OIG: How close is too close? [The Miami Herald]

Aug. 28--A county investigative report has raised "serious concerns about the integrity and objectiveness" of the way Jackson Health System leaders worked with developer Michael Swerdlow to build a proposed $160 million, 25-story office tower next to the medical campus to house Jackson employees and community doctors.

The long-awaited report from the Miami-Dade County Office of the Inspector General said John Copeland, chairman of the Public Health Trust that governs Jackson, collaborated so closely with the developers, Swerdlow Group, that he even helped the company prepare a business plan for construction of the Civica tower -- though the project was "an official item under consideration" by the board.

"We strongly believe it is not appropriate for a person appointed to this official position to collaborate with the developer," the inspector general's report said.

Swerdlow and Copeland have denied any wrongdoing.

The report also found that Michael Casanova -- then a Jackson vice president who was assigned to prepare an impartial analysis of the Swerdlow proposal -- distributed to county officials a Civica business plan labeled as a Jackson product, even though "he did not know who prepared it or where it came from."

The report, released Thursday, includes an accusation from Casanova that Carlos Valdes-Lora, the husband of Jackson's chief executive, Eneida Roldan, called Casanova's cell phone many times urging the approval of the Civica plan. Roldan has been at times a strong supporter of Civica.

Valdes-Lora, a Coral Gables ophthalmologist, denied having any such conversations about Civica with Casanova but told the OIG that he had spoken by phone with Casanova several times about Casanova's job performance at Jackson. The report offers no explanation about why the doctor would have talked about Casanova's performance. Valdes-Lora could not be reached for comment.

The OIG report said it had no way of determining which version of the phone conversations was correct.

On Friday, Copeland issued a brief statement to The Herald: "The Civica project was initially thought to be a way for JHS to improve its operating performance. Of course, any such proposed project requires a thorough review. Currently, we are committed only to that review."

In a written response to the report, Swerdlow Group President Brett Dill said his company had done nothing underhanded. "There is nothing new or novel about such collaboration," between governments and private developers in working together to write plans.

Swerdlow has had long-standing ties with Jackson leaders as a board member of the Jackson Memorial Foundation, which operates the system's international marketing and raises money for projects. According to the foundation, he stepped down as vice chair and the board itself in June as the Trust board started discussing the project.

SEVERAL REVISIONS

The Civica project was an unsolicited proposal that Swerdlow presented to the board. It has gone through several revisions in which Swerdlow and Jackson would be co-owners of an office tower on 1.9 acres Swerdlow owns on Northwest 14th Street, now the site of a Rodeway Inn. Most plans combine office space for Jackson departments, some are now scattered around downtown, and medical offices for doctors that Jackson hopes to hire as a way of bringing in more patients

In late 2009, the inspector general's office raised concerns that all Civica information was provided by Swerdlow. It asked Jackson to do its own analysis. According to the report, OIG learned Dec. 23 that Casanova, then Jackson's vice president of business development, was analyzing Civica. On Jan. 12, Roldan signed a nonbinding letter of intent with Swerdlow Group to develop the project.

On Jan. 27, Casanova gave the OIG and county executives "a spiral-bound, tabbed, glossy color business plan whose cover page read: 'JACKSON HEALTH SYSTEM Business Plan for Civica Tower.' "

OIG reviewers decided the plan "re-packaged" data from the developer.

Casanova told the OIG that he saw the document for the first time when he "found three copies on his desk. He did not know who produced the document and felt no need to know," the report said. He said he didn't believe the Swerdlow group had produced it.

Copeland told the OIG that he had no confidence in Jackson staff's ability to prepare a detailed plan, so he made several trips to Swerdlow's Coconut Grove office to work with Dill, the Swerdlow president. Copeland's work "contributed to a large portion of the business plan," according to the OIG report.

Roldan told the OIG she had assumed Jackson staff prepared the plan, since that's what she told Casanova to do. She said she learned later that Copeland had assisted.

When Jackson staff had to get extra copies of the business plan supposedly done by Jackson staff, the OIG report noted, they had to ask for them from the Swerdlow Group.

Casanova, who had been an executive with several small healthcare companies in South Florida, was hired by Roldan in November 2009. He was fired in April.

Only after he left Jackson did he say he had reservations about the project. He said that was the reason for his "abrupt termination." He could not be reached for comment Friday.

Roldan issued a one-sentence statement: "Michael Casanova was not terminated for any retaliatory reason."

She declined to offer any other statements about the OIG report.

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