ARIZONA COMMON SENSE

An Exercise in Aggressive, Non-Partisan Political Activism October 18, 2012 Volume 2, Number 30

THE REAL REASON BEHIND CARMONASS RESIGNATION FROM THE DEBT-RIDDEN PIMA COUNTY HEALTY-CARE SYSTEM AND

ANOTHER REASON WHY JEFF FLAKE IS A LIAR!

by Alex Ferri - October 16, 2012, 11:13 pm Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Flake said his opponent, Democratic Senate candidate Richard Carmona, allowed the Pima County Health System's debt to increase by 28 percent to more than $46 million during Carmona's time as the program's director. The comment: "(Richard) Carmona was forced to resign as director of the Pima County health care system because he allowed the health system's debt to jump by 28 percent in one year to over $46 million." Before becoming the U.S. surgeon general under President George W. Bush in 2002, Carmona served as director of the Pima County Health System from 1997 to 1999. The Pima County Health System, a health-care provider, also managed Kino Hospital in Tucson. It sold the hospital to the University of Arizona in 2004 and halted its health-care services last year. At the time of Carmona's appointment in 1997, the department was about $36 million in debt, based on reports from the Associated Press. By April 1999, the department estimated it had taken on an additional $10 million in debt, according to the Associated Press. This constituted a 28 percent increase in the department's debt during Carmona's tenure as director. Kino Hospital's debt arose largely out of indigent care, which is care provided to people who can't afford it or don't have health insurance,

said Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz. Grijalva was a Pima County supervisor during Carmona's time as director. Carmona resigned in July 1999, after a private meeting with the chairwoman of the Pima Health System Commission. Carmona said at the time that the terms of his resignation did not include any assignment of blame, and that he and the department had a "parting of ways in a friendly and diplomatic fashion." While Carmona was held responsible for the debt increase, campaign spokesman Andy Barr said Carmona wasn't personally in control of the program's assets. That duty fell to the Pima County Board of Supervisors, while Carmona could only make recommendations for budgetary changes. Grijalva said Kino Hospital was in a bad debt situation before Carmona took over, and Grijalva praised Carmona for keeping the hospital from going out of business. Bottom line: Flake's assertion about the health system's debt is true: Carmona resigned as director of the program after a 28 percent increase in department debt. However, Carmona wasn't in direct control of the system's finances, as that was the duty of the Pima County Board of Supervisors. Re-published Courtesy of Roy Warden, Publisher Arizona Common Sense roywarden@hotmail.com