Ex Doylestown Hospital Director Arrested For $600,000 Theft
by Alex Lloyd Gross
People appointed be in charge of bank accounts for organizations need to be able to be trusted. Once that trust is broken it is gone forever.. 68 year old Norma Galagarza, 68, of Chalfont, was charged with theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, knowledge that property is proceeds of illegal activity, forgery, access device fraud and computer trespass. She was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Mark D. Douple was released on $250,000 unsecured bail. Galagarza, the Director of Medical Staff for Doylestown Hospital, retired in March 2021. Part of her duties was to over see a medical account set up for the Medical Executive Committee for charitable donations.
Everything was going well for her when she retired, until the hospital started getting notices that their checks were bouncing. That triggered an investigation. They found that Galagarzo had allegedly switched the contact and mailing address from the hospital to her home address without permission .
That change was made in 2008. In 2007, allegations were that the hospital stopped getting bank statements .
Detectives obtained search warrants and analyzed Galagarza’s expenses, finding that she made approximately 896 unauthorized transactions totaling approximately $604,702.29 from 2008 to 2021. Their analysis found that she used the hospital’s money to pay her personal taxes, real estate taxes, cell phone bills, car payments, and personal credit accounts.
The account, known as the Charitable Fund, was created in 1991 as an employee benevolent fund to make charitable contributions to the community and employees in need. It was funded strictly by donations made by physician leaders, was overseen by a committee of physicians known as the Medical Executive Committee and was managed by the Director of Medical Staff.