Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the comments from the Hospital Commission Chair made at yesterday’s City Council meeting.

CHAIR COMMENT: “ALL financial reports were provided to the council prior to April 2025…March and April were submitted… you (council) were already in possession of this information” RESPONSE: This statement is incorrect and misleading. No upto- date balance sheets were ever provided to the council despite repeated requests… until last night. Incomplete financial data (only income statements and bank balances) was received only after repeated requests. The only balance sheet ever possessed by the council was from January 2024.

Other data requested (like visitation data) was never provided. That information had to be obtained from a 3rd party through FOIA.

The council has now formalized the reporting process through resolution in an effort to increase transparency and inform the public.

CHAIR COMMENT: “do not substitute cherry-picked

numbers”

RESPONSE: Any charts created used data obtained only from the hospital commission, either directly or through FOIA. Simple transparency with council requests could have avoided much of this back and forth. No data was omitted or misrepresented.

CHAIR COMMENT: “the thumb drive contains audits ’21, ’22, ’23” RESPONSE: The audits currently made available do not address the period of time that has been subject to public scrutiny (January 2025 to present) which is why a review and reconciliation from an independent firm is important. Over the last 12 months, bank balances have decreased by $2.5 million while only $465,000 has been reported in losses. This is a point of concern that cannot be addressed by audits for the years 2021-2023. The council can hold the commission accountable to reporting the basic financial information and to highlight inconsistencies, but it is not our duty to perform forensic accounting. The Mayor and the commission chair have more direct control over the management of the hospital financials.

In the March 30th joint workshop with the hospital commission, the commission agreed to hold more in-depth discussions of financials. On May 22nd, the commission informed the council that the workshop date would be June 4th. The commission was informed that several council members, myself included, were out of town and unable to attend. Requests to reschedule were denied.

The scrutiny of the hospital commission and administration predates any involvement of the council. The council has only ever responded to public outcry. The council has limited powers over the commission but has exercised legitimate authority to hold the hospital commission accountable- by formalizing regular reporting, certifying financial reporting, and increasing transparency. I consider this great progress and commend fellow council members on their compassion and commitment to professionalism. It is unfortunate that the commission interprets this as unsupportive. It is our duty. Sincerely, — Rachael M. Moyer