Eisenmann out; interim hospital CEO to take helm

A new chief executive officer has been named at Franklin Foundation Hospital.
A press release issued by the hospital Monday announced the arrival of Craig Cudworth who is filling in as acting CEO in the wake of the resignation of Claudia Eisenmann.
The hospital has been surrounded in controversy during Eisenmann’s short tenure that began in June.
Actions by the hospital’s board of commissioners over the past three months have included termination of two physician contracts and removal of the board’s chairman.
The physician contracts of Drs. Steven McPherson, internal medicine, and Donna Tesi, general surgeon, have since been reinstated while being renegotiated.
Bill Bourgeois, attorney for the physicians, has surmised that their troubles began after the hospital’s medical staff issued a vote of no confidence in Eisenmann in reaction to her handling of a medical care complaint.
“In my view, since the arrival of the new administrator there has been very little cooperation with the medical staff,” Bourgeois told the St. Mary Parish Council on Dec. 10. “Instead she has served as a lightning rod and we’ve had confrontation and conflict. We have even seen the administrator retain an attorney who then threatened members of the medical staff who expressed their opinions with lawsuits unless they stopped being critical.”
Bourgeois said the administrator gave him new contracts for McPherson and Tesi on Dec. 5 with significant reductions in pay.
Public outcry over the controversy voiced at both the hospital board and parish council meetings led Councilman David Hanagriff to call for the removal of the board which is appointed by the council. But he pulled that item from the Dec. 17 meeting agenda when the council agreed to hire an independent mediator to help resolve the issues.
An experienced healthcare administrator, Cudworth brings experience leading hospitals in the region for more than 30 years, according to the press release. He most recently served as CEO of Newberry County Memorial Hospital in Newberry, South Carolina. A fellow in the American College of Hospital Executives, he received his bachelor and master’s degrees in health care administration at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
“We welcome Craig to Saint Mary Parish and look forward to his leadership and expertise,” said hospital board chairman Eugene Foulcard. The year “has promise to be a productive, constructive year for FFH, our patients and our community.”
Other members of the hospital board include Dr. Nick Accardo (retired), Didi Battle, Clegg Caffery, Dr. Roland Degeyter and Allan Von Werder, the immediate past chairman. Ann Luke has submitted her resignation from the board to the parish council.