"The Ethicist" on Sidwell's Hospice Purchase

[Anonymous]

No, there is dumb growth too. Look at the Walgreens space in Van Ness or the TD Bank building in Tenleytown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is amazing the number and depth of excuses made by the Sidwell parents to allow themselves to live with the guilt of kicking the sick and elderly to the curb.

F THE POOR!

Yes, we get it. You've said this many, many times. I'm sorry that you can't seem to accept that others simply don't agree with you.

-not a Sidwell parent

Hello Sidwell teacher, or lawyer, or PR pro.

Ivan, I think it's time to stand down. You're not helping your cause.

He got so carried away that he "outed" himself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:-not a Sidwell parent

LOL. Yeah, right.

Right because only a Sidwell parent could support this?


I am not a Sidwell parent, and I fully support their ability to buy property and develop property. You buy land, you get property rights - that is the way it works. People get displaced in land transactions every day.


Why is there no anger toward the Washington Home - who actually sold and profited from the sale? Clearly they are the ones who are choosing to go in another direction. Sidwell is a reasonable buyer who is giving them time to transition while they develop their own plans for the site.

[Anonymous]

I am actually the othe co chair. Not Ms Mayfield. The property sold undervalue based on its appraisal, the size of the land and consultation with real estate agents. As for the The Washington Home's financial woes no one except The Wash Home, invluding The Post, knows the particulars of those vis a vis the long term care people being displaced because TWH won't disclose them and are not required to parse out where their losses come from on their 990s. I encourage you to read our letter on p 15 of the NW Current i believe Oct 6 or 7 before you accuse the victim here or cry sour grapes. Unlike virtually any of the people on this list I am willing to both disclose my identity and my interest. I suggest those engaging in name calling do a little research and then turn that magnifying glass on themselves. And I would encourage everyone blindly defending either institution to dig down into what their interest was in excluding residents and their families from the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am actually the othe co chair. Not Ms Mayfield. The property sold undervalue based on its appraisal, the size of the land and consultation with real estate agents. As for the The Washington Home's financial woes no one except The Wash Home, invluding The Post, knows the particulars of those vis a vis the long term care people being displaced because TWH won't disclose them and are not required to parse out where their losses come from on their 990s. I encourage you to read our letter on p 15 of the NW Current i believe Oct 6 or 7 before you accuse the victim here or cry sour grapes. Unlike virtually any of the people on this list I am willing to both disclose my identity and my interest. I suggest those engaging in name calling do a little research and then turn that magnifying glass on themselves. And I would encourage everyone blindly defending either institution to dig down into what their interest was in excluding residents and their families from the process.

Ivan Mayfield is a woman?

And it seems to me that the only "name-calling" going on here is from the people casting aspersions on Sidwell. Now go ahead and call me a Sidwell PR person. (In reality, I have no connection to Sidwell whatsoever, but I'm sure that won't stop you.)

[Anonymous]

I've never seen a contingency period in a deal that big that lasted more than 6 months, and the contingency was for financing, not zoning. I doubt you have any connection to the business.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This. But there's also the puzzling stupidity about how development deals are done. Developers don't get to not close on a property deal because they didn't get zoning approval, at least not as a matter of course.

How to explain such stupidity about business from wealthy let-the-eat-cake shrews? Inherited or married money.

These people are really more disgusting than the Trumps of the world, who at least understand how money is made while not caring about the less fortunate.

Anonymous wrote:It is amazing the number and depth of excuses made by the Sidwell parents to allow themselves to live with the guilt of kicking the sick and elderly to the curb.

F THE POOR!

True, but if you were in the business you would know that there is often an entitlement period, which makes a deal contingent. So in this case, you would have your team of Ace$ who would put a $40 Million contract on the property with a 9-24 month window to go through the zoning and review process to see if Cathedral Commons II is viable with the administrative bodies and the local community. If yes, then great. If no, then the Washington Home is two years down the line with an even more financially unviable situation.

Do you think the developer with the control of the situation would risk that capital without knowing what they were going to do with it?

So yes, you are actually wrong, that IS how development deals are done, if the developer is smart. There are plenty of dumb ones who stumble into a situation and are left holding the bag.

[Anonymous]

I am in the business, happens all the time. Sorry you are so misinformed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am actually the othe co chair. Not Ms Mayfield. The property sold undervalue based on its appraisal, the size of the land and consultation with real estate agents. As for the The Washington Home's financial woes no one except The Wash Home, invluding The Post, knows the particulars of those vis a vis the long term care people being displaced because TWH won't disclose them and are not required to parse out where their losses come from on their 990s. I encourage you to read our letter on p 15 of the NW Current i believe Oct 6 or 7 before you accuse the victim here or cry sour grapes. Unlike virtually any of the people on this list I am willing to both disclose my identity and my interest. I suggest those engaging in name calling do a little research and then turn that magnifying glass on themselves. And I would encourage everyone blindly defending either institution to dig down into what their interest was in excluding residents and their families from the process.

A couple of observations. First, DC appraisals are notoriously arbitrary, particularly with respect to non-taxpaying entities' properties, and therefore can inflate the true market value. Because they don't pay property taxes, the tax-exempt institutions have no incentive the way tax paying entities do to hire lawyers and other advisors to contest their property assessments with market data. For example, Fannie Mae is appraised at $100 million or more, but no one expects it to sell for that. Second, the press reported that TWH had hired a broker in the process, which presumably was advising the board on valuation ranges based on an analysis of the market. Armchair realtors and Monday morning quarterbacks may have their own notions, but probably not based on the detailed analysis that the Home's RE advisors did -- and the brokers, like the TWH board, had every incentive to maximize price while adjusting for closing risk. Third, even if some hypothetical buyer out there were prepared to pay a bit more (a big if, given zoning approval risk), TWH has already said it is getting out of the brick and mortar hospice and nursing home model. So while a hypothetical, incrementally higher price might have some upside bearing on TWH's ability to provide additional future at-home care, it's hard to see how current patients would benefit because the board has decided to close the facility and sell it. Fourthly, any other purchaser like a developer would be impatient to start the bulldozers and likely would be less flexible than Sidwell in accommodating a longer transition period. Lastly, a friend who works at TWH mentioned that some patient outplacements have already started, which raises the question of whether TWH will need almost two years to wind down operations. There's no question that this change must be hard for patients and their families, but it seems that the board and families of TWH need to communicate more openly about the institution's challenges and shift in focus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am actually the othe co chair. Not Ms Mayfield. The property sold undervalue based on its appraisal, the size of the land and consultation with real estate agents. As for the The Washington Home's financial woes no one except The Wash Home, invluding The Post, knows the particulars of those vis a vis the long term care people being displaced because TWH won't disclose them and are not required to parse out where their losses come from on their 990s. I encourage you to read our letter on p 15 of the NW Current i believe Oct 6 or 7 before you accuse the victim here or cry sour grapes. Unlike virtually any of the people on this list I am willing to both disclose my identity and my interest. I suggest those engaging in name calling do a little research and then turn that magnifying glass on themselves. And I would encourage everyone blindly defending either institution to dig down into what their interest was in excluding residents and their families from the process.

While I'm not defending TWH, it's pretty understandable what their interest was. The minute that they disclosed that they were in a process to close and sell the facility, they would have started to hemorrhage staff and patients and accelerated into a downward spiral, without any assurance that they were going to sign a purchase contract. This is perhaps not fair from the standpoint of the patients and their family members, but makes sense from the institution's perspective.

[Anonymous]

I think how this thread has evolved explains exactly why the residents and their families were excluded from the process.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry that the Washington Hospice families are upset but the best thing is probably for them to move on. The deal is apparently done. I'm sure that the WH residents and their families believe they have a rational position but after reading through this thread, I don't see it. The WH wanted to sell, it sold. Nobody is going to sell for below market, it doesn't make any sense. This isn't a public institution, it's a private non-profit business. Change sucks sometimes but the future clients of WH may be better in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Interestingly, virtually everyone continues not to disclose their identify. (Co-Chair here again). TWH is no more "heavily subsidized" than any other LTC facility in the city (or indeed the US) who accepts Medicaid patients (which the vast majority do). My brother and I sold my mother's home when she became profoundly disabled after a catastrophic stroke at age 66. We paid the proceeds of that to TWH for her care, after looking at other homes in the area, and in reliance on TWH's stated mission (which it has now changed). Like virtually everyone who gets that sick, her funds could not support her for her entire life (though her social security still goes to TWH) and out of necessity from her illness, she went on Medicaid. As for name calling, if you don't think "sour grapes" was name calling, well, I can't help you. As for TWH's financial status, it was NOT, and is not a failing institution (as management has repeatedly assured). I have no need to defend what we have done to further confirm the fair market value of the 6 acres in upper northwest, and am quite comfortable with our due diligence (properties can and do sell below market value all the time). The real estate end of the sale may raise very significant concerns, but without transparency to the process (perpetuated by both Sidwell and TWH) no one will be able to assess them. We certainly would "move on" were there a realistic option to do so in the time permitted; however, bed space in decent skilled nursing facilities in DC is virtually non-existence, with the highest occupancy rates in the country. Waiting lists were well over a year before the addition of over 100 new residents looking for placement. The readers of this forum, purportedly concerned with public welfare, should think about talking to their lawmakers about the crisis of skilled nursing options in DC before they, or one of their loved ones, is forced by circumstance into precisely the situation TWH residents find themselves. People's willingness to anonymously offer uniformed opinions never ceases to amaze me - in this forum and others. But regardless or how uninformed (or indeed vituperative) some of these posts are, I hope you at least have enough empathy to pray that you never have to walk a mile in the shoes of these residents and their families. A fate I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. This will be my last post here; it was enlightening at first but has clearly devolved. Best to you all. Mary Mason

[Anonymous]

Ms. Mason,

Taking your case against The Washington Home on an anonymous message board geared towards, in this case, a private school, is ridiculously misplaced.

I hope you can find resolution for your family, but this was really not the way to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ms. Mason,

Taking your case against The Washington Home on an anonymous message board geared towards, in this case, a private school, is ridiculously misplaced.

I hope you can find resolution for your family, but this was really not the way to do it.

I beg to differ. You or I might disagree with her perspective, but her contributions on a message board about the ethics of the sale were hardly ridiculously misplaced.

[Anonymous]

I thought Sidwell was a special place that cared for people, especially the less fortunate.

Guess not.