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News from the Grossmont Healthcare District
The Grossmont Healthcare District’s (GHD) Independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee (ICBOC), a group of 11 East County volunteers overseeing and monitoring expenditures relating to Proposition “G,” a $247 million bond measure approved last year by East County voters, have selected a chairman and vice chairman.
Ernest Ewin, who was previously serving as the Committee’s interim chairman, has been elected as chairman, and Dr. James Johnson, president/CEO of Meals-On-Wheels of Greater San Diego, Inc., will serve as vice chairman. Both are residents of La Mesa.
Ewin, president of Ewin & Associates, a consulting firm, has served two terms on the La Mesa City Council, most recently since 2002. He previously served for three years as chairman of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District’s Proposition “R” Citizens Bond Oversight Committee.
Johnson, with 30 years of experience as a general surgeon who is now retired from active practice, served in the U.S. Navy for 28 years, including as commander of Naval Medical Center San Diego from 2001 to 2003.
In addition, ICBOC members recently agreed to serve on various ICBOC committees. They include:
-- Audit Committee: Walter Heiser, law professor at the University of San Diego School of Law; George Hawkins, president/CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors, San Diego chapter; and, Ernest Ewin.
-- Communications Committee: Dr. James Johnson; Dr. Peter Hanson, an orthopedic surgeon at Sharp Grossmont Hospital; and, Ellen Arcadi, a registered nurse and member of the Commission on Aging for the City of La Mesa.
-- Construction Committee: George Hawkins; Joseph Powell, business manager for the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association, Local 206; Michael Peddecord, professor emeritus of health services administration at San Diego State University; and, Robert Klaiber, retired banker and volunteer with the Grossmont Hospital Auxiliary.
-- Finance Committee: Andrew Knutson, branch manager and general principal for AIG Financial Advisors; James Schmidt, a retired banker; and, Ernest Ewin.
Patrick Donnelly, a corporate administrative contracting officer for the federal government, recently resigned from the ICBOC after relocating to Belgium to take a job supporting overseas U.S. military installations.
The ICBOC’s role is to inform the public of the District’s expenditures of revenues received from bond proceeds that will help finance future capital improvement construction projects at Grossmont Hospital. The GHD-sponsored Prop. “G” measure, which appeared on the June 2006 ballot, was approved by East County voters by more than 77 percent, well above the two-thirds required.
The ICBOC group began meeting last year. ICBOC members include East County residents experienced in project management, large-scale construction operations and finance. In addition, they include representatives from Sharp Grossmont Hospital, as well as designees from the San Diego County Labor Council and San Diego County Taxpayers Association.
At previous meetings, Committee members have heard presentations from District and hospital team members working on the planned construction improvement projects, as well as consultants who are advising the District on the bond transaction process. ICBOC activities can be reviewed at a recently launched community website, http://icboc.gafcon.net, or visit www.grossmonthealthcare.org, and then click the “Prop. G Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee” icon. Available on the website are minutes from previous Committee meetings, meeting agendas, bylaws, annual workplans, reports, memos and presentations.
The next ICBOC meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 20, at Grossmont Hospital. The public is invited to attend.
The Grossmont Healthcare District, a public agency that supports health-related community programs and services in San Diego's East County region, serves as landlord of the hospital, including ownership of the property and buildings on behalf of local taxpayers. Formed in 1952 to build and operate Grossmont Hospital, the District is governed by a five-member board of directors, each elected to four-year terms, who represent nearly 500,000 people residing within the District's 750 square miles in San Diego's East County. In 1991, the District leased the hospital's operation to Sharp Healthcare under a 30-year lease that runs through the year 2021. For more information about GHD, visit www.grossmonthealthcare.org.
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