Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Staying on the Scent


“There are some men who lift the age they inhabit, til all men walk on higher ground in their lifetime. Mr. President, you are such a man.”

Frances Townsend, White House Homeland Security Adviser, used the compliment to George W. months before her resignation. She read it as her closing line during an October 21st, 2007 speech at Effat College in Saudi Arabia. For some reason, neither Karen Hughes’ hard work, nor Fran’s testimonial swayed the audience to think better of him. Only 12% of Saudis view Bush positively, according to a recent poll.

In December, the New York Times suggested Fran would leave office unscathed. Funny, how does one write a report on Hurricane Katrina, yet leave out the hospital with the highest number of patient deaths? Fran omitted any mention of LifeCare Hospital and its 24 patient deaths. Just weeks before Katrina sideswiped New Orleans, The Carlyle Group closed its purchase of LifeCare.

When Mrs. Townsend retired, she said she wanted to do global risk management for a large bank or financial services firm. She certainly has experience managing Carlyle's risk. They have to be happy about entering 24 potential wrongful death lawsuits with the feds silent on everyone’s performance.

Guess what else didn't come up recently, as Carlyle sought to buy huge nursing home provider, ManorCare? One might expect failing patients in a time of crisis to be an important consideration, but the topic never arose. Carlyle closed on ManorCare's over 500 facilities just before Christmas. If Carlyle can fail patients in one of twenty one long term acute care hospitals in a time of crisis, what can they do with over 500 mostly nursing homes?

But back to Fran's future and those managing her next steps. She hired an attorney who lists senior members of The Carlyle Group amongst his star struck client list. Hmmm, Fran leaves Carlyle out of an important government investigation and then hires a lawyer with experience serving their senior managers? Which large investment house will end up with her services? Could it be...