Editor’s Note: Since Eureka Springs Hospital became a Rural Emergency Hospital almost two years ago, it has received federal money to be primarily an emergency hospital with no inpatient care.
Some staff, whether due to the REH designation, management choices, commission decisions, financial or other difficulties, became exasperated and contacted us months ago to listen to their stories. Following are a few, and there are more.
We welcome a response from the commission, the board and the mayor. Of those contacted, we have heard only “No comment.” We also appreciate readers’ opinions.
Lisa Miller was Dietary Director at Eureka Springs Hospital for three of the five years she worked there. She said she loves the hospital, but the past two years have been difficult because of leadership problems.
Miller said things got worse early this year when the hospital transitioned to a Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation that involved closing the in-patient part of the hospital while retaining the emergency room and clinical services. Miller, a Certified Dietary Manager (CDM), resigned when she learned that the kitchen would be closed.
“When we were starting to switch over to REH, our consulting dietician and I were discussing with the CEO and human resources director what kind of ideas we had for moving forward with the dietary services,” Miller said. She speculated that misunderstandings with CFO Cynthia Asbury led to retaliation by Asbury.
“They slowly took one thing away at a time,” Miller said. “They have no dietary employees now except a consulting dietician who is there for one day a month. The regulations state must have a CDM five days a week if you don’t have an on-site dietician, which they don’t.”
Doctors, other staff and emergency room patients no longer have access to food cooked at the hospital. Also, there are requirements for emergency/disaster food supplies to be housed at the hospital. Those must be kept fresh and expiration dates tested regularly.
“The frozen food was already growing ice on it when I quit on September 1,” Miller said. “We can’t serve frostbit food. They told the one employee who was left that she couldn’t get rid of the expired food. We can’t serve frostbit food. The hospital is supposed to have a contract for water. Just having Hart’s saying they have water is not a contract. The hospital has to have a contract with someone stating there will be water provided in case of emergency and how much will be provided.”
Miller said some patients are being quoted high prices for labs or procedures that should not be so expensive.
“There are doctors who say they won’t send patients here anymore because of being treated badly,” Miller said. “One patient getting lab draws was told she had to pay $1,600 up front. So, this lady called her insurance company and was told, ‘No, your co-pay is $160.’ Cynthia said it is $1,600 or go somewhere else. She went somewhere else and paid $160.”
Miller also said everyone was impacted by cutbacks in other departments. Miller did laundry after a housekeeping worker quit. Others were asked to clean their own departments. No one worked in laundry/housekeeping except maintenance and the director when they had time.
Miller claims that management has cut out many tests the hospital used to do. “It takes three days to get the results of a herpes test,” she said. “In those days that person could be spreading it to other people. They cut out testing for ammonia in your blood, which is a life-threatening situation. The ER doctor threw a fit about it and it was brought back.”
Miller said the administration is not going by the employee handbook. “They tell us that their policy is different from the handbook, but then don’t provide us with their policies unless you ask for them,” she said. “How do you know what to ask for? They have a clause on the bottom of the handbook that states to ask for them if you want to know. That should be transparent at hire, so you know the right thing to do. And why do we have different policies than the city if we are city employees?”
ESH’s motto is “the hospital with a heart.” But Miller said the hospital has lost its heart. “I couldn’t be part of it anymore,” she said. “There are people who work there who care, but there is no hope. Everyone is looking for another job.
“How much medical background do these commission people have?” Miller asked. “Why are they running a hospital? Cynthia said the hospital is still losing $200,000 a month in a commission meeting on YouTube. How long can they afford that?”