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Grossmont Hospital citizens’ oversight group issues its 2016 annual report on taxpayer bond expenditures for hospital construction

Aerial view of Sharp Grossmont Hospital campus in La Mesa, 2016

The citizens group overseeing the spending of millions of dollars in taxpayer-approved bonds for new and improved patient care facilities at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa has issued its 2016 Annual Report to the Community.

The Annual Report highlights activity during the 2016 calendar year on several taxpayer-funded hospital construction projects financed by the Proposition G bond measure that voters approved in 2006.

The Independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee (ICBOC) consists of uncompensated East County residents who are monitoring how the public agency Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) is spending bond proceeds on construction projects at the publicly-owned hospital.

In the report’s cover letter to citizens, ICBOC chairman Glen Sparrow writes, “Transparency is a top ICBOC priority. As of January 2017, all bonds have been sold and all contracts have been awarded to complete Prop G construction.”

Sparrow also notes in his letter that independent auditors returned with an “unqualified” opinion for 2016, which “indicates a clean bill of financial health with no deficiencies or inconsistencies in internal controls or compliance.”

The report also includes updates on construction projects over the past year, including the new $60 million Central Energy Plant that was completed in 2016. The report states: “The hospital is now no longer solely reliant on the SDG&E power grid, generating nearly 100 percent of its electricity on site. Even in the event of an outage or other emergency, the hospital will continue to operate as needed.”

Also completed in 2016 was the $61.6 million Heart and Vascular (H&V) Center building. Full occupancy of the 71,000-square-foot building will commence with the $10.2 million build-out of the Level 1 Surgery Floor. Construction is currently underway. Completion is scheduled for 2018.

The report also includes a chart of Prop G expenditures through January 2017 with a comparison between the budget and actual expenditures.

The report also acknowledges the passing of ICBOC member Dona Christensen, a retired land developer and real estate investor, who served on the committee from 2011 until her passing in April 2016.

The ICBOC 2016 Annual Report is available online at grossmonthealthcare.org/ICBOC. The website also houses all the citizens’ group bylaws, and archived annual workplans, reports, memos, agendas, minutes and presentations.

Prop G passed by more than 77 percent, well above the two-thirds required. The bond-financed construction began in 2007, and is scheduled to continue until mid-2018.

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