KINGMAN – On Tuesday, March 12 the Hospital District One of Mohave County met. The meeting was rescheduled from the regularly scheduled meeting date of March 5.

In a 3-2 vote, Chair Penny Holden retained her seat with board members Dan Valentine and Dr. Carol Newmyer voting to remove her as chair. The motion was made by Newmyer and seconded by Valentine.

After the vote, Holden stated Newmyer and Valentine have abused their oath of office due to voting no on the budget and various other items. “I don’t see that anything that you’re bringing positive to the board other than opposing everything that the board is required by law to do,” she said.

In other business the board approved a budget of $2,066,656 for FY2024 which was presented by Barry Moore, the Controller for Kingman Regional Medical Center (KRMC). The budget includes $10,000 for legal fees, which was questioned by Valentine and Newmyer. However, no motion was made to alter the amount in the line item. The vote for the budget was 3-2 with members Valentine and Newmyer voting no.

The adopted budget also includes expenses for $1 million for “community donations.” Expected income from operations is $870,444, and lease interest income and reimbursements for administrative costs from KRMC in the amount of $337,158.

There was discussion as to having a contract with recording secretary, Catherine Furtado, for recording the minutes of meetings. Holden stated that there is no need for a contract with the secretary and she has not been paid for her services.

“The board’s by-laws state that we are only responsible to set her wage. If you look and read the proposed budget, and the budget from last year, there’s no set amount. She’s not incurred any charges,” said Holden.

Ms. Furtado stated that Kingman Hospital, Inc. (KHI) had agreed to fund her position for three months in 2023. However, she said she did not turn in any invoices for her time.

“The only thing that the board is required to do is set the wage, which they did. Whoever agrees to pay me, whether it’s a corporation or an individual, is between me and that individual based upon the agreed upon wage by the board,” she said.

Upon inquiry of board member Valentine as to whether she submitted any invoices to anybody, Furtado advised, “The only thing I’ve submitted to this board is reimbursement for ink … that’s it. So … the contract is none of this board’s business.”

There was a bit of a dustup regarding the draft minutes being made available to the public within 72 hours as required by the Arizona Open Meeting Law and ARS Section 38-431.

Holden stated that the members voted at the last meeting to substitute an action agenda for the draft minutes.

In a review of the December 5, 2023 and January 9, 2023 (currently unapproved) minutes posted on the board’s website, it appears that the board voted 5-0 to post an “action agenda” for public review on the website and that board members would get the draft minutes within three business days.

Valentine asked why the unapproved minutes and letter that is in contention were posted publicly. Holden replied, “Why was your behavior disruptive? It has not been posted yet.”

Valentine advised the chair that it is now posted online. Holden replied, “And it’s on there because it’s a legal document.”

Valentine stated that the letter violated his privacy and said, “Now you got a 34-page document up there (online) bringing a medical issue that I had with KHI to the world.” Holden denied there is a medical issue mentioned and moved on to the next item of hiring a local attorney.

There was a motion and discussion regarding changing attorneys from Gust Rosenfeld to Tom Price, Esq., who is a local attorney. 

Upon inquiry of Valentine, board member Dave French stated he personally asked attorney Price if he would be interested in representing the board if they need him. “I’m going to tell you, the guy we got doesn’t do crap,” stated French.

French further stated he personally knows Price because he used to be the attorney for the KHI board. “And he knows the ropes with the district and he’s right here,” he said.

The board decided to hire Price with a 3-2 vote, with Newmyer and Valentine voting no. In other action the board decided to meet quarterly rather than bi-monthly.

A presentation was given to the board by KRMC CEO Heath Evans regarding investments made by the hospital and KRMC’s relationship with the hospital board.

Evans stated among other items, $3.5 million was spent on the Heart Center recently as well as an ION lung navigation system that cost $700,000 which was put into service about a month ago.

“We are 100% focused on keeping local, high-quality healthcare in Kingman, locally owned and operated,” stated Evans.

Becky Foster