KION Central Coast News: NUHW Calls for SVMH Board Members to Resign, In Light of Audit

NewsMarch 8, 2012

By Tom Jones, KION

SALINAS, Calif. — The National Union of Healthcare Workers is calling for two Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital (SVMH) Board Members to step down, in light of the California State Auditor’s report released Thursday.

The audit report claimed that SVMH has a lack of transparency and numerous instances of conflcts of interest regarding the hospital’s Board of Directors.

NUHW agrees with the auditor’s conclusion that, “the board may have violated conflict-of-interest laws” in the case of Wardwell’s financial relationship with the bank, and that “the board itself may have violated Section 1090 because one of its members arguably is financially interested in the contract, in that he receives a salary from the bank, and because the bank likely received a financial benefit as a result of its contract with the Health Care System.”