Contact: R. T. Neary, Chairman, Coalition to Save Catholic Health Care, 508-359-4551,
RTNeary@Verizon.net
MEDIA ADVISORY, Oct. 25 /
Christian Newswire/ -- Caritas Christi Health Care system is continuing to conceal its true financial condition in pushing for approval of its acquisition by a subsidiary of a controversial venture capital company without hospital experience.
"After reporting a turnaround from a $20 million loss to a $30 million profit from fiscal years 2008 to 2009, we expect to see further profits for fiscal year 2010 which ended on September 30, 2010. Mark Rich, the Chief Financial Officer of Caritas Christi, has been conspicuously silent on 2010 results, although 2009 projections were published on 31 August, 2009" said R. T. Neary, Chairman of the Coalition To Save Catholic Health Care.
"Now they have fabricated a story of being in dire financial straits. For the 6-hospital Roman Catholic non-profit chain to be sold to the for-profit Steward Healthcare LLC, it must by law receive the approval of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. This requires providing financial data proving that they will not be able to continue as a result of a lack of finances. This is transparent deception by exclusion" added Neary.
At a hearing on October 21 before Justice Francis Spina, an attorney for the system was questioned as to whether a reported $260 million underfunded pension liability was a total amount due, or was an amount to be spread over future years. The latter, he admitted, was the reality, amounting to $25 million per year.
"While Justice Spina was superb in penetrating the façade of the financial double-speak that Caritas Christi officials have been engaged in for many months, other highly questionable aspects of their claim of financial doom remain. With our research of their own reports and activities, they seem to be manifestly short of the statutory requirement, and we do not see how the SJC would allow this public deception to continue. Caritas Christi and Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. are making a mockery of the state's legal system" Neary stated. Justice Spina, from the bench, noted the 8-point letter submitted by Neary to the Court.
There still has been no media coverage of the Cerberus connection with Bernard L. Madoff, the multi-billion dollar swindler who is now serving sentences of over 100 years for his Ponzi-type scheme. Cerberus, whose policies mandate silence by their officials, never mentions the feeder fund they once had for Madoff's worthless paper or their subsidiary bank in Japan which was also involved. One can easily find the data of this part of Cerberus' shady history on the internet, and it is a crucial element in assessing the ethics of the prospective purchaser in order to protect the public interest.
