Eureka Springs Hospital Interim CEO Jodi Edmondson and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Cynthia Asbury were in for pointed criticisms from current and former staff members and concerned citizens at an ESH commission meeting on Nov. 18. A number asked for the resignations of chair Kent Turner, Edmondson and Asbury, for failure to address bullying and harassment, and retaliatory firings of former CEO Angie Shaw on Nov. 1, and of Chief Nursing Officer Jessica Petrino on Nov. 4, allegedly because they reported employee mistreatment and violations of the laws.
Alarms were raised about the quality of care at the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) after Shaw and Petrino were fired, and Emergency Room Manager Joy Kennedy who walked off the job after being harassed by vice chair Barbara Dicks after the firings of Shaw and Petrino. Several other key staffers have since put in resignations reporting fear of retaliation for signing a letter to the commission outlying problems at ESH. Speakers at the meeting said the ER can’t properly function without clinical managers.
While it wasn’t mentioned at the meeting, Dicks has turned in her resignation, according to city hall. Turner is no longer chair after completing a two-year term but remains on the commission. Sandy Martin was elected new chair. The commission didn’t address workplace concerns raised during public comments.
Tina Adams, who resigned as hospital lab director Nov. 6, told the commission that being able to provide adequate patient care is serious.
“Since the firing of Angie Shaw and Jessica Petrino, there has not been any communication or organization chart for us to follow,” Adams said. “The nurses have no contact to call in case of an emergency. Nurses have no clinical leaders to support them. This is putting their licenses on the line and the patients at risk.”
Adams said that employees are receiving favoritism with some being denied vacation and overtime benefits that others receive. “Is this discrimination or retaliation?” she asked. “I request that every employee receive their sick and vacation and holiday pay who has not gotten it.”
Asbury has provided changed policies on sick leave and holiday pay that Adams and other employees have said shortchanges them and is not consistent with the city’s employee handbook. Adams said the law states that any changes in the employee handbook must be approved by city council.
Adams also pointed out open meeting violations with Turner and Dicks in the same room during finance and IT meetings at the hospital. She questioned how the commission will oversee Asbury’s six-month employee improvement plan that was adopted at an earlier emergency meeting.
“Cynthia Asbury and Jodi Edmonson were disrespectful to community members who attended the meeting by turning their backs during public comment,” Heather Wilson said. Wilson a University of Arkansas doctoral student in human resources development has proposed to do her doctoral dissertation on ESH.
She cited a history of 25 years’ experience in healthcare when offering to help the hospital through its current HR challenges with a large number of staff members who have quit, been fired or laid off.
“It is this journey that now leads me to a new chapter – one where I am focusing on Eureka Springs for my dissertation on Organizational Leadership and Development with a specific focus on rural healthcare systems,” Wilson said. “I reached out to chairman Turner with a more detailed overview with no reply. Perhaps the email didn’t reach him, so I invite him to engage with me on this topic after reviewing my inquiry.”
Concerns were raised about violations of HIPAA, the federal patient privacy law. Charlotte Bunyar, a former hospital employee, said Asbury had been observed by hospital employees pressing a button on her meta glasses leading employees to suspect their conversations were being recorded.
“It is reasonable to assume that private health information, along with personal data such as Social Security numbers, could be unintentionally recorded,” Bunyar said. “If we assume Miss Asbury received a stipend for cellular services paid by the city, then it follows that any member of the public could request access to these recordings under the Freedom of Information Act. This practice should warrant immediate termination due to a potential HIPAA breach and it is inherently inappropriate for a hospital CFO to have access to sensitive patient information.”