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Doctors association looks
By Helen Altonn
into $150,000 loss
by subsidiary
Star-BulletinThe Hawaii Medical Association is looking into financial losses of at least $150,000 from a subsidiary that owns and manages the building occupied by HMA and other tenants.
The only task of the for-profit HMA Development Co. is to manage the building at 1360 S. Beretania St. and rent space to other tenants, said Dr. Phil Hellreich, HMA president-elect.
The subsidiary's financial problems involve "unwise business decisions -- not corruption or stealing," he said.
HMA is an advocate for 1,700 physician members, representing them on legislative issues and supporting quality patient care through medical education programs.
Dr. Patricia Chinn, HMA's immediate past president, informed members in a letter last week that an investigation of the subsidiary last year concluded that $150,000 either was missing or misappropriated.
"This is certainly the most painful chapter in our organization's 140 years," she said in the letter.
Chinn declined to discuss the letter, referring inquiries to Hellreich.
He issued a statement from the association saying, "An independent auditor examined the company's financial transactions and found a series of errors in judgment regarding its investments and loans. There were also lapses in documentation of these financial transactions."
A blue ribbon panel and the HMA board's personnel committee assisted executive officers in making changes to provide more oversight, Hellreich said.
"Financially, it has to be more efficient."
