Thread: First Hispanic U.S. Surgeon General Faces Felony Charges

Former Surgeon General, now local hospital executive faces felony charges

Walter Pacheco | Sentinel Staff Writer
11:39 AM EST, January 27, 2009

Antonia Coello Novello, the former Surgeon General of the United States, is accused of exploiting state employees. (EFE)

Antonia Coello Novello, the former Surgeon General of the United States (1990-1993), is accused of ordering state employees to take her on personal shopping sprees, water her house plants, buy her groceries and move her furniture, among other accusations, during her 7-year tenure as New York's Health Commissioner, according to a report released today by the Inspector General of New York.

Novello, 64, is the vice president of the Women's and Children's Health & Policy Affairs at Florida Hospital. She was hired there in 2008.

She was the first woman and first Hispanic to serve as U.S. surgeon general. Novello, born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, was often praised by Democrats and Republicans for her talent and promise to bring emphasis to pediatric care.

The investigation shows that the 2,540 hours of overtime generated by her staff cost Albany taxpayers nearly $50,000. A spokeswoman at Florida Hospital said she would comment to the Orlando Sentinel later today.

According to the investigation, one of Novello's guards, who also picked up her dry cleaning and stored her car at his home, complained that the former health commissioner "would yell at him in public if he mishandled her packages."

Novello "shamelessly and blatantly exploited and abused her staff, adding new dimension to the definition of 'arrogance' and 'chutzpah,' " Inspector General Joseph Fisch said in the report. "Her conduct was disgraceful and unconscionable."

The report shows security guards transported her mother to the Newark, NJ airport to catch flights to Puerto Rico; a Health Department investigator in New York City was used as a driver, taking Novello on shopping sprees to Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue.

An Albany guard was also ordered to work Christmas Day in 2006 -- after her term as health commissioner had ended -- to drive Novello to Newark. He was then pressured to charge vacation time and use his own car to pick her up.

As health commissioner, Novello's yearly salary was $196,000, which including a $60,000 stipend as board president for the Health Research Institute and a state-issued car.

An Orlando Sentinel profile written by reporter Jeannette Rivera-Lyles in 2008 describes Novello as a "straight-shooter who takes a no-nonsense approach to life."

"This is the place to be," Novello said in that report. "With a med school on the way, the Burnham Institute, new hospitals in the making and the Lake Nona research complex, Orlando won't be the same 10 years from now. It's best to join places when they are on their way and participate in that process, than to arrive when everything is done."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-bk-f ... 7957.story

This woman apparently has delusions of grandeur and other psychological problems.

Queen in America doing jail time?