Grossmont Hospital construction citizens oversight group issues its 2012 annual report on bond expenditures

A volunteer citizens group that is overseeing how the Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) is spending millions of dollars in voter-approved public financing for infrastructure improvement construction projects at Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa has issued its 2012 Annual Report to the Community.

The citizens group, called the Independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee (ICBOC), consists of volunteers from the local community who are responsible for monitoring bond revenue expenditures by GHD, a public agency that serves as landlord of the hospital’s property and buildings on behalf of local taxpayers. The ICBOC group is required to report annually its oversight activities during the previous year. This is their sixth annual report, which was presented by ICBOC chair Robert Klaiber to the GHD board at its April 2, 2013 meeting. In a unanimous vote, the GHD board accepted the 2012 annual report.

“Our promise to the citizens of East County has been to commit ourselves to faithfully discharge our duties to the best of our abilities with an attitude of thoroughness, inclusiveness and transparency,” Klaiber said. “We have willingly served as the taxpayers’ eyes, ears and voices in the monitoring of Prop. G expenses.”

The ICBOC 2012 annual report is available at a publicly accessible website,

http://icboc.gafcon.net/Annual%20Reports/2012%20ICBOC%20Annual%20Report.pdf,

which also houses all of the citizen’s group’s bylaws, annual workplans, reports, memos, agendas, minutes and presentations from previous meetings.

The 2012 annual report includes updates on construction activity during the past year, a photo of ICBOC members and a chart on project cash flow through Dec. 31, 2012. The report also discusses the energy-saving cogeneration equipment will complement new Central Energy Plant at Grossmont Hospital and progress made on several “make-ready” projects, a reference to smaller projects involving utilities, shoring and seismic retrofitting and transportation corridors that needed to reach completion before construction could begin on several larger building projects.

In addition, the report notes the annual audit for the bond funds and expenditures. Performed by independent auditors, there have not been any audit issues identified since the beginning of ICBOC. Annually, the auditors have presented the ICBOC with a clean bill of financial healthy, known as an “unqualified” or “clean” opinion, which is the best type of external audit result, indicating no deficiencies or inconsistencies in internal controls or compliance.

The ICBOC group has been meeting since 2006, when voters approved Proposition G, a $247 million bond measure that is providing financing for the infrastructure improvements at the hospital, which opened in 1952. Construction activity on Prop. G-related projects is scheduled to continue until 2016. Prop. G passed by more than 77 percent, well above the two-thirds required. As specified in the ballot measure, ICBOC members include East County residents who are experienced in project management, large-scale construction operations and finance, along with representatives from Sharp Grossmont Hospital, as well as designees from the San Diego County Labor Council and San Diego County Taxpayers Association.

“It is a tribute to the District for its ability to attract quality people to serve on the ICBOC,” said Klaiber.

The Grossmont Healthcare District, a public agency that supports various health-related community programs and services in San Diego's East County region, was formed in 1952 to build and operate Grossmont Hospital. In 1991, the District leased the hospital's operation to Sharp HealthCare under a 30-year lease that runs through the year 2021.The District is governed by a five-member board of directors, each elected to four-year terms, who represent nearly 500,000 people residing within the District's 750 square miles in San Diego's East County. GHD also operates the Dr. William C. Herrick Community Health Care Library, a public library specializing in health research information, located at 9001 Wakarusa St. in La Mesa. For more information about GHD, visit www.grossmonthealthcare.org.