Leaders of Escondido, Calif.-based Palomar Health and the founder of the medical group that provides the health system's physicians are facing criticism for financially supporting campaigns of specific board candidates, Voice of San Diego reported Oct. 28.
Palomar Health is governed by a seven-member board of directors that approved a controversial physician contract change last year. In June 2021, Palomar Health said it reached an agreement on a three-year contract with emergency care provider Emergent Medical Associates and its subsidiary, Benchmark Hospitalists & Intensivists, to provide emergency physicians, hospitalists, intensivists and related support personnel for its hospitals in Escondido and Poway, Calif. Emergent Medical replaced Vituity, which had long provided the hospitals with physicians.
Physicians at Palomar Health voted "no confidence" in leadership after the health system revealed the plans to switch groups, alleging a lack of transparency related to the switch and citing concerns that workloads would increase. Palomar Health President and CEO Diane Hansen has said Emergent Medical Associates was chosen because it's "most aligned with Palomar Health's strategic goals" and "allows us to retain all our staff, plus reinvest saved resources to upgrade patient care."
Now, Palomar Health's top staff and the new medical group's founder are financially supporting board candidates backing the contract change, according to Voice of San Diego.
Linda Greer, RN, incumbent candidate and the current board chair, received $9,000 from Palomar Health COO Stephanie Baker, RN, CFO Hugh King and Chief Administrative Officer Ryan Olsen, according to the publication, which cites information from the San Diego Registrar of Voters.
Voice of San Diego also reported that Ms. Greer, along with two new candidates — Rod Jones and Alejandro Paz — received sizeable donations from Palomar Hospital Partners, which was founded by Irv Edwards, MD, the founder and president of Emergent Medical Associates and the principal of Benchmark.
"I've lost confidence in the hospital's leadership," George Kung, MD, former Pomerado Hospital chief of staff, told the publication. "They're supporting board members who supported them and new candidates that they think will align with them."
In a statement shared with Becker's, Palomar Health said the health system "does not engage in conversations that are not intended to move our mission of providing the district with world-class healthcare forward. So therefore, we will not be commenting."
Read the full report here.