What is happening in Clinica Romero?

Re. Clínica Msr. Oscar A. Romero

I state that as a member of the Founding Fathers and Mothers of Clínica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero (Articles of Incorporation dated June 23, 1983) I must seek your advice as to what

I and the community of low-income families and patients - whom the Clínica has served since its founding in order to maintain Monseñor Romero’s Humanitarian Ideals alive - must do to obtain responses and/or proof from both Mr. Carlos Vaquerano, the current President of The Board of Directors and his appointed Executive Director, Dr. Albert Pacheco, as to whether the following allegations brought to my attention are true or not;

1) That both Carlos Vaquerano and Dr. Albert Pacheco are incapable of managing a non-profit organization such as Clínica Msr. Oscar A. Romero and;

2) That Funding organizations stopped their grants to the clínica not because of the economy as both Carlos Vaquerano and Dr. Albert Pacheco want everyone to believe but because of their negligence in sending proposals on time and failing to send reports from previous grants that were necessary to continue maintaining said funding resources and;

3) That their lack of management skills and common sense led them to accept the resignation of a grant-writer who had requested a most merited raise being that he had been instrumental in bringing the funding necessary to keep the Clínica financially stable and;

4) That instead of giving said grant-writer a most merited raise, the board of directors, who, allegedly, always vote on whatever Carlos Vaquerano decides, hired Two grant-writers in his place whose salaries totaled more than what the previous grant writer would have been paid if they had given him the merited raise he had requested and;

5) That the two grant-writers hired did not have the capability of seeking and/or obtaining funds as the previous grant-writer and is the real reason why, for the last eleven months, the balance sheet shows a zero across the board for funding resources and;

6) That due to their wrong decisions and negligence (not sending grant proposals and reports on time) when the funding stopped coming in, the board, as expected, voted to allow Carlos Vaquerano to take a loan of $850,000 on the building that the city once provided to insure that the clínica would continue to serve the poor in the best of their staff’s ability and;

7) That while they (the board and executive director) knew in October that the clínica was facing a financial crisis, they still did nothing to seek funding, and that Dr. Albert Pacheco, following the orders of Mr. Vaquerano, instead hired a consultant out of state at a salary of approximately $16,000 a month when a local consultant would have charged $25 an hour and;

8) That Carlos Vaquerano added changes to the Clínica’s Original Mission only for the benefit his personal agendas not for public benefit as stated in the original mission: “This corporation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation and is not organized for the private gain of any person. It is organized under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law for charitable purposes” and;

9) That by changes made to the original mission, he would be able to send medical aid to a clinic he has founded in El Salvador and;

10) That proof of the above allegation is that Carlos Vaquerano has already sent medical aid to the clinic in El Salvador and will not disclose how much equipment is involved or exactly where it went when requested by the staff and;

11) That Carlos Vaquerano, by sending medical aid to El Salvador is taking assets that should be allocated to Clinica Msr. Oscar A. Romero locally; therefore, he is violating Article V of the Original Articles of Incorporation of Clinica Msr. Oscar A. Romero that states: “The property of this corporation is irrevocably dedicated to charitable purposes and no part of the net income or assets of this corporation shall inure to the benefit of any director, officer or member thereof or to the benefit of any private person” ;

12) That by making another change to the mission (for Clínica to become involved in student exchange programs / education) voted by the board members that Carlos Vaquerano controls, it is obvious that Carlos planned it only for the purpose of helping his organization, SALEF and;

13) That proof of the above allegation is that Carlos Vaquerano, once again, managed to have the board vote on an association between Clínica Romero and SALEF effective in June or July 1^st, which, if it becomes a reality, the result will be that: if the Clínica recuperates from its present crisis by a miracle performed by our beloved Saint and Martyr, Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Carlos will then be able to stabilize SALEF while destabilizing Clinica Msr. Oscar A. Romero; and:

14) That Carlos Vaquerano used $8,500.00 from Clínica’s much needed funds to pay for his travel to El Salvador to attend the inauguration of President Mauricio Funes in the year 2009;a violation of Article I and V of the original Articles of Incorporation and;

15) That Doctor Pacheco bought personal items on the Clínica’s credit card; one being in the amount of $1,500.00 and;

16) That the staff has been intimidated by both Carlos Vaquerano and Dr. Albert Pacheco by warnings that they will lose their jobs if they speak out on the actual situation of the Clínica, not their version; therefore, they cannot attend demonstrations on behalf of the Clínica nor give any comments to the media and/or anyone else and;

17) That as of last Thursday, May 12^th, Clínica’s staff has to advise patients that it will cost them anywhere from $44 to $250 for their medical services. This means that they have now privatized the Free Clinica that was founded on behalf of Monseñor Romero’s Option for the Poor (low-income families); only because of their inefficiency and lack of management skills.

In reference to the crisis that Clinica Msr. Oscar A. Romero is facing, I wish to make it clear that I am not accusing Carlos Vaquerano or Dr. Albert Pacheco of being guilty of said allegations that have been brought to my attention by the community but, as one of the founders of Clínica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero, I am very concerned and must know if the above allegations are true or not;

I further comment that I can provide copies of the Original Articles of Incorporation to anyone who wants to review them; and that the Clínica was not founded to become a private corporation and the wishes of the founding fathers and mothers cannot be altered or amended; therefore, nothing is confidential to the public. I and other members of the community demand explanations and demand to see the books and receipts of any monies personally spent on traveling, items purchase, etc.,. etc;

As a founding member, I declare that if Carlos Vaquerano has, indeed, used $8,500.00 from Clínica’s much needed funds to pay for his travel to El Salvador and that if Dr. Albert Pacheco has also used the Clínica’s credit card for his personal use, I demand that both reimburse the Clinica for whatever total dollars were used because both would have violated Article I and Article V of the original Articles of Incorporation of Clinica Msr. Oscar A. Romero. These reimbursements are to be made immediately since any funds recovered will help Clinica Msr. Romero; especially in this financial crisis.

Isabel Cardenas

Founding member of Clinica Romero