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An Unusual Encounter
By Ray Pavlak, Winsted
My wife Judy and I were having lunch at a local restaurant on September 11 when an older lady arrived at our booth and ask if she might interrupt us for a bit. It turned out that she wanted to know if I was Ray Pavlak, who had written about Dr. Fred Hyde. On learning that I was the person she was seeking, she said she knew Mr. Hyde and had written a letter to The Voice in opposition to my criticism of the former director of the Winsted Health Center Foundation.
The lady never introduced herself so I cannot call her by name. She said I was wrong to say that Dr. Hyde was being overpaid at $90,000 a year by the Foundation. He brought many skills to the job and served in several capacities. These included being the CEO (chief executive officer) and CFO (chief fiscal officer), and that for all the work he was doing he deserved more than he was being paid.
However, Dr. Hyde officially had only the title of director of the Foundation. The other titles have been bandied about, but at most are meaningless house titles. And since the Foundation—unlike Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, which runs the Health Center/ Emergency Room—operates no medical service unit, the Foundation did not need or use his medical administrative experience and skills in the position he occupied.
So what did he really have to do for his $90,000? Basically, he was to see that the building was maintained, leases were negotiated and rents collected. As far as leases were concerned, he had the assistance of the Community Lawyer, Charlene LaVoie. Yet a study from a business perspective of the leases negotiated during his tenure shows that much was left to be desired, especially regarding the lease with the Veterans Administration for their clinic at the campus.
Mr. Hyde also failed the Foundation and the community in that he did not head off needless opposition to the Ambulatory Surgical Unit. This opposition hurt the effort of Charlotte Hungerford to reduce its losses at a time when the Health Center/ ER was being strongly criticized for its financial drain on the hospital. The Office of Health Care Access seriously considered shutting the Health Center/ ER down. What were Dr. Hyde and the Foundation trustees doing during this crisis that almost cost us the Health Center and Emergency Room? They were doing virtually nothing to save the Paramedic Intercept Program or the Health Center/ ER from being closed by Mr. Gorman.
Actually, if Dr. Hyde had made use of the officers of the board of trustees, such as the secretary and treasurer, much more could have been accomplished by the Foundation in a timely and accurate manner. For example, there were issues about the minutes of the trustee meetings, and there could have been better security and oversight of the Foundation's checkbook and bank accounts.
My critic tried to say that Dr. Hyde was doing so many things for the Foundation that he deserved the $90,000 and even more. In reality, Dr. Hyde took advantage of the innocence of the corporators (who were new to overseeing a medical foundation) and took over direct control or close supervision of all aspects of the workings of the Foundation. Why? I believe that not only was Dr. Hyde personally inclined to be a very controlling person, but he was beholden for his position and pay to the Naders—particularly to Claire Nader, who started and has never relinquished her seat on the board of trustees. She, again taking advantage of the innocence of the corporators and other supporters, got the members she wanted (and could control) as fellow trustees or members of the nominating committee, and soon had those who didn't conform ousted.
I and others who believed we had fought for and founded what we expected to be an open, democratically guided organization eventually found we had been duped and had helped create a board of trustees worse than the old board of directors of the failed Winsted Memorial Hospital. Even Foundation President Richard Michaelsen, who was kept for his popularity and as a screen for the Nader faction's Machiavellian actions, was aware of what was happening. Why did he permit it and why did he stay? Mr. Michaelsen told me that he stayed to battle to improve the situation from within. He asked me to stop publicly attacking the Foundation and work from within. He agreed that there were things wrong, such as Dr. Hyde no longer being needed and being paid excessively.
We parted company at this point, he to work from within the Foundation and myself to work publicly. I am sure that had the public criticisms ended, President Michaelsen would have been dropped. As it was, Dr. Hyde ran the board—not President Michaelsen.
I am also sure that if my critic were privy to the happenings and politics of the Foundation, she would have a much clearer view of the situation and would have been more concerned for the welfare of the community than for Dr. Hyde. There is a wise saying: "Be careful of what you say, unless you are sure of what you say."
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