NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A former New Jersey governor who is now chairman of the board at a major hospital recommended that the hospital hire a friend who was given a “no-show or low-show” job, according to a published report.
NJ.com reported former Republican Gov. Donald DiFrancesco made Jill Cooperman his assistant weeks after she was hired by University Hospital in Newark in 2014. Her salary soon rose and her title changed, spurring a whistleblower complaint.
The hospital board hired an outside law firm to investigate the accusation, and the firm found the complaint credible. The institution “had a high-level administrator without a clear job title, job description or supervisor,” the report said.
Cooperman declined to comment.
The report said Cooperman was “often absent from the office, that she often leaves work early or in the middle of the day and that her whereabouts are often unclear or unknown by her colleagues.”
The board said they reached a mutual decision with Cooperman for her to leave with an undisclosed settlement package following the report.
DiFrancesco said in a statement Cooperman was hired through proper processes, and added: “I do agree a more formal chain of command would have been helpful, but at the time I was focused on helping to build a corporate structure and improve the hospital’s operation.”
DiFrancesco served as governor of New Jersey while he was also president of the state Senate for 11 months in 2001, following the resignation of former Republican Gov. Christie Whitman.
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