Dear George,
The stakes in August’s Republican primary could not be higher. Florida faces a multitude of challenges, including a major jobs shortage, a budget crisis, and a need for a strong conservative leader in the Governor’s Mansion.
On one hand, Florida Republicans can elect Bill McCollum – leading our nation’s legal efforts to repeal President Obama’s health care laws, fighting for meaningful litigation reform to ease Florida’s doctor shortage and lower healthcare costs and working to implement an economic plan that will create 500,000 new jobs over six years.
As a Congressman and Attorney General, Florida’s healthcare community has had no better friend than Bill McCollum. His record on cutting government red tape and ending frivolous lawsuits prompted one of Florida’s most prominent trial lawyers to call Bill “the trial lawyers’ worst nightmare.”
On the other hand, Florida Republicans can put their hopes for our future in disgraced former Columbia CEO Rick Scott, who ran the company as it systematically defrauded the government in the largest Medicare fraud scheme in American history. Using the millions he made from defrauding taxpayers, Rick Scott has taken to the airwaves to mislead Floridians about his record.
As the campaign continues, we learn more about Rick Scott’s questionable background as a healthcare CEO. Here are the facts about Rick Scott’s tenure as Columbia CEO:
· While Rick Scott was CEO of Columbia the company would purchase inferior equipment to cut cost that could hinder doctors abilities to perform their duties:
o “Surgical gloves were thinner and more likely to break, alcohol sponges were smaller, and the valve on new chest drainage tubes substituted by Columbia did not indicate whether the device was turned on or off” (allnurses.com)
o “’Gloves rip easily,’ complained hospital workers in Florida. In California, some nurses protested “filthy conditions” and being “stretched to the limit as the hospital slashed the ratio of nurses to patients” “I sometimes had to watch 72 patients heart monitors at a time,” one nurse reported. “I was told, either do it, or there’s the door.” In Indianapolis nurses complained to state authorities that babies in the neonatal unit were left unattended for as long as three hours.” (healthbeatblog.com: Who is Richard Scott and why is he saying these things about healthcare reform?)
· Richard Scott and Columbia attempted to bribe doctors:
o In 1997, in El Paso, Texas, a Federal jury found that Columbia, “personally” authorized by Rick Scott, had secretly paid doctor Ambrose Aboud $152,000 for "outstanding expenses" that he had not incurred as part of an unlawful conspiracy to defraud the business partner. (Kurt Eichenwald, New York Times: A Health Care Giant's Secret Payments Taint a Texas Deal, March 29, 1997)
o Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation wrote in a memorandum that executives from hospitals that Columbia was attempting to buy reported that Columbia offered them “perquisites and promises of jobs” and other inducements as bribes to affect their decisions on whether to sell to Columbia. This includes John Geanes, a former administrator of South Miami Hospital who stated before a grand jury that he was approached by several Columbia officials including Rick Scott.( NEW YORK TIMES: HEALTH CARE'S GIANT: Powerhouse Under Scrutiny -- A special report.; Biggest Hospital Operator Attracts Federal Inquiries, March 28, 1997, by Martin Gottlieb, Kurt Eichenwald and Josh Barbanel)
· Rick Scott and Columbia cut doctors that were not bringing in maximum profit, at the expense of patient care
o “The profit pressure that left Lawrence County, which is 71 miles southwest of Nashville, without an obstetrician also helped make Columbia the target of federal investigators. And it began affecting patient care immediately after Columbia's 1994 takeover of Hospital Corp. of America, current and former hospital employees say.”
o “Critics point to one incident in 1994, when Columbia cut back on services at a money-losing hospital in Destin, Fla. A man injured in a boating accident was left pleading from his stretcher for emergency room staff to treat him, as yellow tape blocked entry to the ER door.” (John Hendren, Hospital chain's profits took toll on patient care, employees say” John Hendren, AP, Hospital chain's profits took toll on patient care, employees say, 9/7/1997)
With the Florida Medical Association’s recent announcement to unanimously endorse Attorney General Bill McCollum for Governor, we feel the momentum heading into August is on our side. But to ensure it remains that way and to keep Rick Scott and his fraudulent business tactics out of the Governor’s Office, we need your support. Your maximum donation of $500 per person of $1,000 per household will ensure Florida’s medical community will have a strong advocate in the Governor’s Mansion and help us educate Florida Republicans about Rick Scott’s real record as CEO of Columbia. To keep up with Rick Scott’s massive spending, we need your support.
Matt Williams
Campaign Manager
McCollum for Governor
P.S. Support our campaign by clicking here.
No comments:
Post a Comment