MGH critics get $500,000 in legal aid

MGH critics get $500,000 in legal aid
By Nancy Isles NationIndependent Journal Reporter

A little-known nonprofit organization last night promised $500,000 in support to the Marin Healthcare District in its fight to return the county's hospital to public control.
George Stratigos, executive director of the Marin Health Fund and a Sausalito City Council member announced the pledge at a meeting of the healthcare district board of directors at Mill Valley Town Hall last night.
"The district board has documented that quality of care at Marin General Hospital, and particularly emergency care, has deteriorated," Stratigos said. "To restore health care worthy of our trust, the Marin Health Fund board of directors has come to believe that returning public control of the hospital is crucial."
The Marin Healthcare District board filed a lawsuit last year to invalidate the 30-year lease of the publicly owned hospital to the corporation that runs it.
The board oversees the 1985 lease, and cited conflict of interest issues and breaches of the lease In its legal claim.
Marin General Hospital officials have said they do not believe there was any conflict in the signing of the lease. The appointed board if the nonprofit hospital corporation is currently meeting in negotiations with the healthcare district board to try to resolve some of the issues cited in the lawsuit.
Stratigos said the Marin Health Fund board believes quality of care has declined under the management of the private corporation.
The money will be made available to the district to pay legal expenses as a revolving credit line. The loan will be repaid when the lawsuit is settled.
The organization was established in 1982 as the San Francisco Legal Foundation. The group has been inactive for several years but recently revived its efforts and changed its name.
Stratigos said donors include Marin nurses, physicians, patients and their families.
"A lot of people want to get involved and they feel threatened," said Stratigos, a management consultant. "This gives them the opportunity to invest without taking sides and being political."