On January 13, Eureka Springs City Council heard pleas from former employees of the Eureka Springs Hospital for the removal of Kent Turner from the hospital commission and the firings of Chief Financial Officer Cynthia Asbury and Interim CEO Jodi Edmondson (formerly HR director) for bullying, harassment and violating the laws regarding workplace violence. It was the third time former employees appeared before council.
For about a year-and-a-half conflicts have led to about 25 employees either quitting, being laid off or being fired. Former CEO Angie Shaw and Chief Nursing Officer Jessica Petrino have filed lawsuits alleging they were terminated by the commission in early November for being whistleblowers about problems including violations of the HIPAA patient privacy laws. The nurses were not given the opportunity to defend themselves before the hospital commission. After being fired, both were escorted from the hospital by police. Shaw, who had worked at the hospital 17 years, had offered to resign earlier in the year and was turned down.
Mayor Butch Berry has said there are allegations on both sides, but neither the mayor nor the hospital commission has discussed those allegations.
The former employees urged council to take action soon in order to get the hospital back on track, provide adequate emergency care, regain the trust of the community and prevent its closure.
Currently the hospital does not have a fully functioning onsite lab and the hospital is currently on divert, meaning ambulances are bypassing ESH and taking patients to another area hospital.
At a hospital commission workshop January 13, Edmondson said they expect to have the lab able to process blood products in a couple of weeks. But a similar earlier effort to keep the lab open failed when a travel lab director was hired and then removed. Richard Sarabi states on Go Fund Me that he was unfortunate enough to start working at ESH which he said “was so badly mismanaged that all my coworkers including my manager quit. I was left to keep the lab running. Even though I helped the Hospital stay open they came up with a flimsy excuse to get rid of me.” Sarabi is trying to raise $1,400 to help while he seeks another job.
Former Lab Director Tina Adams told council she could not emphasize enough the ESH lost a lot of knowledge and great employees due to two people—Asbury and Edmondson–who are still there.
Adams raised concerns that the new IT firm hired by the hospital commission doesn’t know how to work on the lab equipment or interfaces. “How is that progress and financial savings?” Adams asked.
Adams said Turner had lied to city council on many occasions including a previous report that the lab was open.
Turner was asked to resign by alderman Harry Meyer in December, and agreed. But Mayor Butch Berry blocked the resignation because Turner is heading a response to a Medicare audit that indicated a number of concerns. The state’s answer to those concerns is expected in the next week or two.
Adams said Turner exhibited similar behavior to commissioner Barbara Dicks, who was asked to resign by the mayor, and that Turner should also go. Employees reported that in meetings, Turner would yell and pound his fists on the table. Turner, Dicks and other commissioners also violated Arkansas Freedom of Information Act laws with meetings and written communication about ESH outside of public meetings.
Adams questioned how the hospital can continue operating when it has lost nearly all of its outpatient services. “Remember, you as city council members have a right to dissolve this commission and it is time to act before all hope is lost,” Adams said. “You have the power to stop this toxic, violent workplace.”
She referred to comments made by Dicks to Turner, which were revealed as a response to FOIA requests, where Dicks said they had known for a year-and-a-half that ESH was a toxic workplace. Another former hospital employee, compliance officer Liz Collins, pointed to a message from Dicks to Turner stating: “Just hope we don’t end up in a toxic workplace lawsuit, you and I have both known for 1 ½ years this s**t is going on. I don’t want to lose my assets over this, they can have my ass but not worth losing assets.”
Collins said Turner needs to be removed from the commission for his actions, violations and allowing things to progress to this level.
“If this were to go to a court of law, a case for a toxic hospital work environment will be proven beyond reasonable doubt by many current and former employees,” Collins said. “The hospital is not out of the woods. The commission may have presented a plan of corrections, policies, and plans but that is paper. The internal operation is still failing. Jodi and Cynthia, if you are watching, I ask that you please think about what you are doing to the hospital and its community. You need to resign and not take it down.”
Former ESH employee Richard Webb spoke on behalf of himself and his wife, Samantha, a former employee who said she was fired for attempting to do her job as a medical records clerk. Richard Webb stated that the mayor blocked Turner’s resignation knowing he had violated numerous laws. He asked how council wanted to be remembered. “Will you continue to protect the guilty?” Webb asked. “The guilty have either been allowed to simply step down, retire or even be promoted with no consequences for their actions.”
Webb concluded that when it all comes crashing down, aldermen should remember at least they were given a choice, which is more than employees who were fired or harassed until they quit were given.
Charlotte Bunyar, a former nurse at the hospital, said few people are going to the hospital at present and questioned how ESH can survive without patients. ESH has received millions to transition to a Rural Emergency Hospital and receives funding for a number of its programs. “Why should the government still send checks if there are no patients?” she asked. “The hospital is on the verge of losing its trauma and stroke certification and there goes the money for that.”
She also questioned what is being done with the large amount of money granted to help ESH survive. She said that question needs to be answered.
Dr. John House offered to take over management of the hospital, and is supported by a number of the former employees. Turner said at the hospital commission meeting that a decision on how the hospital will be managed in the future won’t be made until the results of the Medicare audit are in.
City council put this issue on the agenda for its next meeting at 6 p.m., Monday, January 27.