Got a brochure in the mail today sent out by the Glen Rose Medical Center-more on that in a separate post. I noticed that, on the back, there was a blurb about giving money to the Dr Roger E Marks Foundation.

(click to see larger)

The brochure text, above, says, in part

"The Marks Foundation is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt corporation established in 2006 to raise funds to benefit Glen Rose Medical Center and Nursing Home..... permanently honor a loved one with a memorial or tribute gift by dedicating- a hospital or nursing home room, expansion of a department area, a vital medical installation, new therapeutic equipment.  ... Gifts in any amount are gratefully accepted for either the foundation's unrestricted fund or as you designate for a specific purpose.."

And of course, if you look up the purpose of the Dr Roger E Marks Foundation on the Texas Secretary of State's webstie in the Certificate of Formation, that's what you will see as well, the the purpose is to "Fund Procurement of medical equipment, facilities and training for Glen Rose Medical Center".  Why does this matter? Because Mike Ford said that the Marks Foundation gives no money to the GRMF dba GRMC. One wonders if we should parse the word *money*.  Mr. Ford also said the purpose of the Marks Foundation is scholarships for high school students-but there is not even one mention of scholarships in either the registered purpose nor in the above snippet from the sent brochure.

Gifts in memory of Dr Marks may be mailed to: Dr Roger E Marks Foundation: Attn: Jodi Leigh, P.O. Box 2099, Glen Rose, TX 76043.

Don't know who Jodi Leigh is; her name is not listed anywhere on the SOS website.  And, as we have noted here a couple of times, Mike Ford, who is not only the current registered agent of the Marks Foundation, and has been executive director as well as currently listed on the board of directors, changed the address from the Glen Rose Medical Center on Holden St (whose P.O. Box that is) to what appears to be his home address in a formal statement of change of registered office . The Glen Rose Reporter newsperson asked him about his conflict of interest issues in the Feb 19, 2009 issue.

Ford, who has been associated with the Dr. Roger E. Marks Foundation, said he withdrew from the board of directors sometime last year, due to time constraints.

What's missing? The followup question to ask Mr. Ford exactly when he resigned and where is the paperwork or the filed papers to show that on the Texas Secretary of State's website? Why does this matter? Because, before that editorial came out, Mr. Ford told me that he didn't remember when he resigned, that he had not written any letter of resignation nor taken any board action-seems to me it's very easy to say one has resigned but wihout clear legal notification of same, the innocent observer can assume that Mr. Ford's position on the board, and his apparent home address are still valid.  Why would one send money to a P.O. Box associated with Glen Rose Medical Center rather than the legitimately registered address on the SOS website?

Again, who is Jodi Leigh? She appears to be an HR person for the Glen Rose Medical Center. I notice an ad in the Bosque County news from March 29, 2006 looking for an Assistant Laboratory Director that requests the applicant to submit a complete resume with references and salary history to jleigh@grmf.org. (That would be Glen Rose Medical Foundation's email domain name).  And here's a more current job ad, from Feb 13, 2009 on the Hospital Jobs Online site - Again, the contact information is Jodi Leigh, who again uses the Glen Rose Medical Foundation email and appears to be the HR person for hiring.

For more information, please contact Jodi Leigh at  (254) 897-1471 . jleigh@grmf.org

One simply cannot accept Mr Ford's statements that his position on the Dr Roger E Marks Foundation, which he still holds, and which purpose is to procure funding (and, as we see above, financial gifts) for the Glen Rose Medical Center has no conflict with being a county commissioner who votes on funding for the Glen Rose Medical Center dba for the Glen Rose Medical Foundation. He has said that the foundation doesn't give money to the GRMC/GRMF-that clearly is not 1. He has said its purpose is high school scholarships-that may well be an unwritten purpose but the stated purpose in at least two places now is to get money for GRMC. And he has said that he is no longer on the board but can offer no proof that is so, and has stated, in fact, that he didn't do anything formal to exit the board-it's certainly reasonable to question the veracity of the claim that he resigned.  My question is, why obfuscate the obvious?