Memorial commission names new chairman

Bob Lally has been named the new chairman of the Citizens Commission on Ownership and Governance of Memorial Health System.

The commission board's unanimous choice of Lally today came after Steve Hyde resigned as chairman earlier in the day.

Hyde, who has come under fire for his contact with a hospital system interested in buying Memorial, said the almost full-time demands of the commission made it difficult for him to balance his family life and his full-time professional activities, according to a news release.

"I originally volunteered to serve as a part-time volunteer to lend whatever health care expertise I may have to the important work of the commission. I was (and am) highly gratified to have been chosen by City Council on the basis of my reputation for integrity and my four decades of health care industry experience" Hyde said in his resignation letter to Mayor Lionel Rivera. 

"However, the commission has evolved to the point where the great majority of my time, energy, and efforts are now devoted to issues that -- however necessary --are unrelated to the subject-matter knowledge I had hoped to contribute to the commission’s work," he wrote in the letter.

"These include frequent and lengthy meetings, management responsibilities, committee coordination, media relations (especially with respect to inaccurate media reporting), responses to public open-records demands, internal communications, and internal commission politics and intrigue — matters that allow me to add little direct value to the commission’s mission. More to the point, it has become an almost full-time job. As a result, I am unable to reconcile my commission duties with the conflicting demands of my family life and my full-time professional activities," he wrote.

(Click here to read Hyde's resignation letter.)

Lally has more than 28 years of experience with the Defense Department. He is currently deputy chief financial/resource officer for North American Aerospace Defense Command at Cheyenne Mountain.

Hyde's resignation is the commission's third.

Earlier this year, Tim Leigh and B.J. Scott, who had been selected to serve outright by the council, resigned over conflict-of-interest concerns even before the commission had met.

Hyde led the commission "through some very intensive early action items," Dave Munger, chairman of the commission’s Community Engagement Committee, said in a statement.

“He helped shift our attention to specific criteria for making effective and well-researched recommendations about the future of Memorial Health System,” he said. “We appreciate his unique perspective on health care, and we’ll miss his valuable input.”