Public comments followed a decision by Eureka Springs City Council to remove former Eureka Springs Hospital commission Chair Kent Turner with some of the strongest statements yet by former employees about alleged mismanagement at the hospital.
Former Lab Director Tina Adams, who resigned citing the workplace environment, challenged statements earlier in the meeting by current ESH commission Chair Sandy Royce Martin that many employees had quit because they had difficulty with the transition to a new electronic medical records system and to a Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) with no in-patient beds.
“We didn’t quit because of the REH designation,” Adams said. “We quit because of bullying, intimidation and harassment.”
Adams called for the resignation of Mayor Butch Berry stating it doesn’t appear he cares how his employees operate. “The mayor allowed this to happen,” she said. Berry blocked the resignation of Turner after it was offered to council in December with Berry stating Turner was needed to help respond to a Medicare audit.
Adams earlier said that it is infuriating that the hospital commission and current interim CEO Jodi Edmondson and CFO Cynthia Asbury don’t understand the importance of things like an on-site testing laboratory. She said it is too bad that the hospital commission’s arrogance and support of workplace harassment by Edmondson and Asbury has made it so hard for people to make a living at the local hospital where employee salaries are spread around to traveling nurses and other contract labor.
Former hospital employee Richard Webb said numerous local news stories have been printed since early November, and nothing has been done about “corrupt and unlawful actions.”
“At this point we all know where your loyalties lie, and it is not with the former and current victims of this mess,” Webb said. “My wife [Samantha Webb] had her job taken and her name and work record defamed and tarnished for doing absolutely nothing wrong. The rich part is that the people who removed her from her position for violating rules and law were actually the ones violating the same rules and laws they accused her of breaking.”
Webb was critical of the council for taking so long to demand accountability at the hospital.
“Wrongs need to be righted,” Webb said. “Recently the new chair of the hospital commission said, ‘We have the best caliber of people we have ever had,’ and praised Jodi and Cynthia. Well Kent Turner has violated numerous rules and laws. Jodi has violated numerous rules and laws, and Cynthia has violated numerous rules and laws. All of this is a matter of public record. Let me just say this to Ms. Martin, the new hospital commission chair: If these people are the highest caliber people you can come up with, you’re in very sad shape!”
Former employee Liz Collins, who worked in several areas including compliance and risk management, said she was terminated after being told her positions were no longer necessary with the REH. But she said most employees left because of being exposed to bullying and a toxic workplace environment. Collins said Turner was guilty of a number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) violations including by regularly meeting with former vice chair Barbara Dicks and employees during finance and IT meetings.
Collins said despite the age of the hospital, part of which was built in 1929 and part in 1965, employees have been working hard to keep it maintained and want the hospital to remain open.
“There were some fine people who were treated poorly,” Collins said. “I thank you for taking action because you were our only hope.”
Charlotte Bunyar said none of the current or former employees wants the hospital to close, but there are concerns including lack of local staff and HIPAA patient privacy violations. She said there are issues with video surveillance at the hospital that shows who is in the ER lobby. She said Asbury has access to those videos, which Bunyar considers a HIPAA violation.
Allen Smith said when numerous employees from every department tell council there is a problem with the CEO, the CFO and the commissioners, it is a huge problem. He suggested that hearings are needed to listen to and ask questions of current and former employees.
Smith also said that the community and local medical workers would view it favorably if a contract was approved to allow Dr. John House to take over management of the hospital. “Put a doctor in charge,” Smith said.
Bradley Tate-Green turned to the audience and apologized to the employees bullied and harassed.
“Why are Jodi and Cynthia still there?” Tate-Green asked. “Add someone to the commission who will ask questions. Why wasn’t my application for the hospital commission considered tonight?”
Tate-Green said other commissions seem not to get by with violating ethics and laws, and that it has been painful to watch leaders not give a care about upholding all laws, especially in the field of healthcare.
“I am afraid there needs to be a call for a detailed ledger overview and hospital financial audit because there are rumors of embezzlement,” Tate-Green said. “What is being done and what about employees who were wrongfully treated and supposedly investigated? What is being done to address and combat workplace violence, bullying, harassment, retaliation, and hostile work environment? This is a topic being hidden and not discussed.”
Tate-Green said appointing new commissioners from the outside could help get answers that the community needs. He said he feels his application wasn’t considered because he has advocated holding others accountable.
“As long as there are deficiencies and illegalities in leadership, there is nothing to be done to fix the problem until the cancer has been surgically removed,” he said.
There are currently two vacancies on the hospital commission.
As a former employee of ESH, working as an RN with 45+ years of experience including as a Certified Emergency Nurse, American Heart Association ACLS, PALS and Neonatal Resuscitation Provider and Instructor, Training Center Coordinator and BTLS Trauma Instructor as well as being a Paramedic and Clinical Education Coordinator. Plus, many other experiences including general and orthopedic and trauma surgery, ICU, Med-Surg, everyplace except OB. I must take extreme offence to the statement written in the Eureka Independent Newspaper from Sandy Martin, commission chair when she stated, quote, “It would be starting from scratch, we have made so much progress, and the staff we have now is higher caliber than we have ever had and more knowledgeable.” end quote. What are the competencies of the nurses working their now? Are they qualified to work in an emergency room? Were they hired as a warm body, or can they deal with major trauma patients? Oh, that’s right. Eureka REH is on trauma divert. What about walk-in trauma patients? Chain saw injuries, table saw injuries, injuries requiring the proper application of tourniquets. Since it was reported the crash cart in the ER wasn’t checked properly, are the medications out of date? Do the batteries for the laryngoscopes power up? Does the defibrillator charge and discharge properly? Are the nurses proficient in the management of cardiac problems, such as cardiac arrest, aka, CODE BLUE? Can they recognize simple or complex heart arrythmias and what to do for each one? Can they put a cervical collar on a patient with a suspected neck fracture? YOU KNOW WHAT? I knew how to do ALL of these things, as did most of the nurses I worked with when I worked there. AND YOU KNOW WHAT? None of the nurses I worked with work there now. They had their sanity and confidence questioned and destroyed by unqualified people at the helm. A bean counter has no authority or training to give orders to a nurse or a lab tech or a rad tech or even a physician. The last commission meeting on YouTube, was so painful to watch as incompetent people stumble over each other trying to convince the public “all is well. Move alone, there is nothing to see here.” ESH had competent staff working there, but the commission and the city council were not up to the task of caring for their employees. The merciful thing to do would be to close the doors. Stop putting a band aid on, then ripping it off, again and again.