The Brooks Memorial Hospital board will be holding a special meeting Friday morning to recommend to its membership moves to help solidify the Lake Erie Regional Health System.
The system involves Brooks Memorial Hospital and TLC of Irving and would essentially create an active parent arrangement between the two.
"The organizations are not merging. It's an active parent arrangement, which means there will be a common board and certain significant powers will be delegated to that board, things such as: hiring a Chief Executive Officer, approving the capital budget, the operating budget and others," explained Brooks Memorial CEO Richard Ketcham. "This would allow those powers to be delegated up to Lake Erie Regional Health System."
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A vote on the future of Brooks Hospital is planned for Friday morning.
TLC has already approved the arrangement during one of their previous meetings according to Ketcham, and now the Brooks Memorial Hospital board has to present the recommendations to its membership for a vote.
"Brooks is a membership organization so our membership has to vote," said Brooks Memorial Hospital board member Chris Lanski. "The Brooks board recommended it and now the membership cooperation will approve it or disapprove it."
According to Ketcham, the purpose of the item on Friday's agenda is to consider a resolution to do two things: modify the by-laws of Brooks Memorial Hospital Corporation and the certificate of, incorporation for Brooks Memorial Hospital to delegate certain and significant powers up to a new organization being formed between Brooks and TLC called the Lake Erie Regional Health System New York.
The system would be similar to the Catholic Health Care System, operating under one CEO. A search committee has already been put in place which has three people from each organization. They have met and they are interviewing finalists the last two days of this month. Their hope is to make a recommendation to the new board as to who they think the CEO should be, said Ketcham, who previously said he's not pursuing the position.
"The financial statements are going to be kept separate. Brooks would have separate finances and TLC would have separate finances and they would not be merged. Our employees and their employees are different salaries, different benefits. If it was a merger they would have common salaries and benefits and that is not contemplated now. It may be contemplated in the future," Ketcham said. "The new board will have eight people from Brooks and eight people from TLC - 16 people equally represented between each organization. Four will be physicians, two from each side."
Brooks Memorial Hospital members essentially pay dues throughout the year to maintain membership status. There are approximately 50 members who elect the hospital board, which consists of about 17 members. The meeting is not open to the public and will be held at the White Inn at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, July 18.
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