She began by acknowledging that five years ago she “made a huge mistake” but has been trying to move forward. She said that before being hired by the district, she was working for a local business handling cash every day and had brought a “glowing recommendation” from her previous employer.
”Since Darryl has taken a seat on the board I have continually been discussed in the local newspapers and on the local radio station,” she said. “At one time he stated that he did not wish for me to resign and has no reason to suspect any wrongdoing, but still he continued to point out that the district hired a ‘convicted felon.’”
The employee went on to say that Cherney “took it upon himself as a board member to investigate myself and other employees,” and when confronted about it, “denied any involvement.”
She asked “why the rest of the board allows any employee to
Several other employees came to support her.
”I am amazed that Darryl Cherney thinks it’s okay to harass one of our own to advance his own political agenda,” a fellow employee stated. “At the very least, she deserves an end to this harassment.”
Another employee said she thought the woman was due an apology.
Board vice president Nancy Wilson, who chaired the meeting in the absence of president Steve Bowen, said that Cherney “represents himself, not the board.” But she indicated that the other board members might be taking steps to sanction Cherney.
”I, for one, would like to apologize,” Board member Mike Thompson said. He added that board members acting “outside their position on the board” had been addressed in a closed meeting.
Ed Smith, one of the board candidates recruited by Dr. Mark Phelps and Cherney, said he thought the issue ought to be addressed in a personnel policy.
”I don’t know if you guys have one or not,” he said, “but it could have been addressed there.”
Wilson said that under the provisions of the Brown Act open meeting laws, the behavior of other board members could be formally addressed.
Board candidate David Kirby said that he had spent eight years on the board restoring trust in the public and the community but Cherney’s “lies are damaging the institution.” He urged the board to take action to undo the damage.
Wilson thanked the employees for their comments and indicated that the board is collecting letters from employees who fear being singled out by Cherney for investigation.
An employee from the radiology department wanted to correct the record on the digitizer, which has also become a campaign issue. She said that plant manager Kent Scown had actually gotten the digitizer up and running in a week after it arrived.
”The problem isn’t here,” she said, “but in the firewall at AT&T.” She said also that the problem was not, as has been alleged, delaying the turnaround time on x-rays.
The suggestion box brought more rebellion with a suggestion that there should be a prohibition in the district against married couples working together in the same department, a demand that physicians rotate ER duties, and a complaint from a frustrated nurse who wanted to work fewer hours.
In her report, District Administrator Debbie Scaife noted that a state surveyor had been at the hospital in response to two complaints; one regarding the lack of privacy in the admitting area and one from a patient who objected to the treatment received for a dog bite. Scaife said that the surveyor, a physician, was not able to substantiate the complaints.
She also noted that the VALIC payments were caught up through June and said that when the Medi-Cal payments start up again now that the state has a budget, she expects that the employee portion of the contribution will be current.
There was a discussion about what “current” really was. It’s not spelled out in the VALIC contract when the payments should be made other than in a timely fashion. Thompson has done a lot of research on this issue and said the plan doesn’t specify when the contributions are due. He said also that VALIC was owned by AIG, the corporation just bailed out by the federal treasury.
Although he wasn’t present at the meeting, Cherney sent along an email charging that David Kirby had been seen “using the break room” for campaign purposes. This charge originated with a clinic employee.
This led to a discussion of banning politics in the work place proposed by Thompson and whether or not anyone without specific business there should be allowed in the corridors or break rooms. Wilson wondered about Cherney’s claim that he had spoken with 30 employees and where those discussions had taken place. Scown read a section from the district’s personnel policies allowing staff to have brief visits from friends and specifying that the break room is the appropriate place for these visits. There was general agreement that employees are perfectly free to engage in political activity on their own time, but not at work.
Human Resources Director Linda Feretto reported that the district had hired one new nurse but plans to hire two more didn’t materialize because both the candidates had problems that prevented them moving to the area.
Cherney sent a memo implying that Feretto might not be turning over all the applications the district receives from applicants to replace Scaife, who will retire in June, or earlier if a replacement can be found. He demanded that all applications go to the search committee. Feretto said that the district had received three applications and all had been forwarded to the committee. One of the candidates, she said, had all the right credentials, which she has verified, and that she was setting up a phone conference between that candidate and the search committee.
Thompson said he thought they might not have to spend the entire $30,000 allocated for the replacement search. Thompson said also that the committee was not prepared to take on the background searches and verifications and would leave that to Feretto.
”Hopefully, Linda will keep us out of court,” he said.
Scown reported that the earthquake committee was exploring the potential to ask for an extension on the compliance deadline. Five hospitals so far have asked for an extension, he said, and one has already been denied. The other four are still pending. Cherney sent along a memo saying that Wilson was misinformed when she said that the district needs to proceed toward compliance. He said he wanted to be on record as saying that enforcement of the earthquake standards was “not likely.” Wilson said she had spoken to Patti Berg earlier in the week and Berg had told her that the requirements for earthquake retrofit “are not going away.” Thompson agreed with Wilson that they need to proceed as if the requirements will be enforced.
Wilson reported on a conference she attended. A speaker addressed the impact of the baby boomers on the healthcare system. The greatest number of boomers will turn 81 in 2031, although due to the epidemic of obesity in the country, many may die before they reach that age. She said the healthcare system is not prepared for the numbers of geriatric patients that may need care and that more will be expected of families in caring for elders.
Wilson also reported that the strategic planning group had identified three areas of focus for the future. These are continued improvement in the quality of care, alignment of services with community needs, and strengthening the district’s financial viability. She said that adoption of a strategic plan would be deferred to the new board and new director.
Candidate Ed Smith said that he was getting “incredible traction” from his statements on the radio regarding the district’s billing practices. He said he knew a lot about billing because he helped set up a clinic in Bolivia. He said people were coming up to him claiming that they had been billed for services never received, or turned over to collections without receiving a bill and other problems.
Scaife asked when these things had happened. She said the district had many problems with its billing prior to five years ago, but now there were very few problems.
Thompson agreed that when he first moved here, the problems in the billing department had been “horrendous” but that since Mike Nagle came on board, “he had done a phenomenal job.”
Smith said he didn’t know when these things had occurred. Thompson suggested Smith get specifics and to encourage people to come into the office to follow up on their complaints.
”If it’s a legitimate complaint, we will fix it,” Thompson said. “It’s amazing, if you follow up, how little is there sometimes. We’re not mind readers. If you’ve got a problem, come in.”
Wilson said that if people don’t want to follow through on their complaints, then they don’t want to solve the problem.
Smith said he would start asking for dates.
In other business, the board adopted a resolution fixing the district’s contribution to healthcare insurance for their employees at $501.59. They also agreed to take ethics training, setting a deadline of March 31 for all board members to take the course.
Community Connections:
Healthcare District receives state funds
This is to inform the Southern Humboldt Community about your Healthcare District. I hope that this information will be of benefit to you. The State Budget has been passed. Our District received approximately $150,000 from the state. This money was withheld by the state while the budget was settled. I wish to commend our Administrator, Debbie Scaife, for managing our funds in a prudent manner.
We still have some tax money in case of emergency. She has been able to minimally operate with what income we have received. Salaries have been paid. Vendors have been prioritized and paid when funds were available. Emphasis has been on paying local vendors whenever possible. Your Healthcare District is watching out for you and so far has been able to keep the doors open. At a time when small hospitals and agencies are closing we should all be grateful.
Nancy R. Wilson, Board Member
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