Maricopa County's little-known...

Maricopa County's little-known $457 MILLION secret

That's the 2009 budget for Maricopa County's public health care system.

Maricopa County Special Health Care District 3

1. Maricopa Integrated Health System's (MIHS) CEO currently makes $375,000 -- nearly 4 times what the Governor makes. No one on the public payroll should make 4 times what the Governor makes. Grossly excessive compensations are a waste of taxpayer dollars and MUST STOP NOW.

2. The Health Care District's operating expenses are $61,543,112 over budget for 2008. MIHS executives must be held accountable for such results, as well as for poor record-keeping and quality standards that have jeopardized JCAHO accreditation and led to calls for in-depth audit.

3. MIHS's CEO and some Board members want to build a new medical center to replace the existing one - at a cost estimated in February 2007 to be about $600 MILLION. This could double the property taxes taxpayers pay to the Health Care District. Do the majority of taxpayers want significantly increased property taxes to pay for a new "charity" hospital?

4. MIHS's lobbying contracts have set records by outspending virtually all comparable hospitals in the state. This is just one example of gigantic waste and fiscal irresponsibility that must be eliminated.

5. When the voters approved the ballot measure that created the Maricopa County Special Health Care District (MCSHCD), it was with the clear intent that the Board be comprised of CITIZENS, not career politicians and bureaucrats. I have the perfect mix of health care education/training/experience, 4 years of political experience in the State Legislature including the Health Committee, precinct and grass-roots level activism, and business acumen with an MBA to complement my being a wife (of a doctor), mother, nurse, taxpayer, and citizen of this county, to fulfill the voters' intent.

6. Being "an effective financial steward of resources" is as important and noble a part of MIHS's Vision Statement as being "a preferred health care provider available to all of the people in Maricopa County." Most special taxing districts in Arizona have a 10-year sunset-review provision, but MCSHCD's is 20 years. This means that no one – not the voters, the governor, the attorney general, the county supervisors, no one – can stop this board from raising your property taxes for another 16 years. So it is especially important that this Board be comprised of fiscally responsible financial stewards of resources.

7. I have signed a pledge not to increase taxes. If you don't want the Health Care District to raise your property taxes but do want to reduce excessive executive salaries to a sane level, stop the practice of using money that is supposed to provide care for the indigent but is being spent on lobbying contracts, eliminate waste, and hold executives accountable, you need to vote for Colette Rosati for Maricopa County Special Health Care District Board, District 3.

Source:
Colette Rosati, Candidate for Maricopa County Special Health Care District Board, District 3