An Open Letter to AG Stein
Dear Attorney General Stein:
It was a sad day for NHC this past week.
You made a surprise announcement that you were signing off on the sale of NHRMC to Novant Health. This after months of your office assuring the citizens that you would undertake a 60 day “official review” of the proposed sale of NHRMC.
Your office misled the public, including me and Save Our Hospital attorney Robert Zaytoun.
It is my belief that you have failed to understand the symbolic and real importance of NHRMC to the people of New Hanover County and the entire region. It is the people’s hospital, a local treasure established 54 years ago by the people’s consent; a public referendum. Merging our African American and white hospitals was a shining moment in our county’s history that promised quality healthcare to everyone, regardless of race, creed, national origin, or ability to pay.
I believe you have given your blessing to this sale persuaded by false narratives and the highest bidder. How many hundreds of hours did you engage the proponents of this sale and the creators of this faux “community foundation” and how little time did you give to widespread concerns of the people, those you are sworn to protect, for the common good?
You missed the moment to not only be the guardian of the people but the hero for future generations.
You had a chance to strike a blow against systemic poverty and racism, health inequities, and unhealthy outcomes that are real and persistent in our community. A transformative moment for the marginalized. A strong and compassionate hand up for the impoverished, the populations of color struggling to stay healthy, mind and body, putting healthy food on the table, making ends meet with abysmal wages, battling judicial prejudice and systemic racism.
Our consensus is that you and your office succumbed to corporate power brokers and empty promises of better healthcare, knowing full well that consolidations of this nature only bring higher prices with diminished quality of care and access.
In your statement, you opined that your hands are tied, that you don’t have the constitutional or statutory power to address the corporate malaise of healthcare when actually you do.
But you chose not to. Assistance from the legislature is not needed. A profile in courage is.
Our State Treasurer raised numerous red flags regarding the tenets of this sale, and our Local Government Commission expressed caution on how the public proceeds from this sale, $1.25 billion, could be inappropriately and illegally handled once converted to a newly created private foundation, the “New Hanover Community Endowment, Inc.”
Why did you not engage either Treasurer Folwell or the LGC for counsel? Did you listen to their legitimate concerns? Did politics get in the way?
Doing your job is not condescending us with your comments made during our recent call stating, “it’s just one monopoly buying another” and “what do you want [the Endowment] to do, invest at money market rates?”
I must also address your sudden and seemingly out of character press release:
WHERE were the public hearings to explain your conclusions?
WHAT role and representation did the public have with your exhaustive “negotiations” with the proponents of the sale and newly minted foundation?
WHERE were the opportunities to provide new and better methods to ensure that community resources were secure and healthy and social inequities would truly be addressed?
WHERE was the scrutiny over the conversion of public sale proceeds to a newly formed private foundation that seems preoccupied with maximum investment rather than developing core values, mission, and achievable goals?
WHERE are the safeguards and independent monitoring procedures going forward?
WHAT recourse is there if the private endowment poorly invests and/or misappropriates our public dollars, $1.25 billion?
These sale proceeds, placed in a properly appointed, above board and public-facing community endowment would have provided a real opportunity to take health equity to the next level.
Did we not learn anything from the debacle of the Mission Health sale in Asheville to the national health conglomerate HCA last year that you also so confidently blessed at the outset?
Mr. Stein, you want us to be thankful for the seeming concessions you won for the public’s benefit; inclusiveness, diversity, and transparency on the new endowment board; two additional board members, a few public presentations, listening sessions, and an advisory committee to appear instructive.
Disingenuous. These token press release bullets won’t change anything. Window dressings.
It seems ironic that in 1961, when the public finally voted in favor to build a new integrated hospital, it was the African American community, underserved then, that rallied and won the day. A foundation of trust had been built. Equality was no longer a dream, but a right. Yet, trust and equality both remain elusive to this day. Your decision will not be forgotten easily. It feels like a betrayal when our state and country are depending more than ever on our elected officials for leadership, protection, and virtue. Once the public’s trust has been lost, it is difficult to win back.
All spoken in my humble and sincere opinion. Take care.
Mindfully,
Harper Peterson