Accusations continue to fly against Planned Parenthood Golden Gate by those who claim to be in the “know”

This week’s announcement that Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) was severing ties with Planned Parenthood Golden Gate (PPGG) came as no surprise to some former employees,

The San Francisco Bay Guardian is filling up with staff, board, and associate comments about PPGG. The article is here- the comments are interesting (Read Below)
(Comments on Planned Parenthood Golden Gate Clinic – )

COMMENTS BEGIN:

PPGG’s finances
If this Planned Parenthood affiliate had not been meeting minimum requirements for a cash reserve since 1998, why did they continually get approved/re-accredited by the national agency? The national spokesperson quoted, Elizabeth Toledo, said they’d only been working with them the past few years, but this problem sounds like it was ongoing since at least 1998. Reading between the lines, it sounds like the CEO was doing something wrong and covered it up as long as possible, then with the current recession had to just leave and the national office is trying to sweep it under the rug. The women who needed PPGG for care are the only ones to suffer I guess.
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Posted by Samantha on Aug. 11, 2010 @ 6:23 pm
This article only touches on the tip of the ice berg
DIg a little deeper and you will discover gross inequities in pay between the administration and the front lines and unbelievable administrative blunders. I believe the far right infiltrated the agency and began to destroy it from within. The saddest part is that the medical staff is skilled and dedicated. However with the loss of PPFA oversight and malpractice insurance; no intelligent clinician would ever work for this group of scoundrels.
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Posted by Guest 10+ year employee of PPGG on Aug. 11, 2010 @ 9:37 pm
If the current administration
If the current administration at PPGG were interested in serving their communities and their patients they would work with Planned Parenthood Shasta Diablo, Mar monte and the national organization to facilitate a speedy and friendly merger of the affiliates. This would ensure financial strength and continuity of care for the patients. Instead, they are clawing on to the idea of a new group of clinics – why? To keep their own paychecks coming?
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Posted by Guest Anonymous on Aug. 12, 2010 @ 6:54 am
I would just like to point
I would just like to point out that PPGG not only serve women, but men as well.
Thank you.
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Posted by Guest on Aug. 11, 2010 @ 10:34 pm
Re: Men and women
Thank you for pointing that out, Guest. Apologies for the omission.
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Posted by rebecca on Aug. 12, 2010 @ 10:03 am
CEO’s salary
It was well known withing the agency that the former CEO, Dian Harrison, didn’t care about the mission or the patients and was only enriching herself and living large off of PPGG’s budget. She was so corrupt she even took to hiding her salary on the agency’s 990 tax forms for several years until the IRS started looking into her business. If the government ever looks at PPGG’s books, both Dian and the current CEO, Therese Wilson, will be sharing a jail cell next to Bernie Madoff.
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Posted by Laura, former staff on Aug. 12, 2010 @ 7:32 am
CEO’s expense account and consultants
Nevermind if the government ever audits them, if the government just interviews former staff they’ll learn amazing things. Like how Dian had a hidden expense account for personal use and paid an “executive coach” over $100,000 a year to tell her how to be a CEO. Not just for one year, but for her entire tenure. I’m sure major foundations would like to have known they were paying this guy, Mike Takagawa, to hold Dian’s hand in perpetuity.
http://www.corporatedge.com/firm-founder.php
Check out his website and you can read Dian’s praise of Mike. It still even lists her as the CEO! He clearly wasn’t worth the money as he and Dian tanked the agency, but Dian’s review of him is a glowing load of BS:
http://www.corporatedge.com/clients-testimonials.php
“Over the years, the results of our Executive Partnership have been amazing. Working with Mike Takagawa has been an uplifting experience. It has alleviated a lot of the fears and stress I had as I transitioned into a much larger organization. Mike and the Corporate Edge team helped us achieve a major business turnaround that generated more than $1 million in new revenue sources. Corporate Edge also helped us establish an internal mentoring program that dramatically increased the productivity, retention levels, and spirit of collaboration among our employees.”
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Posted by A.B., former fundraiser for PPGG on Aug. 12, 2010 @ 1:49 pm
This is so true! You would be
This is so true! You would be amazed/disgusted about the $$$ executives were making at PPGG, meanwhile excellent, long time employees never once recieved a merit raise, even after years of dedicated service. Total BS!!
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Posted by Yet another former staff member! on Aug. 12, 2010 @ 7:40 pm
I cannot believe that “folks
I cannot believe that “folks are really happy” and all is going fine.
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Posted by Guest on Aug. 12, 2010 @ 12:44 pm
This union rep is completely
This union rep is completely disillusioned. I am in touch with many staff who still painstakingly working within the remaining shell of PPGG and I doubt ANYONE would say they are really happy! They are extremely dedicated to caring for the clients, but I would definitely say that no one is happy with the working conditions there and the morale has been terrible since I left years ago.
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Posted by Yet another former staff member! on Aug. 12, 2010 @ 7:44 pm
Somehow I find it hard to
Somehow I find it hard to believe that the current employees are happy.
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Posted by Guest on Aug. 12, 2010 @ 12:50 pm
As a former employee, I can
As a former employee, I can guarantee that if every single staff member (past and present) were asked, they would absolutely disagree with what that union rep said. Looking at the turnover rate alone would be an indicator of that. Looking at the number of staff who left PPGG to work for another PP affiliate would be an indicator of that. I dare the Guardian to anonymously poll every staff member right now and ask them if they are happy. I would be shocked if 100% surveyed did not say they were in fact quite unhappy.
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Posted by Guest on Aug. 12, 2010 @ 5:36 pm
Planned Parenthood debaucle
As a former union rep for 5 years with Planned Parenthood Golden Gate all I can say is this has been a very very long time coming. This organization took the good name of Planned Parenthood that is respected nationwide and abused its mission, finances, and staff. There was a huge discrepancy in pay between the front line workers and management. They routinely violated their union contract and exploited the giving nature of their workers. They would meet any request for decent wages, working conditions etc. with a type of feminist guilt that you didn’t support “the cause.” One can only hope that Dian Harrison’s finances are scrutinized and her cronies are questioned. Good luck to anyone still working there and know that there are many fields in health care where you will be treated well and not punished for your good work and efforts. Jump ship if you can!!
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Posted by Guest Leslie on Aug. 12, 2010 @ 3:17 pm
http://www.baycitizen.org/hea
http://www.baycitizen.org/health/story/financial-docs-raise-questions-ab…
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Posted by Guest on Aug. 12, 2010 @ 3:38 pm
The previous link seemed to
The previous link seemed to be the wrong one, but this one is correct, and holy cow:
http://www.baycitizen.org/health/story/financial-docs-raise-questions-ab…
“The local organization has also not kept up with reporting the activities of its related political action fund to the state. On Wednesday, the charitable trusts division of the state’s attorney general’s office sent a warning letter to the Planned Parenthood Golden Gate Action Fund, the political advocacy and public policy arm of the affiliate, because the organization has failed to file copies of its tax documents with that that office for at least 10 years.”
Dian and her cronies and enablers are screwed.
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Posted by Jane on Aug. 12, 2010 @ 4:30 pm
PPGG Board
Aren’t the true leaders of a non-profit the Board of Trustees? What is their hand in all of this? Where was their fiduciary responsibility?
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Posted by Guest on Aug. 12, 2010 @ 5:38 pm
Yes – good question. This is,
Yes – good question. This is, I assume, what keeps Dian’s (and probably other senior administrators) actions from being considered embezzlement. The Board had no oversight. I don’t know how they could look the other way or be this ignorant of the problems for so long. They should all be held liable for the loss of services to Bay Area women who relied on these clinics.
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Posted by Anon colleague on Aug. 15, 2010 @ 10:09 am
MAny of Dian’s friends were
MAny of Dian’s friends were on the board. Employees and the board were never really allowed to mix, so the board only got the story in whatever form Dian chose to tell it.
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Posted by Guest on Aug. 13, 2010 @ 9:50 am
The Board
When the 30 medical providers at PPGG, both clinicians and doctors, sent the “Letter of Concern” in 2008 (quoted in the Financial Docs article listed above), it was to Dian Harrison, PPFA, and the board. The board’s response was that they were in complete support of Dian and that we had broken protocol by contacting them. The last line was “We, the Trustees, will not be communicating with you any further and do not expect to receive any further communications from you.” How could this kind of purposeful disregard for the legitimate concerns of so many medical providers be ethical??
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Posted by Guest on Aug. 13, 2010 @ 1:26 pm
the board was hand-picked
Dian chose the members of the board herself and there was a lot of payback to her friends and rich donors. For example, a very rich donor got her daughter, who was in high school, high school! a seat on the board. How someone in high school can provide legal oversight to a large and complex company is beyond me, but it sure got Dian whatever she wanted.
Check out Guidestar if you want to look up their board members. The ones who weren’t in high school should have known better as they’re going to be legally responsible for a lot of stuff they probably weren’t counting on.
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Posted by Guest on Aug. 13, 2010 @ 2:13 pm
the former CEO is not on medical leave
I just looked up her LinkedIn profile and she lists being the CEO in her past. Apparently she’s a consultant now. I hope no one is wasting their money on her. Sounds like that whole “medical leave” thing is code for getting out of Dodge.
From her profile on LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dian-harrison/6/3aa/496
Current
* Independent Consultant at Independent Consultant
Past
* President & CEO at Planned Parenthood Golden Gate
* Assistant Director Finance and Administration at San Jose Redevelopment Agency
* President & CEO at Santa Clara Valley Urban League
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Posted by Ellen on Aug. 14, 2010 @ 9:27 am
was the union representative
was the union representative paid off as well? where did she get that misinformation? perhaps if she would return the abundance of messages left on her voicemail. we need our union dues recouped.
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Posted by Guest on Aug. 14, 2010 @ 8:34 pm
the union didn’t care
The union didn’t really care about us. We were a small shop for them compared to places like Kaiser, so they didn’t pay much attention to the concerns of staff and were just content to collect our dues every month. They pretty much colluded with Dian to negotiate behind the employees’ backs and the only reason they’re probably commenting with this happy-talk nonsense is that they’re afraid they’ll be losing a bunch of dues paying members when this place goes under. Dian was extremely anti-union and anti-worker, so she was more than happy to have a union that didn’t really care about helping its members as it allowed her to do whatever she wanted to staff.
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READ: Should there be an investigation into tax funded Planned Parenthood clinics? Letter reveals PPGG’s “misappropriation and mismanagement of funds”

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