News that the Southlake Hospital Foundation (the people responsible for fundraising for the hospital) board had 12 of 14 members suddenly resign has rocked the community.
These resignations have created confusion. Do these resignations mean that something is being mismanaged in the hospital? The answer is clearly, "No", because the Foundation has nothing to do with the day-to-day operations of the hospital. The Foundation organizes golf tournaments, the Mardi Gras Ball and other fundraising events.
There was rampant speculation that charity funds may have been embezzled or have gone missing. The chatter about this rumour had gotten to such a fever pitch that the Foundation felt pressure to put out second statement on the board resignations which was reported in the Toronto Star. This second statement made it clear that the resignations on the Foundation board were not related to any fiduciary matter.
The public can be assured that it is still safe to donate to Southlake hospital and all donations are working to improve the quality of our local health care. Nobody affiliated with the Southlake Foundation is alleging any criminal conduct or mishandling of Southlake hospital donations.
As reported in the Toronto Star, (which you can read here: The Star) the reason for the mass resignations is as follows:
The hospital and foundation confirmed the mass resignation and said a “personnel issue” was behind the sudden action.
“The matter in question dealt with a personnel issue, and was not fiduciary. Personnel matters will not be discussed with the media or (publicly),” the board said in an email statement Wednesday.
My source with close connections to these matters sheds some light. The source, (and for the record, my source was not actually present during the closed door meeting that preceded the resignations), believes that "personnel matters" do not involve any employee of the Foundation. Instead, the personnel matter involves a board member of Southlake Foundation.
Keep in mind that the 12 Board members who quit would have control over the outcome of any controversial staffing change, (for example, whether to hire or fire an employee of the Foundation), by virtue that they number 12 of 14 votes.
But when a Southlake Foundation board member was asked to resign, my source believes that the other 11 member stood in solidarity during that closed door meeting.
My source believes that the controversy (such as this recent imbroglio: Hinder) that surrounds Steve Hinder got to be too much for Southlake senior administration. At one time Mr. Hinder's involvement with the Foundation was important because of his close ties with Belinda Stronach, but with the Stronachs and Magna International now appearing to be distancing themselves from Mr. Hinder, his ability to raise money for the Foundation was diminished substantially. The hospital's administration, valuing the hospital's relationship with the Stronachs and Magna International, determined that it was time for Mr. Hinder to leave the board.
My source suggests that other board members were upset about the way Hinder was being shuffled out. As my source explains it, Hinder has not yet had his day in court and these board members felt that there should be a presumption of innocence given to him especially in light of Mr. Hinder's record for volunteerism with the hospital.
If this is correct, then it is too bad that these 11 resigning board members had more loyalty to Hinder than they did to the hospital and the communities that Southlake serves. Their mass resignations have undoubtedly hurt the hospital's ability to raise money. They have inappropriately implicated the hospital in controversy because of their feelings towards Hinder. These resignations speak to their character and not in a good way.
Donut store owner, Jim Alexander, is among the group who resigned on June 30th. Here is what he had to say in an earlier statement:
"As a volunteer board made up of prominent community leaders, the foundation board was guided by our individual principles and values. As we were not willing to compromise those principles and values, we felt that the best thing to do for the future of Southlake Regional Centre and its Foundation was to resign."
The question for Mr. Alexander, (and other resigning members), is which one of these principles and values allows him to undermine the worthy fundraising efforts of Southlake Hospital?
If you wish to voice your disapproval to what these most disloyal former members of the Southlake Foundation board are alleged to have done, may I humbly suggest that you donate to the hospital today? You can donate by following this link: Donate to Southlake
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