Editorial: Rethinking UMC's board

Given that management problems have perpetually plagued University Medical Center - Southern Nevada's only public hospital - it is not surprising that there is a bill before the Legislature proposing major change.

Senate Bill 533, if passed, would end the role of the Clark County Commission as the hospital's board of trustees.

The thought here is understandable, especially given the latest management fiasco at UMC disclosed by Las Vegas Sun reporters. For months last year the UMC administrator, since fired, schmoozed the County Commission into believing the hospital's deficit was only half of what it later turned out to be. The commission allowed him to go for months without providing financial statements.

On top of the deficit problem, the hospital's top managers were signing off on contracts that are now being investigated by Metro Police. The County Commission, lacking expertise in health care administration, placed too much trust in the hospital's executive staff.

Nevertheless, we oppose SB533. It would require the County Commission to appoint a 35-member blue-ribbon committee, which would then appoint nine of its members to a nominating committee that would in turn appoint 11 Clark County residents to oversee the hospital.

Who knows what kind of a supervising board would come from such a process? The bill also requires the new board to study the feasibility of turning over the hospital to a nonprofit corporation.

We believe that UMC should remain with the county and that the County Commission should remain in charge. But we also believe the commissioners would find the inclusion of two new members on the UMC board to be of great benefit.

The rules governing their appointments could state that one must have a strong background in public finance, and the other a strong background in health care.

The county has staff with these qualifications, but it would be awkward and time-consuming to place them in a position of constantly evaluating the reports and policy decisions of equally ranked staff at UMC. So it would help to place experts on the board, where they would be duly charged with oversight of the hospital.

Such an arrangement would keep the county in charge, while providing commissioners with much-needed insight.

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