Exclusive to The Grant County Beat - August 20, 2015

Subject: An open letter to the citizens of Grant County regarding the financial management and performance of Gila Regional Medical Center (GRMC)

From: David R. Furnas, CHCIO, CISM, CISSP, PMBA
Former Chief Information Officer for GRMC, 2006-2013

Citizens of Grant County - It has come to my attention that some members of the community are calling into question the performance of Mr. Craig Stewart, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for GRMC, with some individuals even going so for as to allege he may have engaged in professional misconduct that directly contributed to GRMC €™s recent sub-optimal financial performance.

I can easily explain how that could simply not be true and, to do that, I need to take just a few minutes of your time to familiarize you with three elements of the financial management process at GRMC in which the CFO plays a key role:

Budgeting: GRMC’s fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30. About four or five months prior to the start of the new fiscal year, the CFO is accountable for leading the effort to develop a new budget. This is accomplished with input from GRMC department heads, other members of GRMC Administration, the Medical Staff, and the Board of Trustees, as well as members of the community. Once the development of the new budget has been completed, the CFO presents the budget to the Board of Trustees for their approval. Once the Board has approved the budget, a copy goes to the Grant County Commissioners for their further review, and an additional copy goes to Santa Fe to the members of State government responsible for overseeing the financial management of County-owned hospitals. Both the Grant County Commissioners and the State of New Mexico have the authority to send the budget back to GRMC for further changes if they feel it would be appropriate to do so. During my tenure at GRMC, never once did the Grant County Commissioners nor the State of New Mexico send the budget back to GRMC for further changes.

Accounting: Each month at the Board meeting, the CFO presents a documented accounting of the hospital’s financial performance for the prior month and the fiscal year-to-date. I always found Mr. Stewart’s accounting reports to be comprehensive and at an appropriate level of detail to support effective decision-making by both the Administration and the Board. Those accounting reports are part of the permanent record at GRMC and are available in the Administration Office for review. From time to time, there would be mathematical or statistical errors in the reports. Such errors were trivial in nature, and were always fully evaluated and corrected prior to the next Board meeting. During my tenure at GRMC, never once did a Trustee accuse Mr. Stewart of intentionally introducing any such errors into the accounting reports.

Auditing: Each year, and as required by law, GRMC will employ the services of an Independent Auditor to review the hospital’s financial controls and accounting practices. I was personally involved in eight such audits. Once the Independent Auditor has completed their assessment and produced the audit report, the report is presented to the Board of Trustees. During my tenure at GRMC, never once did the Independent Auditor identify significant deficiencies in any required financial controls nor did they find any evidence of improper accounting practices. From time to time, the Independent Auditor would identify opportunities for enhancements to existing controls or practices, but Mr. Stewart and the Finance Department never failed to receive an overall satisfactory review from the Independent Auditor.

As you can see, there are many individuals and groups involved in the financial management of the hospital and they are collectively accountable for the hospital’s financial performance; it is not simply a matter of decisions or actions taken or not taken solely by the CFO that drives those results. In addition, there are Federal or State subsidies received by GRMC that may be significantly reduced or even interrupted—without any prior warning—that could have an unplanned and significant adverse impact on the hospital’s financial performance.

Because of the shared financial accountability at GRMC, any proposition that Mr. Stewart could create a condition that would adversely impact GRMC’s financial performance, as the result of either action or inaction solely on his part, and for such a condition to then go undiscovered by the rest of the Finance Department, the rest of GRMC Administration, the GRMC Board of Trustees, the Grant County Commissioners, the State of New Mexico, and the Independent Auditor for a period of approximately ten years is not just improbable, it is simply nonsense.

Across the span of my own career, now into its fourth decade, I have worked with many senior financial professionals including other hospital CFOs. I count Mr. Stewart among the very best of them and I would not hesitate to serve with him again given the right opportunity to do so.

In closing, and respectfully, I want to remind all citizens of Grant County that GRMC is your hospital, and you have an important role to play in its ongoing governance. I encourage you to attend the monthly Board meetings. Get to know the members of the Administration and the Board of Trustees. If you have an opinion for or against any financial action planned by the hospital, including adoption of a new budget, speak up during the Public Input period of the Board meeting. Under the Open Meetings Act of the State of New Mexico, that is your right. Don’t be afraid to exercise your right. Take good care of your hospital and its Caregivers – so they may be properly prepared to take good care of you should you ever need their services.

With kindest regards,

David R. Furnas, CHCIO, CISM, CISSP, PMBA
President and CEO, Vida Plata Inc.
drfurnas@me.com