John House, MD, a local physician who owns House Health and Life Sciences, Inc., has proposed taking over management of the Eureka Springs Hospital (ESH) by January 1, 2025.
“I’m hopeful that the city and hospital commission will view this as an opportunity to put an end to the uncertainty, confusion, and loss of public trust at ESH by allowing a local medical professional, who also happens to be a successful business owner, to turn things around at ESH,” House wrote in an email to the Independent. “It was only a Letter of Intent and there’s no guarantee that it will go farther than that. But if it does, I am ready to meet the challenge.”
Present and former employees made public comments to city council and the hospital commission alleging a toxic workplace, including bullying and harassment from Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Cynthia Asbury and HR Director Jodi Edmondson who was named interim CEO after CEO Angie Shaw was fired Nov. 1.
No reasons were given for Shaw’s dismissal. After Shaw was fired, 11 hospital employees including Chief Nursing Officer Jessica Petrino, sent a letter to the commission expressing support for Shaw and asking for the firings of Asbury and Edmondson and the resignations of Commission Chair Kent Turner and Vice-chair Barbara Dicks. Dicks resigned later at the request of Mayor Butch Berry. Petrino was fired a few days after Shaw, leading to concerns about a lack of clinical managers at the hospital. That lack of clinical oversight became more critical after ER Director Joy Kennedy left, stating that being bullied by Dicks at the hospital after Petrino was fired was the last straw.
Turner remains chair until the end of the year at which time Sandy Martin will replace him. Records obtained through Arkansas Freedom of Information Act request indicates that Turner and Dicks frequently met with hospital employees, in apparent violation of the FOIA open-meetings law.
Late in 2023, the hospital transitioned to become a Rural Emergency Hospital and closed in-patient services. Eureka Springs was one of the first hospitals in the country to undergo the conversion, and there was no blueprint for the transition. Part of the conflict may have resulted from rapid changes including staff reductions needed when the hospital changed its status.
Dr. House is a former medical director of the hospital, and former chair of the commission, who has been supportive of the clinical staff. House’s Letter of Intent stated that the proposed transfer would be a turn-key operation with new management assuming operations on the effective date of the final contract and old management, including all members of the hospital commission, stepping out.
“The goal of this agreement will be for there to be no interruption in medical care provided by the hospital while ensuring the long-term viability of the Eureka Springs Hospital,” the letter stated. “To that end both parties will use every resource at their disposal to develop and execute a final contract as soon as possible. Both parties will endeavor to assure the community and staff that the current troubling situation at the hospital will be resolved soon in a way that will benefit the hospital, the hospital staff, the patients, and the city.”
Berry declined to comment on House’s offer.
Chris Baranyk, DO, who has previously served on the hospital commission, has spoken in favor of the medical staff.
“I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, when you devalue your doctors, nurses, and clinical staff all you are left with is an office building full of administrators,” Baranyk wrote in an email. “At some point, this commission is going to have to realize these highly educated and skilled employees are not a dime a dozen. Furthermore, the reputation they are creating will ward off any true talent from joining the hospital. This shrinks the very small pool of potential employees even further as the hospital tries to rehire for all the vacancies the actions of the commission have created.”
Baranyk said he supports removing Turner from the hospital commission, firing Edmondson and Asbury, and rehiring Shaw and Petrino. He said if that happens, the rest of the employees will likely return. Baranyk said otherwise the hospital will need to hire a medical staffing company and outsource everything. “That would be a huge expense and take jobs away from the local citizens,” Baranyk said.
The latest key employee to leave was Laboratory Director/Infection Control Officer Tina Adams, MT, BS, LPN, who resigned effective Nov. 21, temporarily leaving the hospital with no one certified to run the lab. The Arkansas State Board of Health Rules for Hospitals and Related Institutions states, “Each hospital shall provide laboratory services onsite commensurate with the needs of patients that are admitted.” The hospital has reportedly hired a travel lab director and a nursing supervisor. Confirmation of that wasn’t possible as Edmondson said she doesn’t comment on personnel issues.
Adams, who had been employed at the hospital for five years, said she was truly sorry that she wasn’t able to hold out longer. “But I am emotionally and physically exhausted,” Adams said.
A change.org petition to Berry and city council members, which had 197 signatures as of Nov. 25, states: “We are writing to express our deep concern regarding the current state of affairs at the Eureka Springs Hospital and the detrimental actions of the Eureka Springs Hospital Commission. It has become increasingly evident that the current commission is unfit to fulfill its mandate, and I urge you to dissolve and replace the commission immediately.
“The decisions made by the current hospital commission have created a toxic and hostile work environment that jeopardizes both the well-being of hospital staff and the quality of care provided to the citizens of Eureka Springs. Most troubling are the wrongful terminations of key personnel, including the former CEO Angie Shaw and Chief Nursing Officer Jessica Petrino. These actions have severely undermined the hospital’s ability to operate safely and effectively, leaving staff without essential leadership and endangering patients’ lives.”
For more information on the allegations in that petition, go to change.org/, log and Search for Eureka Springs Hospital.
Kennedy, who worked at ESH for 10 years, resigned after the firings of Shaw and Petrino leaving the hospital with no clinical managers at that point.
“It has been a nightmare,” Kennedy said in comments to the hospital commission Nov. 18. “They have made my job a living hell. It has all been retaliation. I’ve always loved the hospital, a very tight-knit work environment, and I really hated to even put my notice in. But things got that bad… my nerves are just shot. It was really taking a toll on me mentally, physical and spiritually.”