The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 121, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 22, 1997 Page: 1 of 12
twelve pages : ill. ; page 20 x 13 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
,1
The
SOUTHWEST MICRO
2627 E YANDELL DR ■
PASO TX 79903
Albany News
"Oldest Journalistic Venture West of the Brazos
//
Thursday, May 22, 1997, Albany, Texas 76430
12 Pages in 1 Section
Volume Number 121 - Number 51 Price 50£
Counter-suit filed against hospital district
By Melinda L. Lucas
The hospital board met in
closed session with the district's
attorney, Don Anderson of Abi-
lene, during a regular business
meeting on Tuesday, May 20 to
discuss a counter-suit filed
against the Shackelford County
Hospital District and several
individual directors.
Hospital directors voted dur-
ing an emergency meeting April
9 to file a lawsuit against Drs.
Victor and Arlene Lorica for
breach of contract.
A counter usuit against the
hospital district and directors
was filed by the Loricas' attor-
neys, Jon A. Haslett and Bruce
A. Coane of Houston, on May
12.
The Loricas' suit includes
some, but not all, of the hospital
directors serving on the board
at the time their contracts were
signed, and some, but not all, of
the directors servingduring the
past two years.
Named along with the hospi-
tal district as counter-defen-
dants were Bob Tidwell, Eddie
Bartee, John Ayers, Alma
Godfrey Neese, Betty Viertel
and Mike Parsons, both "indi-
vidually and in their official ca-
pacities as members of the
Shackelford County Hospital
Board."
There are several other
former and current board mem-
bers not named in the suit, who
served on the board during and
sinde contract negotiations.
Drs. Arlene and Victor Lorica
were recruited to practice medi-
cine in Albany and signed a con-
tract with the district in Febru-
ary 1995, granting them as an
incentive a "guaranteed net in-
come" for a 12-month period.
The contract periods began
in August 1995 and provided'
that the Loricas' subsidies would
be "forgiven" at a rate of one-
tVvelfth per month during the
physicians' second year in prac-
tice.
-In the suit against the
Clean-up efforts
Board members also named in suit
Loricas, the district claims that
the physicians did not fulfill
their contract obligations in four
basic areas: by allowing their
staff privileges at the hospital
to lapse after one year of prac-
tice; by refusing to cooperate
and permit an audit of their
books and records "as required
by the contract;" by suspending
their practice of medicine in
Albany; and by failing "to.make
reasonable and expeditious at-
tempts to collect receivables as
provided in the contract."
The district is seeking the
sum of $250,000 from each of
the two physicians as liquidated
damages, as well as legal ex-
penses and a total of $293,704
to recover subsidy advances,
moving expenses and relocation
expenses.
The counter-suit filed by the
Loricas claims that they "agreed
to work at the Shackelford
County Hospital because of
promises made to them by the
hospital board" and that "the
board broke their promises" re-
garding renovation of clinic and
emergency room facilities, up-
dating of equipment, etc.
The physicians also claim in
the document that after com-
plaining about "deplorable,
health-threatening conditions
at the hospital," the board's re-
sponse was "to fabricate fraud u-
lent charges against the Loricas,
unlawfully search through their
personal files, illegally break
into their clinic, disconnect their
telephone lines, and impose
undeserved discipline in retali-
ation for their complaints."
The counter-suit also states
that the board members "at-
tempted to direct the defendants
to violate the Anti-Fraud and
Abuse Law."
Although the Loricas' suit
against the hospital district does
not specify any amounts, it
states that the district and board
members are liable "for lost past
and future earnings and ben-
efits, injury to reputation, and
mental anguish."
Board members Bob Tidwell,
John Ayers, Alma Neese and
Melanie McCarthy stayed, in
closed session with Anderson at
length on Tuesday night to dis-
cuss the case, but no action was
taken when the meeting was
reopened.
Other Business
• Teresa Edmison, who opted
not to run for reelection to the
hospital board, agreed to serve
for a period of one year and was
appointed as a director.
• Neese reported, that the
Shackelford County Appraisal
District is interested in leasing
the northwest wing of the hospi-
tal building as office space.
• Ayers stated that he had
met with Stephens Memorial
Hospital administrator James
Reese to discuss the prdlflem of
calling the local ambulance per-
sonnel to Breckenridge for rou-
tine transfers. Reese assured
Ayers that the issue had been
addressed and that the local
ambulances would only be called
to Stephens County in the case"
of a major emergency.
• Ayers also reported that
the ambulance protocol had been
rewritten, allowing a family
member to sign a document al-
lowing any patient to be taken
to a facility other than the near-
est hospital, which is Stephens
Memorial.
• The board approved the
purchase of a used heart moni-
tor and battery pack for approxi-
mately $1,200 to upgrade the
backup ambulance unit to the
status of Advanced Life Sup-
port. The directors will seek
donations or consider fundrais-
ers to pay for the monitor.
m
m
% 2
mm
— Local volunteers aid in clean-up efforts —
Truck overturns on Cook Field Rd.
Bob Snyder (r) and members of the Albany Volunteer Fire Department work to release the
air brakes on an overturned tanker truck as they prepare to position the vehicle back on
its wheels. The truck's drive lost control of the tanker on Cook Field Road Saturday.
Memorial Day service set
The driver of an oil tanker
truck lost control of his rig last
Saturday evening on Cook Field
Road, rolling his truck and
trailer and spilling a large por-
tion of his crude oil shipment.
The driver. Juan Rudolfo
Flores. of Breckenridge, was
headed northbound on cook Field
Road last Saturday, May 17,
when he apparently hit one of
the curves going too fast.
His load of crude oil shifted
on the curve, causing the driver
to loose control of the rig and roll
, into the ditch. Trooper Xavier
Perez reported the official cause
of the accident as driving at an
unsafe speed.
^ The accident call came into
the local dispatch office at 5:55
, p.m. Flores was slightyly injured
in the wreck, but was otherwise
reported in good condition. The
1997 Mack tractor rig and the
tanker trailer were both totaled
in the accident.
The local fire department,
serving as the chemical spill cod
tainment unit, arrived at the
scene shortly after the accident
to deal with the oil spi 11.
Working under the direction
of representatives from the
Texas Railroad Commission, the
local volunteers were able to sal
vage approximately 120 barrels
of oil. I nvestigators believe about
30 barrels were cleaned up.
According to Trooper Perez,
alcohol is believed to have played
a roll in the accident, but to
what, degree has still not been
determined. •
Perez reported that several
open containers were found in
the rig, a violation in itself, but
the driver's breath also smelled
of alcohol, further raising the
charges against him
Results from the blood-alco-
hol test have not been received,
and the investigation is still
pending.
"I really want to commend
our local fire fighters in their
response to this accident," stated
Perez. "Even the state's chemi-
cal SpTU people wore impressed
with their efficiency and effec-
tiveness in their work. They did
a really good job and deserve to
be recognized."
Baccalaureate planned
The annual baccalaureate
service for the graduating'se-
niors of the ("lass of 1997 will be
held on Sunday, May 25 at the
Albany High School auditorium,
and everyone is invited to at-
tend.
Reverend Brian ('ope of
Albany's Church of Christ will
be the keynote speaker for the
8:00 p.m. ceremony.
A iota of 39 AHS seniors are
expected to receive their diplo
mas during commencement ex
ercises on Friday, May 30.
Bobby McCoy will lead the
invocation at the baccalaureate
service, wit h Jessica Esfandiary.
and Lara Woodsjoiningtogether
to present the scripture reading
for the evening.
Josh McComas will lead the
benediction, and both the pro-
cessional and recessional of the
senior class will be accompanied
by pianist Karen Noble.
Following the baccalaureate
service, the seniors and their
parents are invited for punch
and cookies at the home of Glenn
and Brenda Picquet.
Graduation Plans
Commencement exercises for
the Class of 1997 will begin at
(See Baccalaureate, pg. 12)
Residents from throughout
Shackelford County and the sur-
rounding area will have the op-
portunity to pay tribute to local
veterans in a Memorial Service
at6:00 p.m. on Monday, May 26.
The ceremony will be held at
the American Legion Monument
in the Albany Cemetery. It is
sponsored annually by the Al-
bany VFW unit, Maudlin Me-
morial Post No. 8768 and the
Taylor Miller Post 61 of the
American Legion.
Captain David T. O'Connor,
retired army veteran and Dis-
trict 8 Commander of the VFW,
will be in charge of the ceremony,
with local resident Bob Green
serving as special speaker for
the" event once again this year.
Sam Webb, adjutant of the
American Legion., commented
that Memorial Day is "specifi-
cally a time to remember and
recognize that the privileges and
freedoms we enjoy as Americans
were purchased for us at great
cost."
Memorial Day is "a time to
remember our departed friends
and neighbors who paid the su-
preme price that we might, have
the privileges and blessings we
enjoy.
"We hope that many people
will plan to attend," Webb con-
tinued. He noted that- around 75
people have been present over
the last two or three years, and
the two sponsoring organiza-
tions are hoping to have 100-
plus in attendance next Mon-
day.
Webb also commended the
members of the now-defunct
Legion Auxiliary in Albany who
"made the memorial monument
possible" a number of years ago.
All local and area residents
and visitors are invited to at-
tend the Memorial Day service.
In case of rain, the service will
be held at the Legion Hall on the
north side of the courthouse
square.
Anyone who wishes to add
the name of a family member or
friend who was a veteran in the
American armed services to the
American Legion Memorial
Monument should contact Webb
at 762-3120. The cost to add a
name is $50.
Board hears proposal, grievance
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Albany school board
heard two separate proposals
concerning special education
and conducted a special griev-
ance hearing during a meeting
held Monday, May 19.
The group also hired two
teachers for the 1997-98 school
year and heard a report on the
current construction project at
the elementary school.
Special Ed Discussed
The board heard from two
local teachers concerning spe-
cial education.
Teacher and parent J an Oden
read a prepared statement to
the board requesting that the
district use the content mastery
method of remediating special
education students placed in the
regular classrooms.
She stated that she has a son
with Attention Deficit Disorder
and she feels that he needs more
individualized instruction than
is currently available-
Special education teacher
Lynda Molyneaux also ad-
dressed the board, pointing out
that about one-third of the in-
coming seventh grade class
qualify for special education
classes, representing a 40 per-
cent increase in the work load.
Molyneaux asked the board
to consider hiring another full-
time certified special education
teacher. She suggested that the
district consider using the in-
clusion program, which provides.
for a special education teacher
to be in regular mainstream
classes that include special edu-
cation students to provide addi-
tional help that the regular
classroom teacher may not have
time to provide.
The special ed teacher stated
that the current department
staff would not be able to handle
the influx of special education
students into the program. She
(See School board, pg. 12)
Local residents gather beneath the flag at the American
Legion monument each year for the annual Memorial Day
service honoring county veterans who gave their lives in
service to their country. [File Photo]
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Lucas, Donnie A. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 121, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 22, 1997, newspaper, May 22, 1997; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth414036/m1/1/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.