The Eureka Springs Hospital Commission stated in January that once the ESH got through a Medicare audit, it would consider a proposal from Dr. John House of House Health and Life Sciences, Inc., to take over management of the hospital. The commission said recently that it is no longer in danger of losing Medicare certification, and that the present administration is doing a great job. Commissioners said they are pleased about new hires to replace those who were fired or resigned.
House, a former medical director and former chair of the hospital commission, withdrew his letter of intent to manage the hospital on Feb. 19.
“This email will serve as official notice that my company is withdrawing the Letter of Intent dated 11/21/2024 to take over management of ESH,” House wrote. “Your lack of official response to my offer has indicated that there does not seem to be any interest in the services, experience and stability that I and my company offer.”
House said that comments by Chair Sandy Martin indicate she doesn’t understand the local physicians are not referring patients to the hospital because of the doctors’ difficulties with interim CEO Jodi Edmondson and Chief
Financial Officer Cynthia Asbury, and concerns about the quality of care at the hospital. “According to what I’ve heard, Sandy can’t believe/won’t accept that local doctors won’t refer to ESH due to issues with Cynthia, etc.,” House said. “Sandy seems to be delusional on that front.”
At a commission meeting Feb. 17, Martin, Vice Chair Bryan Beyler and commissioner David Carlisle praised the current administration management including Edmondson and Asbury, who have been accused by more than 20 former employees of bullying, harassment, wrongful termination, and putting profits ahead of patient care.
“I’m extremely pleased with the staff and the collaboration and teamwork that you are all doing,” Martin said. “It is all coming together. You keep adding new people. You keep a positive attitude. It is greatly appreciated. It has been tough, but we will get through it. A huge thank you for getting through the state audit and getting us compliant with the CMS [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services].”
The praise came despite a financial report from Asbury that the hospital had a loss of $87,000 in January. She reported a loss of $132,000 for December, which she attributed to a decline in use of the ER while it has been on trauma divert because of the lack of a fully functioning laboratory.
The hospital currently receives about $247,000 monthly from the CMS as part of the agreement for the hospital to become a Rural Emergency Hospital with an emergency room, but no in-patient services. Without the subsidies, the losses would have been much higher—about $334,000 in January. When asked if that was correct, Martin wrote in an email that was “not quite accurate” but provided no further clarification. Martin said the REH funding is not expected to be discontinued as part of the Trump/Musk federal grant freezes.
Some eye-raising figures in the January financial report from Asbury include paying about $445,000 for payroll compared to $315,000 in payroll for January 2024. Many full-time employees have quit or been fired in the past year and the contract workers who replaced them get far higher salaries. The figure one informed source called “astonishing” is the dramatic drop in revenue of nearly 54 percent from a year ago.
At the commission meeting, newly hired Lana Mills, director of nursing and clinical services, denied that the hospital had fired Gary Parkhurst, MD, chief of staff and medical director, recently. Parkhurst, a local resident, had worked at the hospital through different staffing agencies for almost ten years. Mills said they ended the contract with the staffing company Emergency Staffing Solutions (ESS) that Parkhurst worked for because the company was not responsive to complaints about their physicians.
“It is technically true that I (or any of the other ESS physicians) was not fired,” Parkhurst wrote in an email. “I was just abruptly relieved of my duties as chief of staff when I was informed that I was not allowed back into the building. As far as the current administration stating that ESS had not been responsive to their concerns, I can tell you unequivocally that is not true.
“In fact, ESS repeatedly reached out to me stating that they had attempted on numerous occasions to contact and communicate with the administration at ESH and rarely got a response from them. ESS was at a loss as to how to proceed in dealing with the hospital administration and the only thing they knew to do was try and go through me. Additionally, I know for a fact that ESS attempted to address concerns conveyed to them.”
The position of chief of staff is voluntary and unpaid. Normally it is a position rotated each year. Parkhurst said he volunteered for the position again at the end of 2024 for the third consecutive year “for the sake of continuity and stability in the midst of so much change and uncertainty over the past few years.”
Parkhurst said it is unfortunate that the commission will not be entertaining House’s proposal. “I think he summed up perfectly the prospects of the hospital surviving in his previous presentation to them, specifically that his taking over management would give the hospital the greatest opportunity to regain community confidence and become viable again,” Parkhurst said.
There was no public discussion by the commission or staff about the decision to abruptly terminate ESS, which happened in the middle of a shift on Jan. 26, replacing ESS with another group, 360º Medicine. The commission did go into executive session before coming out to announce the firings of former CEO Angie Shaw on Nov. 1, and Chief Nursing Officer Jessica Petrino on Nov. 4. Neither was told why they were fired or allowed to defend themselves before the commission. In their wrongful termination lawsuits, Shaw and Petrino claim they were fired for being whistleblowers on HIPAA patient privacy violations.
Informed sources said the hospital can’t survive on ER revenues alone and must also have clinical services. The hospital had a good income stream from operating room procedures including those performed by Dr. Jeff Bell. Asbury said they were down $75,000 per month because the OR is closed. In an earlier letter to the commission, House said he had spoken with Bell, who said he would start performing endoscopy at ESH again as soon as House’s team could provide adequate staffing.
“I’ve also heard from additional doctors in the community who have expressed their firm support and encouragement in my efforts to help restore confidence in the hospital’s ability to provide good care,” House said.
CFO Asbury said at the recent meeting that patient volume is starting to increase.
“We were still on trauma divert until the end of the month,” Asbury said. “This time of year, with no tourism, there is less use of the emergency room.”
Asbury said the hospital is definitely moving in the right direction.
New ESH Chief of Staff, Jacob Roberts, MD, Harrison, attended the Feb. 17 commission meeting, and said that their medical group, 360º Medicine, is truly looking forward to helping the hospital move forward in a new direction and provide care to the community in the way the community deserves.
The hospital commission voted at the recent meeting to change their monthly public meetings from 6 p.m. to 2 p.m. third Mondays effective in March. Critics said that would prevent most working people from serving on the commission or attending meetings.