Corruption allegations involving Broward Health, Gov. Scott unsealed in whistleblower suit

On September 25th, I started a story like this, “Note from Erin: I’ve made no secret about how I feel about our Governor, Mr. Scott. However, my concerns about him are continuously confirmed with each news cycle.” Guess what? He’s baaaaacccckkkk….

Our beloved governor is in the news, once again, due to “new and politically explosive corruption allegations”¹ that surround Broward Health’s no-bid, 25-year contract, with 21^st Century Oncology (the same 21st Century Oncology with financial ties to Gov. Rick Scott). The documents were recently unsealed because of a federal lawsuit in Fort Lauderdale.

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In 2012, 21st Century began a contract with Broward Health to provide radiation oncology services. But it seems the deal was less than transparent: the contract came about because of kickbacks.

“The 53-page whistleblower lawsuit brought by former Broward Health board chairman David Di Pietro against Fort Myers-based 21^st Century and 100 ‘John Does’ claims to provide the inside story behind the deal.
Along the way, the complaint alleges, Broward Health’s former chief executive officer, Frank Nask, paid hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in ‘hush money’ to grease the deal. To get Nask on board with 21^st Century’s plans, Fort Lauderdale lobbyist William ‘Billly’ Rubin, one of the governor’s closest friends, allegedly offered Nask kickbacks of financial security and the governor’s political protection, while applying political pressure in the governor’s name where necessary.” ¹

The specifics were that Rubin promised Nask the governor’s appointments to the board would protect Nask’s continuing employment, salary, and pension as CEO. However, should Nask not support the contract with 21^st Century, “the appointments to the board would not be his allies and his employment would be terminated.” At the time, he was making about $680,000, plus performance bonuses and benefits. That’s a lot to lose. The documents also claim that executives at 21^st Century were fully aware and complicit.

As you can imagine, Scott’s office released a statement claiming sainthood—as they always do:

“(Neither) the Governor’s office nor the Governor are named as a party in this lawsuit, which was filed against a private company four days after Mr. Di Pietro resigned from the board in April 2016. Governor Scott has acted to make sure that the North Broward Hospital District is accountable to the taxpayers they serve and will continue to do just that.” ¹

There’s much, much more to this story. To read the entire mess, click here.

But one final thing that’s important to know about this story is the fact that Nabil El Sanadi MD, formerly of the Cleveland Clinic, president and CEO of Broward Health (who had recently been under federal investigation) allegedly shot and killed himself at his Lauderdale-by-the-Sea residence. In the middle of this huge mess. Now that these documents have been unsealed, it’s making his suicide look EVEN MORE SUSPICIOUS.

Is anyone else tired of the fact that we can’t trust our elected officials? Is anyone in power actually FOR us?