Waiting for answers, compassion from UPMC

I commend Karen Kane for her ongoing commentary on the UPMC-Highmark debacle. As a longtime employee in various aspects of the nonprofit human services sector in Allegheny County, I have a few questions.

Since UPMC receives some funding from the public sector, is it required to abide by the Sunshine Act? I’ve gotten the impression that board meetings are generally not well advertised and that public comment is not invited.

I thank the PG as well for publishing the names and titles of UPMC’s board members. Naturally, I do not know the ethnicity or socioeconomic status of these persons, but I suspect that they are in the upper-income echelon, are highly educated and do not reflect the makeup of the patient population that the institution serves. In the small agencies for which I worked, a citizen’s advisory board was mandated and required to represent consumers of the services provided by them.

Another question that has occurred to me given UPMC’s multinational presence is: Do other countries grant it nonprofit status? Does the money saved through this status in the U.S. enable it to widen its footprint in other countries?

I am disgusted by the recent reports on Jeffrey Romoff’s salary and benefits. Is this the organization that is often picketed by support staff earning menial wages and which is so concerned about the possibility of their unionization?

Recently, I joined many others in returning a request for a donation to Children’s Hospital. What chutzpah from an institution that clogs our airwaves with slick commercials — some intoned in the King’s very correct English by an international film star. Did actor Benedict Cumberbatch do these pro bono? If not, did he make a contribution? When he says: “UPMC is uncommon to the core,” my knee-jerk response is, “UPMC is rotten to the core.”

Finally, I truly believe that health care and health insurance coverage should not be permitted (by the same company). This is a situation that is begging for chicanery.

I hope for the best but fear the worst. I hope that some semblance of rationality if not compassion can penetrate UPMC’s leadership and, if not, that our elected representatives become activated. VERONICA SNYDER

Bethel Park