NAPLES, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2012--
Health Management Associates, Inc. (NYSE: HMA) announced today
that it is providing additional information pertaining to the January
10, 2012 Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Form 8-K filing
announcing Timothy R. Parry’s resignation as General Counsel and
Secretary.
On January 16, 2012, Health Management’s Senior Vice President of Human
Resources, Patrick Lombardo, received a letter from Timothy R. Parry,
indicating Mr. Parry’s intent to clarify that his departure from Health
Management was based on personal reasons alone and that any speculation
that it was related to the Meyer vs. Health Management Associates, Inc.
wrongful termination litigation is entirely incorrect.
The text of the letter, in its entirety, follows:
“Dear Patrick:
Unfortunately, it appears the media and stock market wrongly
connected my departure from the Company with the Company’s litigation in
the Paul Meyer case.
It is my intent with this letter to hopefully clear up and end this
speculation. Let me be clear – I resigned from the Company purely
for personal reasons, my reasons are my reasons alone, and they have
absolutely nothing to do with the Meyer case.
Sincerely,
S/ Timothy R. Parry
Timothy R. Parry”
“Tim has been a valued member of Health Management’s leadership team for
the past 16 years, serving as General Counsel for 14 of those years. We
are grateful for his years of service to our Company and wish him the
very best,” said Gary D. Newsome, President and Chief Executive Officer
of Health Management Associates, Inc. “We will continue our search for a
new General Counsel and get back to the task at hand, enabling America’s
best local healthcare.”
The Meyer v. Health Management Associates, Inc. lawsuit recently
received public attention that inaccurately characterized the parties’
allegations and legal claims against each other. “Paul Meyer, as a
former Health Management employee, has filed an individual wrongful
termination lawsuit,” explains Susan J. Toepfer, Esq., defense counsel
for Health Management in the Meyer lawsuit. “The facts will show that
Meyer was terminated for insubordinately refusing to cooperate with
Health Management’s efforts to comply with its legal obligations under a
government subpoena. More specifically, Meyer refused to return
documents that were company property and were necessary for Health
Management to continue its full and complete cooperation with the
government’s request for information.”
The failure of any employee, in this case Meyer, to fully and completely
cooperate with the company in response to a subpoena is so fundamentally
adverse to the intent and purpose of our compliance department and
program that Health Management took immediate and decisive action to
terminate Meyer. The facts in the Meyer case will establish that it is
Health Management’s wholehearted commitment to full and complete
compliance that led to Meyer’s termination.
“Health Management takes very seriously and is committed to ensuring
that its hospitals and associates are compliant with all federal and
state rules and regulations,” added Newsome. “Based upon this
long-standing commitment, Health Management has established and
maintained a robust compliance program and policies, as well as a
compliance department with a highly qualified staff headed by former FBI
agent, Matt Tormey, Vice President of Compliance and Security. Mr.
Tormey has a direct reporting line to the Health Management Board of
Directors, through the audit committee and the CEO, as the integrity of
the organization is of paramount importance.”
Health Management enables America's best local health care by providing
the people, processes, capital and expertise necessary for its hospital
and physician partners to fulfill their local missions of delivering
superior health care services. Health Management, through its
subsidiaries, operates 66 hospitals, with approximately 10,400 licensed
beds, in non-urban communities located throughout the United States.
All references to "Health Management" and the “Company” used in this
release refer to Health Management Associates, Inc. and its affiliates.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and
assumptions and are identified by words such as "expects," "estimates,"
"projects," "anticipates," "believes," "plans," "could" and other
similar words. All statements addressing operating performance, events
or developments that Health Management Associates, Inc. expects or
anticipates will occur in the future, including but not limited to
incurrence of indebtedness, projections of revenue, income or loss,
capital expenditures, earnings per share, debt structure, bad debt
expense, capital structure, repayment of indebtedness, other financial
items and operating statistics, statements regarding the plans and
objectives of management for future operations, innovations, or market
service development, statements regarding acquisitions, joint ventures,
divestitures and other proposed or contemplated transactions (including
but not limited to statements regarding the potential for future
acquisitions and perceived benefits of acquisitions), statements of
future economic performance, statements regarding the effects and/or
interpretations of recently enacted or future health care laws and
regulations, statements of the assumptions underlying or relating to any
of the foregoing statements, and other statements which are other than
statements of historical fact, are considered to be "forward-looking
statements."
Because they are forward-looking, such statements should be evaluated in
light of important risk factors and uncertainties. These risk factors
and uncertainties are more fully described in Health Management
Associates, Inc.'s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and its most
recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, under the headings entitled "Risk
Factors." Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties
materialize, or should any of Health Management Associates, Inc.'s
underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could vary
materially from those currently anticipated. In addition, undue reliance
should not be placed on Health Management Associates, Inc.'s
forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Health Management
Associates, Inc. disclaims any obligation to update or publicly announce
any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements contained in this
press release disclaims any obligation to update or publicly announce
any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements contained in this
press release.
Source: Health Management Associates, Inc.
Health Management Associates, Inc.
John C. Merriwether, 239-598-3131
Vice
President of Financial Relations
