Past Ritzville hospital head penalized

Commission to waive penalty if certain needs are fulfilled

RITZVILLE — Linda Gutzman, former director of the Adams County Public Hospital District No. 2, was assessed a civil penalty for failing to file her personal affairs statement on time.

The penalty of $300 was assessed June 14 during an enforcement hearing held by the Public Disclosure Commission.

The penalty will be resolved once she files the statement within 30 days of the order being sent, PDC Communication and Training Officer Lori Anderson said. The order is basically another request for Gutzman to file her statement.

The order has not been sent yet, she added.

Adams County Public Hospital District No. 2 Administrator Larry Hutcheson said he knew nothing about the issue. He also added he knew nothing about whether or not Gutzman forgot to file the statement.

"(Hutcheson) met with me when we met with the hospital attorney," Gutzman said.

She said she met with them to discuss her resignation. She was working part-time at the hospital and part-time in Spokane, she said.

"We didn't want it to become an issue," Gutzman said. "So I resigned."

She clarified she resigned because she was working part time in both areas, not because of the civil penalty. The civil penalty came after her resignation. Neither Gutzman nor Hutcheson could recall the exact month she resigned.

The personal affairs statement was due April 17. The statement is a conflict of interest audit regarding 2005, Anderson said. It involves a record of her outside activities including whether or not she owns a business or stock.

Gutzman sent in a request to the PDC asking them to reconsider the civil penalty.

"She filed a letter saying she resigned from the hospital board," Anderson said.

Gutzman noted she was unaware she was required to file the statement because she had resigned, Anderson said.

The commission approved her request to extinguish the fine as long as Gutzman files a statement regarding 2005 and the months she worked in 2006 within the required 30 day deadline, she said. She added that proper notification was given to Gutzman to inform her she needed to file her statement.

The hospital was contacted in December with a reminder that certain people were required to file their personal affairs statements, Anderson reported. A request was made for the hospital to inform the commission of who the people were along with their contact information. Gutzman was on the list of people sent a document from the hospital prepared by Hutcheson, Anderson said.

Gutzman was sent an e-mail from the commission informing her she needed to prepare her statement. The e-mail address used to contact Gutzman was provided by the hospital.

"The first contact she had from us was an e-mail," Anderson said. "It didn't bounce back, we keep track of that too."

Anderson said a final notice was sent out to Gutzman in May, after the deadline.

Gutzman said she had informed the commission she no longer worked at the hospital and felt the matter was resolved.

"I would file one if they really wanted me to," she said. "I have no reason to (file)."