KVHD expense questioned

Board Chair Victoria Alwin defends the board’s decision to approve the cost of Director Kay Knight’s attending a conference in Lake Tahoe.

Susan Barr
Kern Valley Sun

During last Wednesday’s Board of Directors meeting, Marge Swedelson of Southlake took the podium to express her frustration with board expenditures.

The board, at the February meeting, approved Director Kay Knight’s request to attend the Association of California Healthcare Districts annual meeting in Lake Tahoe. The anticipated cost is roughly $1,000.

“At this point, hearing the financials and listening to (CFO) Chet (Beedle) struggle with the numbers, I simply cannot justify the expenditure,” Swedelson said. “I don’t care if it’s only $200, let alone going into thousands.

“I would like to see an accounting of the money spent posted online,” she added.

CEO Tim McGlew, Board Chair Victoria Alwin and Knight spoke in support of Knight’s attending the annual event. “These are important sessions for us,” McGlew said. “This is where we actually have an opportunity to meet with our peers. We can sit and talk about ideas, and ways that we can survive as small rural hospitals. I believe this is a justified cost.”

Cynthia Burciaga, ex-CCO for the district, spiced up the meeting with remarks about her hasty resignation on Feb. 22.

“I did not give notice and I’m really sorry.  It was unprofessional,” Burciaga said. Explaining her sudden move, Burciaga cited unspecified “circumstances she couldn’t overcome” for the sudden move.

She also engaged in some tongue-in-cheek rumor control announcing, “I am not having an affair with anyone at the hospital.”

Burciaga recently ran for Whiskey Flat Mayor, raising funds for Rotary International  and the ECHO Academy at Kern Valley High School. Burciaga was hired in June.

McGlew said the CCO position had been eliminated, though the exact date and time of that occurence remains unclear.  According the board’s organizational chart, the CCO position is being replaced with a Director of Nursing job. Mark Gordon is the interim Director of Nursing while a search for Burciaga’s replacement continues.

In a detailed report,  FCO Beedle reported, “Other than our G.I. lab, in the month of January we were under our budget and under the volume for the same month of the prior fiscal year.”