Memorial Health System is paying Chicago consultant Larry Singer an additional $250,000 for his work with the commission and task forces that have been studying the hospital’s future.

Singer was initially hired by the Memorial citizens’ commission last year on a $285,000 contract to provide guidance as it weighed possible options for the hospital. That contract ran through April of this year. Singer has also charged more than $50,000 in expenses, which includes items such as airfare and lodging, but also $15,000 to bring in another consultant to speak to the commission.

Memorial signed the extension with Singer on March 1 to keep him on board through the end of this year, something the hospital didn’t disclose when The Gazette inquired about the costs of the commission at the end of March and that it didn’t tell the members of City Council serving on the task force. In late March, Memorial told The Gazette that the total expenses for the commission would be about $505,000.

Memorial spokesman Brian Newsome said the hospital hadn’t withheld any information intentionally and that he wasn’t aware of the extension before being asked about it Wednesday.

“I don’t think we can be expected to read your minds and come up with answers,” Newsome said. “We did not knowingly sit on something (and) we did not narrowly interpret a request.”

Newsome said the information provided to The Gazette included all costs incurred by the commission up until that point. He added that the City Council instructed Memorial to pay for the costs of the commission when the process began.

Councilwoman Jan Martin, who served on the first task force and chairs the new task force, said Singer has provided valuable advice, but that she wasn’t told about his contract extension.

“It’s always helpful for (Memorial) to be as transparent as possible,” Martin said. “I’m not sure why that wasn’t disclosed then. We want this whole process to be as open and as inclusive as possible and we need the hospital to help us to do that, and disclosing costs is an important part of that.”

Former Councilman Randy Purvis, who served on the first task force, also said he wasn’t aware Memorial had extended Singer’s contract.

The citizens’ commission recommended in November that Memorial be spun off as an independent nonprofit. A City Council task force then took up the issue and Singer stayed on to help hammer out an agreement on how an independent Memorial would be set up and operate. The old City Council voted 5-2 at its last meeting in April to recommend that the new council put that plan to voters in November. A new City Council task force is now examining the issue once more.

Singer is a Loyola University Chicago law professor with extensive experience in hospital transactions.

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