Texas 25th Congressional District Democrat candidate Julie Oliver should recuse herself from her “very clear” conflict of interest serving on a healthcare board that regulates a company she worked at for 15 years, said Matt Mackowiak, Travis County GOP chairman, in a statement to Breitbart News.
Oliver, who hopes to unseat Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) during the 2020 congressional elections, serves on the board of the Texas Travis Central Health group, which helps lower-income Texans receive access to health care. Oliver was the financial division controller for St. David’s HealthCare for 15 years.
On her campaign website, Oliver advocates for Medicare for All and touts her experience as a Travis County Central Health board member.
During her campaign for the Texas 25th Congressional District during the 2018 midterm elections, she raised $2,619 from St. David’s Healthcare employees. She lost to Williams by roughly 8.7 percentage points during the 2018 cycle.
My concern is listening to both Ascension and St. David’s in the public comments, St. David’s concern is that if you go above a 3.8 percent that’s primarily going to benefit Dell Children’s, which gets 102 percent of its Medicaid anyway reimbursed because it has a very healthy insured population. I have concern of implementing a tax on hospitals at this time above a certain threshold that they don’t all agree to. If there’s an amount they agree to I would say we should cap it at that because this is a very trying time for all the hospitals. … I would ask the board to consider capping it at 3.8 percent so that you’re not harming hospitals in this time in which they’re already hurting.
During Oliver’s confirmation to the Travis County Healthcare District board, concerns were raised about potential conflicts of interest regarding her two decades working for St. David’s.
Matt Mackowiak, the Travis County GOP chairman, told Breitbart News that Oliver should recuse herself, given her reported alleged conflict of interests.
“Conflicts of interests are serious ethical issues. In this case, Julie Oliver appears to be putting her former employer ahead of the best interests of Central Texas. She should uphold her pledge to recuse herself due to her very clear conflict of interest in this situation,” Mackowiak said.
The Austin, Texas, city council said in May 2017 that they had to wait on county legal officials about questions raised about Oliver’s job as a division control at St. David’s Healthcare, which is a competitor to Seton Healthcare Family. Oliver promised that she would recuse herself “in instances where St. David’s business interests were on the line” and that she wouldn’t “do things purposefully to harm Seton’s financial interest.”
“I think I can be balanced and measured in reviewing any of the items that Central Health is faced with,” she added. “There are times when you just do the right thing because you have a bigger picture of something. And that for me is the community of Austin.”
Gummert added that a public official has to determine what amounts to a “special economic effect.”
Texas public health officials said that appointing a private hospital executive was “unprecedented” and that she would frequently face situations where she could benefit her employer.
Former Central health board of managers chair Katrina Daniel told the Monitor in June 2017 that Oliver would face a “big challenge” in balancing her duty to help the community and with her current job as an executive at St. David’s HealthCare. The Monitor wrote, “The way Daniel sees it, Seton only has one major competitor in the area: St. David’s. As a result, she said, Oliver will frequently find herself faced with decisions that could either benefit her employer (by directing it new business) or harm it (by directing business to its chief competitor).”
In the interview, Daniel noted that Oliver would face a “hard time” balancing her potential conflict of interest.
“I think if I were in Julie Oliver’s shoes, I might have a hard time figuring out how I do the business of my employer and do the business of Central Health, keeping both organizations’ interests at heart in the decisions I’m making,” she said.
Daniel wrote a letter to the Austin City Council in 2017 warning that Oliver’s appointment would face significant potential conflicts of interest.
“Even if the Travis County Healthcare District operated its own hospital, it would be unprecedented and unconventional for the appointment of a private hospital executive to its board. No other major health care or hospital district in Texas has this arrangement,” Daniel wrote.
Other Central Health board members have stepped down or were not reappointed due to conflicts of interest.
Anthony Haley, who served on the board for one term, stepped down in December 2012 after an Austin City Council member said that his relationship with Baylor Health Care System might become an issue.
The Travis County Commissioners Court decided not to reappoint Brenda Coleman-Beattie after she took a job with Austin Travis County Integral Care, a mental health organization that receives funding from Central Health.
After her confirmation, Oliver said she does not believe her position with St. David’s HealthCare would create any potential issues.
She said in 2017, “I’m just really excited that I’m able to use my talents, my experience and put it to use in an area I truly have a passion in: helping deliver health care to people who need it most.”
“I honestly don’t think overall it’s going to be an issue,” she added.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.