SOUTHEAST GEORGIA HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC. P. O. Box 1455 Brunswick, Georgia 31520 912-264-3525 February 28, 1978 The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman Health and the Environment United States Senate Washington, D. C. 20510 Dear Senator Kennedy: Please accept this letter as testimony before the Subcommittee on health We must first call to your attention the fact that the issue of "broadly Two specific samples of misstatements in Ms. Greene's testimony which we The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy a description of our election process which indicates that over 1600 solicitations for nominations were made by SEGHSA. The enclosed form is the vehicle by which these solicitations were made. Please note that one entire page is devoted to definitions of slot titles and that there was indeed no secrecy as to the criteria for becoming a voting member. Page 72 of the testimony indicates that SEGHSA hired a consultant out of state for $5,000 to complete the secondary/tertiary committee's work. This is completely erroneous. When the development of the secondary/ tertiary portion of the plan became bogged down because of poor attendance at committee meetings, SEGHSA enlisted the assistance of Health Planning/ Development Center, a technical assistance center authorized and funded under P.L. 93-641. The Center located a consultant and reimbursed him for his services. No agency funds were used, and we have no idea what actual charges were made. We hope that these comments serve to correct the record. We would be happy to provide you or any members of your committee with elaboration on further misstatements should you desire. 1977 ELECTION PROCESS A Nominating Committee was nominated by the President of SEGHS, Inc., and was approved by the Board of Directors. This committee was composed of 12 members of which 6 were providers and 6 were consumers--3 were minority, 9 were non-minority--5 females, 7 males. In addition, there was representation on the committee from the aged, private practicing physicians, other health professionals, nurses, hospital administrators, nursing home administrators, handicapped, public health physicians, economically disadvantaged and regional planning bodies. Approximately one-third of the agency's 71 member governing body rotates off the Board of Directors each year. In addition, any person appointed during the past year to either fill an unexpired term or any person appointed for the purpose of otherwise balancing the Board representation geographically, racially, etc., must also be replaced. Accordingly, the committee determined that 25 Board positions were open for nomination--11 consumers, 14 providers--4 elected officials, 4 private practicing physicians, 3 hospital administrators, 2 registered nurses, 1 retired person, 2 minority consumers, 1 mental health provider, 1 mental health consumer, 1 health care purchaser, 1 public health officer, 1 other health professional and 2 not otherwise slotted. Further, the committee determined geographic parameters to apply to the various slots in order that the area representation was equitable. (i) the The committee reported back to the Board advising election process (ii) the slot openings and area and (iii) the slot definitions. This was approved by the Board along with a list of proposed "official nominators" for the various slots. The Nominating Committee next mailed a notice to 1,560 corporate members advising the date and location of the Annual Meeting and the procedure for making nominations. Letters were also sent to each director inviting them to make nominations and finally, letters were sent to over 80 "official nominators" soliciting nominations. These official nominators spanned the whole spectrum of the service area. They included 22 city and county officials, 19 professional associations, 20 chambers of commerce, 4 retired/senior citizens groups, 3 physically or mentally handicapped groups, 7 children and family groups and also organizations representing environmentalists, minorities, economically disadvantaged and others. Sixty-five nominations were received--28 from the corporate membership, 15 from present directors and 22 from official nominators. Of these 45 were determined by the committee to meet the qualifications of their respective slots. In addition, the Nominating Committee made 6 nominations. The committee made a "Report to the Membership" which by now had grown to approximately 2,000 persons. The report stated the name, nominator, slot, area and county of the nominees. Press releases were issued to all the media giving names of nominees and the date and place of the annual meeting. The Annual Meeting was held on October 20, 1977 in Jesup, Georgia, the geographic center of the service area. The meeting was attended by approximately 400 members who voted by secret ballot. The results of the election are shown in Section VI in The Beacon, Volume 11, Number 3. Several months ago you wrote to me seeking responses to several questions relating to the comprehensive review of the National Health Planning and Resources Development Act of 1974. I have waited until now to write, at the time of the actual renewal hearings, because I wanted to give you the benefit of the latest developments in State-level health planning activities in the State of Alabama. I am Chairman of the North Alabama Health Systems Agency, and represent The evaluation was quite clear: namely, the SHPDA in Alabama is the State |