(Host) Eight trustees of the state’s largest hospital say they’ll step down as soon as replacements are found. Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington is under state and federal investigation after the cost of an expansion project more than doubled to about $356 million.
At a news conference late Thursday, board Chairwoman Louise McCarren said the trustees resigned for the good of the institution:
(McCarren) “I had the opportunity to speak with every one of these eight board members today, and what I heard from each of them, in their own words, was an absolute commitment to do what is necessary to help this organization move forward. And the general consensus among the trustees was that their resignations were necessary in order to allow the organization to do that.”
(Host) The trustees were in control of the board when the cost of the hospital expansion project ballooned, and when hospital administrators misled regulators about the true cost of the project.
Their resignations came a day after Governor Jim Douglas called for a complete overhaul of the board. The governor also said McCarren should leave. But she says she needs to stay to in order to guide the institution as it searches for a new CEO.
(McCarren) “The governor is entitled to his opinion. I didn’t do this in a vacuum. I did this in consultation with my fellow trustees. And I am going to stay to make sure that the transition goes well, it goes smoothly and that the search process is completed.”
(Host) After the trustees leave, the only board members remaining from last year will be McCarren, Interim CEO Ed Colodny and Doctor John Warshaw, who is dean of the UVM College of Medicine.