County Judge writes letter to UMC board chairs calling for resignations, chairman responds
County Judge Veronica Escobar has called for the resignation of the University Medical Center board of managers chairman and vice chairman. In a letter addressed to Board Chairman William Hanson, she said she is dissatisfied with the way hospital leaders have communicated regarding executive bonuses and other issues.
On Saturday, ABC-7 got the response from Hanson to Escobar.
Click on the links below to see the letters:
County Judge Veronica Escobar’s letter to UMC Board chairs
UMC Board Chairman William Hanson’s response to County Judge Veronica Escobar
Hanson’s response to Escobar was a stern “no.” Escobar and Hanson accuse each other of not having open and honest communication, and now some are wondering how UMC is planning to move forward with its current leadership.
“They miss the point when they say, ‘Well, we’ve had a lot of meetings with them.’ When Mr. Valenti says, ‘I’ve met more this year than I’ve ever met with them.’ It is the quality of the communication and the content and the significance of the communication,” Escobar said. “It’s fine to show me as many Power Points as you want, that doesn’t tell me what I need to know.”
Heated emotions from a special board meeting Friday carried into the weekend, fueled by the letters exchanged by Escobar and Hanson.
Escobar said in her letter to Hanson that neither Hanson nor Vice Chair Laura Ponce respects Commissioners Court and hospital goals can only be achieved with leaders who will listen and work with Commissioners Court.
Hanson responded by asking Escobar to,”re-read any of the many annual reports prepared by external auditors of our (the board’s) reporting, our policies and compliance – you will find an example of an organization that is forthright, honest and transparent.” He said she should be more concerned with the fact that El Paso Children’s Hospital owes UMC $81 million, and he believes the average citizen is fed up with “political malarkey.”
“Communication and trust building is a two-way street, which is one of the reasons I made some of the comments that I made,” Hanson said. “We are making the effort to move forward and to open that dialogue with the stakeholders that we have, including the Commissioners Court, but it has to be a two-way street.”
ABC-7 has been following the backlash of CEO Jim Valenti’s annual bonuses and deferred compensation, as well as comments made by Valenti earlier this week, suggesting taking El Paso Children’s Hospital under the UMC umbrella and running it as a nonprofit hospital.
Friday night, the board agreed to move forward with a written reprimand against Valenti, but did not say why.
