Monday, October 13, 2008

Hosp-$candal Workhorses By Susan Edelman and Melissa Klein- New York Post

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Top executives at a Queens hospital system linked to alleged bribe-taking Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio are filing reports claiming that they work up to 219-hour weeks at linked medical firms.

A criminal complaint filed last month against Seminerio says the Queens lawmaker took $390,000 since 2000 in "corrupt payments" from an unnamed hospital, believed to be Jamaica, and its Medicaid insurance plan. It quotes wiretapped conversations among the Assemblyman and "Hospital Executives 1 and 2."

Meanwhile, The Post has learned that David Rosen, CEO of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, and his top deputies, Mounir Doss and Bruce Flanz, report on IRS forms that they each work 219 hours a week.

The three Jamaica execs have jointly raked in more than $30 million in income over the past five years, records show. They manage struggling hospitals and clinics that serve many poor people and receive hundreds of millions in state Medicaid funds.

Rosen's filings claim that he not only toils 40 hours a week at Jamaica's helm, but also 40 hours for its parent company, MediSys Health Network; 40 hours for MediSys Ambulance Service; 40 hours for a Jamaica diagnostic and treatment center; and 40 hours for a company that runs a hospital parking garage.

MediSys, a parent company of Jamaica, Flushing and Brookdale hospitals, insisted it's in "full compliance" with IRS reporting rules.

The tax forms reflect "round-the-clock responsibility for numerous entities," spokesman Idan Sims said.

susan.edelman@nypost.com