Tim Leigh
City Councilman Tim Leigh say’s Memorial’s Board of Trustees should hit the door just like CEO Larry McEvoy.
Leigh is the latest council member to call for the board’s ouster over its decision to give McEvoy a $1 million payout, three times more than McEvoy’s existing employment agreement spelled out.
“This is an egregious fleecing of the citizens and everyone should be outraged,” he wrote in his electronic newsletter.
Leigh, who has been critical of McEvoy in the past, said his criticism landed him in trouble with Council President Scott Hente before.
“Months ago, I asked for McEvoy and his senior leaders to be placed on administrative leave and called for an investigation into some of the real estate dealings at the hospital. Those statements caused the council President to ask for my censure at a minimum, while he contemplated my recall and I’m sure I’ll be taken out to the wood-shed again for pointing out the obvious,” he wrote.
Here’s the full text of Leigh’s electronic newsletter:
I had surgery Tuesday afternoon and have been mostly in a drug induced fairy land since and therefore out of the game. And while I’ve been advised to minimize the use of my strong typing arm, I’m so outraged by the action of the Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees and my Councilor contemporaries on the McEvoy issue, I had to weigh-in.
McEvoy has to go so does the Board of Trustees.
City Council ceded its control of the MHS operations to the MHS Board in August 2010 by memo. [By the way, that Council included President Hente and Pro-Tem Martin.] With that action, “as long as the MHS Board operates within its annual budget” Council exercises no control over that board. The critical language is “as long as MHS acts within its budget”. McEvoy’s newly announced Exit Bonus was not part of the annual appropriation budget approved by City Council. Therefore, I’m not sure the MHS Board of Trustees can offer an Exit Bonus to McEvoy legally. And, by the way, this is not severance (it’s an “Exit Bonus” because McEvoy wasn’t fired and didn’t quit). He was settled.
I have received dozens of emails and phone calls regarding the Exit Bonus. Here are a couple of quotes from employees.
“I am very upset that none of the Memorial Employees including myself (with 17 years of service and outstanding performance evaluations) will receive a pay increase this year and yet he gets a cool million – not quite fair. I am also frustrated because all this time he has talked about “sticking it out” and not leaving; “we are a team” and there he goes.”
. . . “I’ve never seen moral so bad”. . . McEvoy got a pay raise last month over $100,000 and now is leaving plus his freaking out the door bonus. . . . He has his retirement in the bank while the rest of us assholes loose ours.”
Months ago, I asked for McEvoy and his senior leaders to be placed on administrative leave and called for an investigation into some of the real estate dealings at the hospital. Those statements caused the council President to ask for my censure at a minimum, while he contemplated my recall and I’m sure I’ll be taken out to the wood-shed again for pointing out the obvious. This is an egregious fleecing of the citizens and everyone should be outraged.
If any good comes of this, it’s that it reminds us why we need to complete the lease with UCH with haste. We need to transfer the power of operations to folks who enjoy the skills to properly manage a $700,000,000 enterprise on behalf of the citizens. And, thankfully we have a capable City Attorney (Melcher) and very capable interim CEO (CFO Scialdone) who are very able to lead us through this tumultuous time.
As it is, MHS is still city owned and your voice counts. Contact your City Councilor and stop the fleecing.
I don’t want to hear any complaints. “Conservatives” are always calling for the government to be run like a business. This is how businesses are run. The top people get their bonuses and parachutes while the people who do the work get pay cuts and layoffs. Ask the people at the gazette. Their top people took millions in bonuses, and a week later filed for bankruptcy and laid off a bunch of employees, followed by pay cuts and more layoffs.
You “conservatives” got what you wanted, and now you are crying foul.
This is exactly what you asked for, so shut it.
Councilman Leigh complains about everything “Memorial” related. Perhaps he should have endorsed the incentive pay for the Memorial CEO and administration to stay on during the desired transition. At least we’d have been paying something for them working. Now we may be stuck paying $1 million for him to do nothing, except leave.
Conservetard’s right. Pretty much business as usual for the good old boys. Like Cheney’s no-bid billion dollar giveaways to Halliburton.
Should he receive a 1 million severance butout.? Well considering the bayouts from others city emplyess and the creation of Fox Loxy Cox postion and others that we can not afford, it does seem within the boundies of what is really eveyday dealing well within the city goverment.
Fair, Steve Cox not not make the cut as the first goffer so instead of leaving him unemployed a job was created for him A job that the mayor should bee doing.
You know why they approve such bad behavior and shady dealings, because when it comes to thier turn they want the same consideration. You clean my bottocks and I will clean your bottocks LOL
Can we put Leigh in Sleep Mode.
Lilithia
I was with him right until he talked about Attorney Melcher being capable….
Larry got paid for what the Board is saying is great performance. The anger you are seeing from Memorial employees (and there are a lot that are angry) is a result of the rest of us employees being told that money rewards don’t work. Yet the Board has decided to use Memorial money to pay a reward to Larry. So do monetary rewards work? Or not?
They are telling us one thing, while doing something entirely different. It’s the hypocrisy that people are angry with.
So to sum it up: Larry wanted to make us an indy non-profit and failed. Larry showed us that bonuses fail, but made sure to ask for a great big one before he leaves. I see a lot of paying out for questionable performance.
Nice guy. Terrible leader.
I hope that when and if UCH comes in, the Board gets dissolved on the very first day. They have failed the employees of Memorial. And if you fail our employees, then you have failed our patients. And if you fail our patients, then you have failed the community.
But Mr. Leigh, don’t think that this makes me like you or anything. I just happen to agree with you on this one issue.
I usually disagree with Tim Leigh, but this time I’m in agreement that McEvoy should get only what his contract states, and no more. Also, Tim is wrong about Melcher. That guy is a poor attorney, and a simple minion of Bach.
Management has been saying for decades that monetary rewards don’t work, but when they are passed over for a promotion or a raise, they always leave. They seem to believe that the lower-level workers are stupid.
Thank you, Tim Leigh. You are a true representative of the people. This $1 million belongs to the residents of Colorado Springs. The Memorial board is supposed to manage the public’s money with responsibility. Instead, they are fleecing the public and flaunting it. Do NOT let them get away with this. As of last night the agreement had not been signed. Stop it from getting signed. This money should be used for indigent care, to send a few local valedictorians through medical school, or for any number of other causes that would benefit the community — the people who own the money. This is blatant political corruption.
[...] Councilman Tim Leigh claimed today that Council President Scott Hente contemplated his recall after he publicly criticized Memorial Health [...]
City Council, Mayor and Media
This is not acceptable for four years worth of work as a CEO of a Hospital, this individual was well paid for his service! If this is how the Board of Trustees for Memorial controls the financial oversight of this institution then they should by removed/replaced! The Board needs to show the Citizens the precedence that they used for such a decision and what gave them the right to exceed the original employment contract. This million dollars should go to paying for medical care for the Indigent in this economy where health insurance is almost non-existent. As the elected leaders of our City where is your outrage over such a decision?
I am a soon to be retired nurse of 19.5 yrs from Memorial Hospital. I am very disappointed with the 1 million dollar severance package offered to our CEO by the Board of Directors. My own retirement will include a wooden plaque for service and a cake with punch. Will I also be eligible for 18 mos of salary for leaving the system? Some how I do not think so. All I have heard in the last 4 years of Larrys’ service is how we need to save,save and save. The wonderful employees at Memorial Hospital have come up with many creative ideas to do just this, such as flexing, no asking for extras and we even stood by when management froze our sick leave banks only to be used once our short term disability was approved there for saving the hospital lots of money. I will be loosing over 200 hrs of sick leave upon retirement with no compensation from this bank. Oh yes this was all a new plan from Larrys’ senior leadership team including his ex-associate from Montana who became our Human Resource director and who has since also resigned to return to another out of state job. The employees have endured alot and I say again this 1 million dollar offering to Larry is a slap in the face to all of Memorial Hospital Employees and the citizens of Colorado Springs. I believe the Board OF Directors should be dismissed for they do not seem to have the hospitals best financial interest in mind. Here is a thought, If they, the board, feel Larry is so deserving the board can pay out of their own pockets his severance. I bet that the 1 million dollar package just would not happen…
Damn, I left Memorial a month ago for another job and by my own choice. Where is my car and 18 months of salary for voluntarily getting off that sinking ship.
Dissolve the board. Get Univ in there as fast as possible. More heads need to roll before Memorial can start rebuilding.
Conservetard says: You fool. A conservative believes that a profit incentive and free enterprise lead to success for a majority of people. Fools like you believe that someone else is responsible for your success or failure.
This is absolute outrage. We work our asses off at the bedside, 24 hours a day and then we are told that our commitment to the hospital will not be rewarded with the mere 3% yearly bonus that we previously received. I have worked for Memo for 2.5 years and have heard nothing but how we all have to stay loyal to the company and that the big L is going to stick with us through the transition. Well, he lost on the playground and now he is running off crying. and he is the money that should be given to the ones that make Memo special, the ones actually caring for patients. I hope that University takes over and makes the hospital what it should have been all along. Just in case, off to update my resume… I wonder is Penrose is hiring…
As a non-profit, the Memorial Board of Trustees owes the Memorial employees and the citizens of this community an explanation and transparency. The Board must be held accountable and defend their decision to award a severance package that far exceeds Mr. McEvoy’s original agreement and that reverses course from the austerity measures enacted for every other employee. We’re waiting.
I wonder if the Board of Trustees has ever heard of the Blu Flu? Jim, are you listening?
An across the board pay raise to all MHS employees would go a long way toward healing this gapping wound.
Reinstate pay for performance policy.
Rescind the outrageous million dollar severance package. Stick to the pre-agreed upon contract.
The best Leigh since Janet….way to go, Tim.
Keepin it real
Can anyone tell me why If McEvoy gets a $1 million severance plus other payments, would he need an extra $20,000 to help him find a job? With a $1 million payout he can live very well while he finds another job. And why should he be given the auto that belongs to Memorial that he has been driving? He doesn’t own his own car with the outrageous salary he has been making?