Robert Bernstein

More Job Losses: Swick and Richstone

The Pulp: Censored

Bleeding Dollars

A former Broward hospital CEO's trail of dubious expenses is just a drip in the bucket

Crist Is King

Bill Scherer's fall from grace is a clear sign from Jeb that he's chosen a successor

NBHD: As One Ethics Probe Ends, Will a New One Begin?

browardhealth.orgCommissioner Robert BernsteinIt's no fun to write a letter alleging corruption and send it to the Florida Ethics Commission or the Broward State Attorney. No, if you really want to make a splash, announce the allegations during the public comment period for an unrelated ethics case. ... More >>

Hospital District Emails Reveal Lawyer's Bid to Save His Job

browardhealth.orgGoldstoneJudging by Marc Goldstone's email inbox, the week of May 11 began like any other. That was a Monday, and the general counsel for the North Broward Hospital District exchanged emails with CEO Frank Nask about attending a health care convention the first week of June. But by ... More >>

Former Hospital District Attorney Files Suit

Flickr User: Scarlett3344 QiJoe Truhe, the former associate general counsel for the North Broward Hospital District, filed suit today, alleging that in firing him last month, the public health care system violated the Whisteblower's Act. The suit also names Commissioner Robert Bernstein and the inte ... More >>

Former Attorneys for Hospital District Now Under Criminal Investigation

Marc Goldstone and Joe Truhe, formerly the two lead attorneys for the North Broward Hospital District, are being investigated for possible criminal charges of practicing law without a license, according to a source with knowledge of the case.The attorneys were fired in mid-May amid allegations by th ... More >>

Hospital Commissioners Argue Over Next Lawyer

Tension nearly boiled over at this morning's meeting of the North Broward Hospital District's Board as commissioners broached the touchy topic of the district's next general counsel. The seven-member panel appears divided over whether to speed that process or slow it down, given the flux at the posi ... More >>

Hospital District: Why Wrestle a White Elephant When You Can Tackle a Red Herring?

Flickr User: FrogMillerMidway through this morning's meeting of the North Broward Hospital District's board, Commissioner Robert Bernstein decided it was time to acknowledge the "white elephant in the room."A tantalizing prospect, because this room was positively teeming with white elephants. There ... More >>

[UPDATED] Email Gives Behind-Scenes Peek at Conflicts Over Hospital District's Museum Sponsorship

browardhealth.orgBernstein​Just two business days before the North Broward Hospital District board was to consider spending $2 million to sponsor an exhibit at Fort Lauderdale's Museum of Discovery and Science, one commissioner was vowing to embarrass museum staff. This based on his obligation to ... More >>

Before Being Fired, Broward Health Attorneys Slashed Payments to Powerful Law Firm

browardhealth.orgBernsteinBefore Marc Goldstone was fired as general counsel of the North Broward Hospital District in mid-May, he had expressed concern that his job would be threatened if he followed through on the district's request to reduce its billings to outside law firms -- in particular, the ... More >>

Book of Jeb: At Hospital District, a Trial of Faith Between Ethics and Republican Friendships

Flickr: presidential_predictionsBush and Bernstein had a mutual friend at Gray-Robinson.​Broward Health Commissioner Robert Bernstein has cast himself as a watchdog for waste at the county's public health-care district. But in the months since he led the charge to terminate the hospital district's ... More >>

Double Trouble: Hospital District's New Attorney Is Twice the Price

Flickr: mu_ri_loThe meter is running while Broward Health looks for its fifth general counsel since 2008.​Sam Goren, the attorney hired in May by the North Broward Hospital District to fill the general counsel's role, is racking up legal bills at a rate more than double the combined salaries of th ... More >>

Broward Health Hit With Whistleblower Lawsuits

browardhealth.orgMarc Goldstone​Shortly after Marc Goldstone began his new job as general counsel of Broward Health in November of last year, he found that the public hospital district -- which is among the nation's largest -- had been violating a range of federal laws and court orders, some of wh ... More >>

A Couple Million Dollars in Cost-Cutting Not Enough to Keep Former Broward Health Attorney in Job

Laura Seidman​Documents recently made available by the North Broward Hospital District show that former general counsel Laura Seidman made major improvements to a legal department that -- by some indications -- had been full of cronyism and waste under attorney Bill Scherer. The most striking exam ... More >>

Rothstein Dealings With Broward Health Raise Questions About Judicial Appointment

photo: 4dca.orgSpencer Levine​Attorneys at Scott Rothstein's firm landed a highly privileged meeting with the executive leadership of the North Broward Hospital District in September 2008, the month after Rothstein was appointed by his friend, Gov. Charlie Crist, to the nominating committee for Fl ... More >>

Hospital Commissioner's Emails Reveal Personal Rivalries, Ethical Gray Areas

browardhealth.orgNask​Broward Health Commissioner Robert Bernstein is known both for his emphasis on ethics and for his short temper. In a string of emails to the district's CEO, it appears he was torn between those two impulses.On one hand, Bernstein was an enthusiastic supporter of ethics reform ... More >>

Broward Health CEO Frank Nask's Job in Jeopardy

browardhealth.orgNask​Commissioner Robert Bernstein has asked that the North Broward Hospital District's board consider removing the public hospital's CEO, Frank Nask, after a year when the district was hit by a barrage of scandals.The item will be placed on the board's January 27 agenda. District ... More >>

Broward Health Commissioner Explains Reasons for Wanting to Terminate Hospital CEO

browardhealth.orgBernstein​Later this month, when North Broward Hospital District Commissioner Robert Bernstein makes his case to the board for firing CEO Frank Nask, it'll be based on these grounds:that Nask's lack of hospital operations experience has made him use poor judgment in deciding what ... More >>

Source: Broward Health Commissioners to Skip Meeting in Maneuver to Save CEO

browardhealth.orgFernandez​Citing "unnamed sources" in the North Broward Hospital District, Commissioner Robert Bernstein has told Juice that two of his colleagues -- Commissioners Joseph Cobo and Mike Fernandez -- will not attend the district's January 27 meeting and that their likely motive is t ... More >>

[UPDATED] Commissioner Targets Inflated Salaries, Cronyism at Health Care District

A week after he disclosed his intention to fire the North Broward Hospital District CEO Frank Nask, Commissioner Robert Bernstein is now demanding to know how a Nask associate is being paid roughly twice what that position paid just four years ago.browardhealth.orgDeborah Breen​That associate is D ... More >>

Defying Ethics Code, Broward Health Commissioner's Firm Does Big Business With Hospital District

browardhealth.orgFernandez​The ultrasound manufacturing company where Mike Fernandez works as a general manager has been selling products to Broward Health during the same period that Fernandez has occupied a powerful position as a commissioner of that hospital district. Documents obtained by Juic ... More >>

New Blood at Broward Health Board?

browardhealth.orgJaeger's former seat on the hospital board has yet to be filled.​A source at Broward Health tells us that the public hospital district CEO Frank Nask is walking with a skip in his step today, reportedly because he learned that Gov. Charlie Crist is close to appointing two new comm ... More >>

A Sneak Peek at the Candidates for Broward Health Board

davidmaymon.comDavid Maymon​The list of candidates for the Broward Health board is full of attorneys, contractors, politicians and health-care business owners. They are vying for at least one open seat -- the one formerly belonging to Maureen Jaeger, who left this fall to join George Lemieux's U.S ... More >>

[UPDATED] Public Hospital District Spent Thousands on Machines That Didn't Exist

Flickr: Suubi TrustA SonoSite ultrasound in action.​UPDATE: Broward Health just e-mailed new information containing its explanation for the strange entries I cite below. In short, they say they're the product of a computer glitch. I've copied that explanation on the bottom of this post.Since 2001 ... More >>

Silent Treatment: Broward Health Meeting Postponed by Commissioner Absences

Flickr: cards013Can't vote unless there's a body in that suit.​Broward Health Commissioner Mike Fernandez failed to attend this morning's board meeting at Coral Springs Medical Center in what appears to be a thinly veiled effort to avoid voting on whether to fire the district's CEO and to address ... More >>

Broward Health Chair Refuses to Discuss Political Motives Behind Board Transformation

browardhealth.orgCalhoun​Tomorrow morning, Broward Health Chair Rhonda Calhoun will convene a board that has four new members, all appointed last week by Gov. Charlie Crist, who removed two colleagues whom Calhoun admired -- commissioners Robert Bernstein and Dan Gordon.She was given no explanatio ... More >>

New Broward Health Board Seeks Distance From Unsavory Past

browardhealth.orgNask​Broward Health CEO Frank Nask's job is safe, as is that of a friend who he hired and to whom he gave a generous raise. Commissioner Mike Fernandez has received legal assurances that his job with an ultrasound manufacturer is not a conflict of interest. And seven appointed boa ... More >>

Criminal Investigation Launched Against Another Hospital Commissioner

browardhealth.orgFernandez​Broward Health Commissioner Mike Fernandez is being investigated by the Broward State Attorney's Office for criminal corruption. The investigation was launched after Juice reported potential conflicts of interest between Fernandez's public office and his private work as ... More >>

[UPDATED] Executive Exodus Continues at Broward Health

browardhealth.orgDawn Javersack​Chief Financial Officer Dawn Javersack is the latest member of the Broward Health executive staff to tender her resignation, following last month's power shift on the hospital district's board. On Friday, Javersack gave a one-month notice. She will be joining Boca C ... More >>

Embattled CEO of Broward Hospital District Gets Five-Year, $3 Million Contract

Photo: Broward HealthNask​For Broward Health CEO Frank Nask, there's a fine line between unemployment and a multimillionaire's lifestyle. He's glad to have landed in the latter. This past January, Nask was facing the prospect of being terminated by the public hospital district's board of commissio ... More >>

[UPDATED] Timing of Broward Health Proposal Raises Questions About CEO's Motive

From BrowardHealth.orgFrank Nask​The pending changes at the North Broward Hospital District have been advertised as a way to make the hospitals more profitable and adaptable in the era after health-care reform. But a far more recent news event may have played a bigger role in the move: Florida's R ... More >>

Hospital District Still Struggling to Prove That Reorganization Plan Isn't Driven by CEO's Self-Interest

Bernstein says this definitely wasn't his idea.​The North Broward Hospital District is eager to prove that its CEO and president, Frank Nask, did not come up with the idea to lease the district's assets to a nonprofit organization all by himself. Because if it was his idea, then he would be vulner ... More >>