The arrest last week of a former Beverly Hospital associate vice president appears to have answered the question of what happened to art and antiques worth more than $200,000 that disappeared from the hospital several years ago.
But it leaves a multitude of questions unanswered. And the hospital's corporate parent, Northeast Health System, which also owns Addison Gilbert Hospital, owes the public those answers.
Groveland police, who raided the home of Paul Galzerano, 56, recovered furniture, including a grandfather clock — and two paintings, including a seascape by Rockport artist Stanley Wingate Woodward. Galzerano had been Beverly Hospital's associate vice president of support services from 2002 to 2007, and had been in charge of overseeing a $60 million renovation of the hospital between 2003 and 2006. He has pleaded not guilty to six counts of receiving stolen property, and is due back in court Nov. 4.
The arrest and recovery obviously means the hospital will get back a number of the missing items. But police and hospital officials are not commenting on anything that was not recovered. There are reportedly 28 paintings missing, but only two were found at Galzerano's home. That has the Cape Ann arts community wondering about literally hundreds of art works that have been in Northeast's custody since it took over Addison Gilbert in 1994.
It had been a local tradition, until the merger, for artists to donate works to Addison Gilbert, as a thanks for services rendered, in memory of a family member or as a gift from an estate. There are an estimated 300 such works of art.
So far, the official stance of the hospital is that it cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.
That may be necessary. But Cape Ann political and business leaders should demand much more transparency once the case is concluded, because there are a number of unsettling questions about it.
What were Galzerano's qualifications for the job he held? So far, there has been no explanation of that, except that he was friends with Northeast CEO Stephen Laverty. What were the circumstances of his departure? Why didn't Northeast officials notify the police when they realized that various items, some worth thousands of dollars, were missing? Why did they do their own private investigation?
Hospital spokesman Charles "Chip" Payson said the hospital only "recently" became aware that these items were missing. Why, if some of them had been gone for years, did it take so long to notice? Doesn't the hospital do a regular inventory of such things? Who are the other artists, and names of the works, of the 26 other paintings that are apparently still missing?
Northeast is a private corporation. But it has for years sought and received public support, including millions in taxpayer money through state grants. And it lives on public confidence, as every health-care institution must. It cannot claim the mantle of public charity when it wants public support or public money, then retreat behind the "private corporation" wall when the public has questions.
The questions being asked by the Cape Ann arts community are legitimate. They deserve answers. Let's hope Northeast provides some — real soon.
