Message to the New Hampshire Department of Justice from the Friends of Saint Benedict Center

May 20, 2021

Mr. Thomas J. Donovan, Director Charitable Trusts Unit New Hampshire Department of Justice 33 Capitol Street Concord, NH 03301 thomas.donovan@doj.nh.gov Dear Director Donovan, I would respectfully call your attention to an article in the May 19th New Hampshire Union Leader, which mentioned the participation of Alex Walker, the President of Catholic Medical Center, in the opening ceremonies for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock ambulatory surgery facility in Manchester. One might infer, not unreasonably, from the presence of Mr. Walker at the event, that the leadership of Catholic Medical Center is already treating the proposed acquisition of CMC by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health as a forgone conclusion. This however, is not the case. It is within the discretion of your office, the Charitable Trusts Unit of the New Hampshire Department of Justice, and that of the Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire, to approve or disallow this proposed transaction. Moreover, the public hearings on the merger, scheduled prior to the pandemic shutdown, have yet to be held. I hope you would remind all parties in this transaction of the need to respect the public review process, and to avoid any inappropriate conduct which gives the appearance of anticipating the outcome. Mr. Walker must not be permitted, by the use of optics, to reduce, in the mind of the public, the decision of your office to mere formality. Thank you. Sincerely, C. J. Doyle, Director of Communications Friends of Saint Benedict Center PO Box 6551 Manchester, NH 03108 friendsofthesbc@gmail.com