mentioned that the management services he provides to the board is invaluable. "One of the values I see here is the spirit of leadership that becomes important to the community," he said.

Audience member Elliot Lepler M.D. said that "the board can not continue without a person who is CEO to both positions. Without the information Pettingill supplies, the board is confronted on what direction to take."

Anne Coombs, a representative for the local League of Women Voters, stressed the board proceed with caution. "I see no conflict of interest in having M.D.s on the board and I don't see a conflict of interest of what Mr. Pettingill has done for you," she said. "Maybe you should be more assertive as a board should be. The question is, how do we line up the collaboration between the two bodies?"

But board member Mark O'Connor, who first raised the conflict-of-interest issue, stood firm on his opinion. "The legal counsel expressed it and so did the FPPC. I hope that Mr. Pettingill steps down as CEO of the district board," O'Connor said.

"Unless the board has 100 percent trust, I don't want to continue as CEO of the Hospital Board and that includes my staff," Pettingill said. "We will make the curtailment as soon as possible and you can be on your own."

"We will have to spend a lot of taxpayer's money on this board to continue on our own," said district board chairman Paul Hoar, who sensed "dirty politics" behind much of the discussions. "I don't want to take money away from the community by spending it on administration instead of a patient."