California Endowment’s position on partnerships

Re “Public job, private salary,” editorial, April 11

Regarding the California Endowment’s ongoing efforts to support the turnaround of Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, several points need to be made. For starters, any support from the foundation for Antionette Smith Epps’ faculty position at UCLA can only be supported by the California Endowment if a written proposal is submitted that meets the charitable purpose for which the foundation was created: to improve healthcare and health for underserved communities. The foundation only recently received such a proposal, and it is under review.

It is not unusual for public sector executives to teach at colleges and universities on a part-time basis, and the foundation agrees that these arrangements should be crafted in a manner that is aboveboard, disclosed and consistent with conflict-of-interest policies.

Assuming the foundation’s support of the UCLA faculty position goes forward for Epps, I would like to address the concern suggested in your editorial that the foundation might derive some special “benefit” from this arrangement. The California Endowment cannot accept funds, nor does it seek contractual agreements for county-funded work, and it is legally prohibited from lobbying. The foundation’s interest is confined to the health and well-being of Los Angeles and California, and it believes firmly in the power of publicprivate partnerships to get us there.

ROBERT K. ROSS MD

President and chief executive

California Endowment

Los Angeles