Submitted by Joel Washington, Aug 13, 2007 13:29

The idea of a lawyer running the public hospital system of NYC or even a single hospital is disturbing to say the least. Hospitals are about caring for the health of the community, not the legal implications of the care given. One cannot improve community healthcare unless one understands what that entails. A lawyer employed at the insular central office of the HHC miles away from any HHC hospital is the last person who could understand the meaning of community and healthcare. That a person of such mediocrity can rise to the top position in the HHC is a testament to the culture of administrative incompetence and political meddling that pervades the HHC. As much as the newspaper tries to make Mr. Aviles out as a idealist crusading civil right activists, nothing could be further from the truth. He is unheard of in the civil rights movement. Working a short stint at the civil rights bureau for NYS is a testament to one's political connections, not to one's commitment to civil rights or even one's merit. Lawyers committed to high ideals and justice do not make a career at the HHC, lawyers who want easy clean 9 to 5 office jobs work at the HHC. His comments about the child who died at Woodhull Hospital are more revealing of his poor character and judgment. Truth be told he is nothing but a bureaucratic drone left over from the previous mayoral administration who was politically shrewd enough to get in with the current administration. Talented and top flight lawyers do not jump between legal jobs in state government for their entire careers much less at the HHC. He is an anomaly in the Bloomberg administration's appointments because he is so mediocre. Bloomberg has appointed many truly talented and brilliant people to positions traditionally reserved for the politically connected. Unfortunately for the HHC and the people of NYC, Mr. Aviles has no merits except for being politically connected and being available for interviews.

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