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CREDIT CARD USE LIMITED BY HOSPITAL.


Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming.

The Antelope Valley
 Hospital will impose stricter controls over credit card use by board members and hospital staff after an audit found that board member Steve Fox Steve Fox may refer to:
  • Steve Fox (musician), The Canadian country music singer
  • Steve Fox (porn star), The American porn star who died in 1997
  • Steve Fox (Tekken), The fictional British boxer in the Tekken fighting game series.
 failed to turn in receipts for more than $1,600 worth of bills during the past six years.

Hospital directors and employees will turn in their cards but can apply for new ones if they can demonstrate a need and obtain approval from the board, under a new policy.

``Credit cards can lead to all kinds of problems at a public agency,'' said director Larry Chimbole, who noted that he never took a credit card after his election to the board last year.

Hospital records show board members spent more than $10,000 last fiscal year on credit cards - mostly for travel to hospital conferences in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. , Lake Tahoe, Phoenix, Texas and the Palm Springs area.

For fiscal year 1996-97, Fox spent $4,233 on his credit card, Shirley Sayles spent $3,871, director Deborah Rice spent $1,652 and director Dr. John Manning There are several public figures named John Mann.
  • John Mann (actor), British actor (see Dick Barton)
  • John Mann (author) (1798-1891), farmer and author from New Brunswick, Canada
  • John Mann (cricketer) (1919-2002), English cricketer
 spent $165. Former board members Dante Simi spent $235 and Hank Marvin This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.
You can assist by [ editing it] now.
 spent $147.

About $3,800 of Fox's expenses were for a June national health lawyers meeting in Texas, including two airplane airplane, aeroplane, or aircraft, heavier-than-air vehicle, mechanically driven and fitted with fixed wings that support it in flight through the dynamic action of the air.  tickets for him and his wife, costing about $2,400. The remaining $500 were for nontravel-related meals.

Sayles' expenses included $1,770 to cover lodging for her and four civic leaders hosted by the hospital at La Quinta A division of Seagate that was originally an acquisition and then absorbed into the company by 1999. Quinta was the developer of Optically Assisted Winchester (OAW) technology. See OAW.  Resorts near Palm Springs for a health care convention; a $1,245 fee for a special district management conference in San Diego; and $766 in travel costs for an Association of California Hospital Districts meeting in May in Lake Tahoe.

Rice's expenses were for attending an assisted living as·sist·ed living
n.
A living arrangement in which people with special needs, especially older people with disabilities, reside in a facility that provides help with everyday tasks such as bathing, dressing, and taking medication.
 conference in Phoenix. The conference fee was $1,500, and air fare was $152.

Manning's expenses covered one meal at the Desert Inn and costs for the Lake Tahoe hospital district association conference.

Marvin's expenses were two meals plus credit card fees. Simi's bills were for two meals and the Lake Tahoe conference. Marvin and Simi left the board after the November 1996 election.

The board voted 5-0 at Wednesday's meeting to approve the strict credit card policy. Previously, hospital policy did not specifically address the use of credit cards, officials said.

The new policy says receipts must be turned in within 30 days, or the person making the charge will be billed for the expense.

Board President Sayles said credit cards are needed by some staffers, such as the purchasing director and employees in administration making travel arrangements and reservations.

``Most of us quite frankly don't need them. Any expenditures can be turned in for reimbursement Reimbursement

Payment made to someone for out-of-pocket expenses has incurred.
,'' Sayles said. ``The idea is not to hamper those who need cards.''

The audit found that Fox has not turned in 46 receipts for nontravel-related expenses between 1991 and 1997 for a total amount of $1,646, chief financial officer Bob Anderson
For other people named Bob Anderson, see Bob Anderson (disambiguation)


Bob Anderson (b. 19 May 1931, Hendon, London - d. 14 August 1967, Northampton) was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and racecar driver from England.
 said.

The charges for those receipts are mostly for lunches, but there is one charge for a rental car, Anderson said. Fox said that the rental car was for a hospital conference in San Diego.

``The process was you merely told the chair who you were going out to lunch with, and they approved it as long as it was hospital-related,'' Fox said. ``I followed the procedure at the time.''

Fox said a number of the lunches were with hospital attorney Frank Michelizzi, and others were with fellow trustees.

Fox characterized char·ac·ter·ize  
tr.v. character·ized, character·iz·ing, character·iz·es
1. To describe the qualities or peculiarities of: characterized the warden as ruthless.

2.
 the matter as retaliation RETALIATION. The act by which a nation or individual treats another in the same manner that the latter has treated them. For example, if a nation should lay a very heavy tariff on American goods, the United States would be justified in return in laying heavy duties on the manufactures and  for his raising questions about hospital administrator Bob Harenski's credit card records, which Fox says show Harenski spends about $1,000 a month on travel and meals.

``They decided to bite back,'' Fox said.

Harenski said it was not retaliation.

CREDIT CARD SPENDING

Antelope Valley Hospital directors spent $10,303 via their hospital credit cards between July 1996 and June 1997.

Steve Fox $4,233

Shirley Sayles $3,871

Deborah Rice $1,652

Dante Simi $235

Dr. John Manning $165

Hank Marvin $147

Box: CREDIT CARD SPENDING (see text)

CAPTION(S):

Box
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Copyright 1997, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Oct 11, 1997
Words:683
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