Hospital board votes 7-1 to 'convey' the hospital to UHS / County Commissioners follow suit in a 5-2 vote | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    The hospital boards voted today to convey the health system, including the hospital to University Health Systems under terms UHS dictated on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Those voting to do so were: Alice Mills-Sadler, Brenda Peacock, Sandy Hardy, Grace Bonner, Suzanne Gray, Allen Roberson and Clifton Gray, who voted by conference call. Hood Richardson cast the lone dissenting vote. Howard Cadmus was absent.

    The action now goes to the county commissioners who meet at 5:30 today. The deal is expected to pass there, probably on a 5-2 vote.

    You can review the numbers behind the deal by clicking here.

    We will have video of the meeting tomorrow, Irene permitting.

    In a brief interview after the meeting Richardson said: "I voted no because I believe this is a bad business deal and I am opposed to us giving control of our health system to a board and management that are not accountable to the people of Beaufort County. This board is allowing a giveaway of more than $50 million in value in a "take-it-or-leave-it" deal from a single bidder. Some people think UHS is the salvation to all of our problems. But this agreement does not even guarantee that UHS will continue to operate the hospital. They could be bought out down the road. UHS will not be accountable to the people of Beaufort County for the decisions they make. But the really sad thing about all this is that it is a shame the hospital board allowed the hospital to get in such bad shape before they took effective action. The commissioners did not provide adequate oversight of the hospital before it was too late. The hospital did a lousy job of collecting what was owed and they failed to cut expenses when patient census began to fall. They failed to respond to numerous red flags that the finances were in trouble. Then a few people maneuvered to chase off all the competition and left us with no viable choice except what UHS wanted to offer. That's the crux of why I voted against it and will vote against it as a commissioner." Richardson issued a written statement that he read into the record at the meeting. You can read it by clicking here.

    Check back later for an update on the commissioners' meeting and watch the video.

    As you will see in the video, there was little discussion by any of the other board members before the vote except for Richardson. Suzanne Gray did comment that she had just joined the board recently and would not accept responsiblity for what went on before she came on the board. At the end of the meeting Peacock tried to get the members to stand and clap, but none joined her. Chairman Alice Mills Sadler left so quickly we could not get a comment from her.

    UPDATE--The county commissioners, meeting shortly after the Hospital boards adjourned, also voted 5-2 to approve the hospital boards recommendation to convey the hospital to UHS. We'll have more on that later, including video of each meeting, but Irene coverage comes first until the threat has passed. The usual Gang of 5 commissioners (Cayton, Langley, McRoy, Booth and Klemm) voted for the disposal of the hospital while Richardson and Deatherage voted against.

    Click here to review the Beaufort County Now report on the commissioners' meeting, including the statement read by Stan Deatherage which is not included in our report above.