Sixteen million dollars is more than I make in three weeks. I imagine it’s possible that it’s more than you make in three weeks also.
Unless the last name is Gates, Trump or Buffet, I can’t think of anyone else that can say sixteen million is more than they make in three weeks.
Well, there was Bernie Madoff. Recent records found in Bath County Courthouse seem to indicate that Bernie could have some company soon.
It seems as though in July, the Board of Directors, basically mortgaged Bath Community Hospital to the tune of $16.1 million dollars. This magic figure seems to be “virtually all of the Hospital liquid assets that existed pre-construction project,” according to an email I received a few days ago.
The money from this mortgage appears to be in the process of being transmitted to the Bath County Community Hospital Foundation, a separate non-profit corporation established with a completely different mission statement according to the 990 they filed with the IRS.
While the arts and historical things are nice to support and contribute to, even the most naive citizen who has donated to Bath Community Hospital has to be asking themselves, “Did I contribute to help safeguard the health and welfare of my neighbors? Or did my donation go to put a painting on the wall.”
Can anyone say, “Misappropriation of funds?”
Legally, any citizen who has donated to Bath Community Hospital can file a lawsuit against the Board of Directors demanding some answers. Under the Federal False Claims Act, also known as the “Lincoln Law,” anyone who wants to be a whistleblower can sue on behalf of the government and keep any penalties the guilty party is responsible for paying.
Also, in another email this morning, it seems that if “serious bodily injury” or a death occurs which can be traced back to the Board’s actions, then the board members could be held criminally liable and face a little prison time.
Maybe Bernie could end up with some company in the slammer and we can get Jason a double-cell with a big guy named Bubba.
But I’m not going to warn the board members about dropping the soap in the shower. I'll let them figure it out.
