According to campaign reports, Presbyterian Healthcare gave $75,000 to Governor Richardson. So what happens if you are a business in the State of New Mexico, and you don’t pony up enough money to the Governor or other political “leaders” campaign efforts:
Gov. Bill Richardson and Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez said Tuesday state and city officials will co-chair a task force formed to “open communication” between the Lovelace health system and New Mexico citizens about the health system’s future.
Richardson and Chavez say their offices have been contacted by physicians, nurses, Lovelace employees and patients who have expressed concerns about the loss of Lovelace’s behavioral health outpatient program, the closure or restructure of the Lovelace Medical Center hospital on Gibson Ave. SE in Albuquerque and the status of the Lovelace Medical Group.
Now mind you, this is a private business. The Governor and Mayor have no business forming task forces to insert themselves into a businesses operations. What if they did this to your business? Where is the Chamber of Commerce in all of this? Why aren’t they outraged?
In January, Chavez held a news conference [in the hospital lobby] at which he said Ardent deserved an “F” for corporate responsibility and had not effectively communicated with the city about its plans prior to making the decision to close the hospital.
Since when are businesses required to communicate with the city before making a business decision to close an unprofitable center? Wasn’t the Mayor protesting – I mean holding a press conference – in the lobby of a business similar to that outrageous requirement of that defeated minimum wage bill?
I wonder which business benefits when the full weight of the Governor gets involved in the operations of one of its competitor? I guess Lovelace should have given a $75,000 campaign contribution.