Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Editorials

Good Sam Charitable Trust on right track

The sale of the nonprofit Good Samaritan Health System to Columbia/HCA made available to the community an endowment of some $56 million. State law requires organizations converting from nonprofit to for-profit status to reimburse public coffers for years of tax exemption. To satisfy the law, Good Samaritan established the Good Samaritan Charitable Trust to carry on the health system's community service work in the area of health care.

The trust came into being in January of this year and immediately pumped $4.5 million into nine worthwhile programs--San Jose School Health Centers, Planetree Health Resource Center, Visiting Nurses Association AIDS Project, Meals-on-Wheels, Homemaker Services, Volunteer Respite, Health Education and Training Center, Community Wellness and Health Ministries.

What each of these programs has in common is a commitment to preventive care. Some help the elderly stay independent; others provide prevention education--with a focus on under-served minority populations; others help keep students healthy.

The state attorney general must ultimately decide if the process the Charitable Trust sets up to disburse the $3 million to $4 million in interest annually is in compliance with state law.

The final plan must be submitted to the attorney general no later than Nov. 18. The Charitable Trust would like the county Board of Supervisors to support its plan. The supervisors, however, have expressed interest in having the funds supplement indigent health care--a worthwhile cause.

The direction the Charitable Trust is headed, however, seems destined to help even more people by focusing on prevention. What's more, the Charitable Trust has built into its process the potential to multiply the annual income from earned interest manifold through a variety of funding strategies, including provision of seed money, matching grants and minimal user fees.

The Charitable Trust has conducted four community meetings as part of the process of putting together a proposal, and copies of the report summarizing public comments are available in the Town Library. One final public meeting will be held prior to submission of the plan to the attorney general.

Charitable dollars are more critical to the community's well-being today than ever before. A process that ensures getting the maximum benefit from the Good Samaritan Charitable Trust is not only a smart economic move, it's a compassionate one.

Crawling Along

Sometimes an idea so spectacular comes along that it seems destined for a place in history. Unfortunately, the Pub Crawl was not such an idea--and its place in the history of Los Gatos was mercifully nothing more than a blip.

The notion of prospective bar-hoppers purchasing tickets from a BASS outlet to spend a Saturday wandering the streets of Los Gatos, plastic glass in hand, staggers the imagination.

One of the event organizers says that upon hearing about the proposed event, the entire council and many town staff were "in hysterics."

We think hysterics was exactly the right response.