Good morning, your friendly neighborhood Red Phone signing in
after another week of chasing down answers to callers’ concerns.
Good news for callers this week, Red Phone bought a new answering
machine and a fresh message by the Crimson Crusader can now be
heard by all. Got a question, need an answer, call the Red Phone!
Always waiting, always online, always at 635-9219.
Good morning, your friendly neighborhood Red Phone signing in after another week of chasing down answers to callers’ concerns. Good news for callers this week, Red Phone bought a new answering machine and a fresh message by the Crimson Crusader can now be heard by all. Got a question, need an answer, call the Red Phone! Always waiting, always online, always at 635-9219.
Where’s the Vision
A caller questioned what Vision San Benito has been up to.
“Whatever happened to Vision San Benito? It came in with great fanfare and exciting thoughts for the community and many community members went to the meetings. However, nobody has heard anything else about it. Nobody knows what’s going on. What are their views about the proposed casino or the proposed new town near San Juan Bautista? We don’t know anything. A lot of community leaders have not been informed about what’s going. It makes us wonder if it’s real and if it’s going to happen. It’s our community too, not just those that run the board.”
Vision San Benito was a program headed by Gavilan College to create a long-term, wide-ranging plan for the future of San Benito County involving local leaders and community members. Red Phone called Jan Bernstein-Chargin, spokesperson for Gavilan College, and learned the next meeting is scheduled for April 20. However, she didn’t know where the meeting was to be held, but promised to check back with Red Phone next week. Look in the Community Bulletin section of the Free Lance for more information once it’s made available. Currently the group is seeking a firm to facilitate the “vision” process Bernstein-Chargin said.
As for taking a stance on local issues, Bernstein-Chargin said the committee has not taken a stance on any proposed projects in San Benito County. She said the group is looking at creating a plan for San Benito County that proposed projects could be judged against how well they fit with the vision.
“I believe, and this is from the mission statement, the idea is to form a long-term vision so there is a road map to judge (projects) against,” Bernstein-Chagrin said. “So there’s direction the people of the county have worked out to give a clearer idea of what the county wants for their future.”
Hospital payroll
A caller is curious what Hazel Hawkins’ CEO Ken Underwood earns before a vote on $30 million bond that would dramatically improve the facilities at Hollister’s hospital.
“A few years ago the Free Lance did an article on the salaries of public officials and the administrator of the hospital was the highest paid pubic official. I was wondering if you could do another article before the vote on the expansion happens. I sure hope so.”
The Free Lance just published an article last week on the earnings of public officials in the county and will soon look at city staff. However, Red Phone believes this caller is primarily interested in what Ken earns at the hospital. So instead of looking at all public officials, the Red Phone called Ken. Though Underwood said he has no problems publishing his salary, he asked Red Phone to play by the rules and submit a public records request to the board as established by California Code 6253, which Red Phone did. An answer is expected by next week.
“There’s a California code on public records and all anybody has to do is make a request to the board,” Underwood said. “The board members check with legal counsel to make sure everything is okay then presents the documents.”
Underwood said that’s the hospital’s policy for all public record requests whether it’s a nurse’s, doctor’s or CEO’s salary or any other hospital record available to the public.
Underwood, when asked by the Red Phone, did detail his extensive history in hospital administration which dates back 27 years in administration and management positions. Prior to his arrival at Hazel Hawkins in 2000, Underwood was the administrator for Century City Hospital in Los Angeles for five years. Century City enjoyed an estimated net revenue of $90 million a year in 2000. Before Century City, Underwood was the CEO of LA’s Westside hospital for about a year and a half. For comparison, Westside hospital has about 69 beds, Century City has about 190 beds, and Hazel Hawkins has 49 beds and a net revenue of $55 million. He’s also a graduate of the University of Alabama with an administration degree.
The Red Phone runs weekly in the Free Lance.
