Again, hospital board bucks medical staff

Shortly before the Franklin Foundation Hospital Board of Commissioners meeting commenced on Thursday, board Chairman Eugene Foulcard announced to those in attendance that he had been handed a letter on behalf of the FFH medical staff.
The letter, which was immediately handed over to the board’s legal counsel, was in response to another letter from Foulcard on behalf of the FFH board which was sent to the medical staff on Aug. 30. Both letters were in regards to the election of Dr. Donna Tesi to the position of medical staff chief of staff.
According to Foulcard’s letter, the decisions was made that “the Board of Commissioners cannot approve her election” due to the determination that Tesi was not eligible for election because it had not been a full calendar year since she had previously held the position.
Foulcard’s letter further stated, “the Medical Staff Bylaws, Rules and Regulations provides that ‘a staff member who has served as Chief of Staff is not eligible again for nomination or election to the office of Chief of Staff-elect until one year has elapsed since he held the position of Immediate Past Chief of Staff.”
The letter cites August 19, 2015 as the date when Tesi became the “immediate past chief of staff.” Proof of this information has never been made public despite a request for evidence of the date in question at past meetings from St. Mary President David Hanagriff. The letter also cites no evidence to support the board’s determination that August 19, 2015 was the date in question.
The second letter, the one delivered to Foulcard before Thursday’s meeting from the medical staff, was in response to Foulcard’s letter.
It stated, “After review of the letter from you on behalf of the Board of Commissioners, the Medical Staff has reaffirmed Dr. Tesi as Chief of Staff. The Medical Staff has reservations regarding the legality of Dr. Tesi’s removal. However, if she was removed for not being in good standings, she would no longer be able to serve in any office of the Medical Staff. As such, she would not have transitioned from Chief of Staff to Past Chief of Staff. Furthermore, Dr. (Sherad) Chua was Past Chief of Staff before Dr. Tesi’s alleged removal and continued to serve as past Chief of Staff after her removal. Therefore, Article XI Part a Section 8 of the Medical Staff Bylaws does not apply and Dr. Tesi was eligible to be a candidate for Chief of Staff.”
The matter was referred to legal counsel for further review.
Later in the meeting, that included a discussion in regards to the implementation of a decorum policy required by the St. Mary Parish Council, there was an outburst from a board member that necessitated Foulcard to declare order by gavel.
Commissioner Clegg Caffery spoke out of turn during the meeting, aggressively addressing two board members and Hanagriff who was in attendance.
The outburst was in response to an accounting matter brought up by FFH Director of Clinics Michelle Williams. Williams was discussing accounts that were 120 days past due and that, in her opinion, would be challenging to collect due to what she described as a lack of paperwork.
When it was revealed that Dr. Tesi was one of the physicians involved, Caffery interrupted the meeting and asked board members Robert Judice and Didi Battle if they thought that was acceptable. He then directed his attention to the parish president.
“David, do you think that is acceptable?” Caffery asked.
Foulcard brought the meeting back to order and the meeting continued.
The group also entered executive session to discuss strategic planning and the hiring of a new permanent CEO.