Mendocino Coast District Healthcare District directors began 2022 in open conflict, judging by their first meeting of the year on January 27.
The meeting featured denunciations of board treasurer John Redding by board secretary Sara Spring and new board president Amy McColley, and Redding's explanation of why he referred an effort to pay Spring backdated health benefits, to the Mendocino County Grand Jury and District Attorney's office earlier this month.
Redding said he made the Grand Jury complaint as an effort to get a “cease and desist” order placed on the healthcare district issuing a check to Spring for $4200 she claimed in benefits from a board health plan that she was inadvertently not enrolled in immediately when she took office in 2020.
Though Redding acknowledged that he agreed to the payment to Spring last fall, he said Thursday night he later changed his mind and determined that Spring needed to provide more documentation. When McColley as board president issued the check in January, Redding as treasurer stopped payment. Then, McColley said Thursday, without contacting her further, Redding made his complaints to the Grand Jury and District Attorney.
Redding, McColley and Jessica Grinberg voted on Thursday night to grant the backdated benefits to both Spring and board member Norman de Vall, who was also enrolled in the health plan late.
But on returning to the meeting after that vote, during final statements from board members, Spring called out Redding for his overall behavior, which she characterized as “bullying.”
“Your actions are harmful to your fellow board members and your constituents,” Spring said.
McColley followed up with a similar statement, saying she had “found the last four weeks [since she was elected board president] extremely difficult” and accused Redding of “name-calling,” disclosure of legally protected personnel information, violations of the Brown Act public meetings law and needlessly calling in the Grand Jury and DA's office over a payment that had already been agreed on.
“My confidence in you is not present,” McColley told Redding.
Redding, who resumed the role of board treasurer at this month's meeting after refusing it in December, responded that he had come to believe that the payment to Spring was not backed up by adequate documentation and that he viewed McColley issuing the check to Spring as a violation of public trust, prompting him to call in the Grand Jury and DA.
“What I did was protect taxpayer money… I've called you and Sara to account for not doing your jobs. I think that is what is behind this,” he said.
After Spring's statement, de Vall had asked Spring if she wanted a “no confidence” vote to be taken on Redding. Spring said yes, and de Vall replied by voicing his support for Redding, while McColley made her statement of no confidence. Grinberg declined to state either way, but urged some kind of vote on Redding since “leaving a meeting with that noose around his neck seems unfair.”
Redding, aside from an overall defense of his actions as protecting the taxpayer — “the corruption and ethics in politics act takes precedence over the Brown Act,” he said — added “I guess I'm going to have to call for a vote of confidence on you and Sara, if you're going to play that game.”
In the end, no votes of confidence were taken. There was a reference to a special board meeting to be called Feb. 2 to discuss things further, but no meeting was scheduled before Thursday's meeting ended.
Hospital/Clinic Update
Adventist Health Mendocino Coast president Judy Leach gave an update on the hospital and clinics. She said scheduling delays reported last year have been relieved considerably after Adventist Health hired a call center to help with scheduling appointments and other communications. Wait times, she said, have eased, while the number of visits to the clinics has soared over the past year, from around 25,000 in 2020, to more than 32,000 last year.
Leach said a fault with an AT&T cable knocked out internet to the hospital this week, and while communications in and out of the hospital are affected, patient care was not. She said she had no time line for repair as of Thursday night, but hoped to know within a day.
Hospital Rebuild/Sherwood Oaks
Members of the public asked for updates on plans to refurbish the hospital, and on the status of Sherwood Oaks Health Center, which is threatened with possible closure due to extreme staffing shortages. Neither item was on the board's agenda. Board member Jessica Grinberg said she has been working with community members on Sherwood Oaks and that she sees a “glimmer of hope.” The Coast Democratic Club is hosting a forum on coast healthcare via Zoom Feb. 3 at 6 p.m., at which new details on Sherwood Oaks and hospital plans might be discussed. Event details are on the Coast Democratic Club's Facebook page.
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