Foundation CEO criticized, defended at board meeting

Actions of Franklin Foundation Hospital Chief Executive Officer Claudia Eisenmann were both criticized and defended in the latest discussions on hospital personnel.
In the past three weeks members of the Hospital Service District 1 board have terminated, reinstated and since extended the current contracts of internist Dr. Steven McPherson and surgeon Dr. Donna Tesi. Under protest by local residents, the board voted to honor both contracts until March 31 and asked Eisenmann to begin new contract negotiations.
In regular monthly session Thursday, the board took comments from the public that has been vocal in its support of the physicians at the board’s recent past special sessions and meetings of the parish council that appoints the board members.
Franklin resident Jan Blevins offered support for both the board and Eisenmann.
The board “has done a lot for this community,” Blevins said. “Look at this beautiful hospital. We’ve went from a rinky-dink hospital on Haifleigh Street to over here with a beautiful building and Claudia she’s a really nice administrator and willing to do what needs to be done.”
Blevins added that she has talked to others “on the other side, too … there are more than you know about who are for this board.”
Business owner and former city councilman John O’Niell said in the past three weeks he’s met with most of the board members and briefly with Eisenmann.
“And I guess what it comes down to is we’re about to lose at least four doctors and maybe five in this community,” O’Niell said. “And I guess the only thing that’s changed, and I’m sorry ma’am, is you,” he told Eisenmann. “I think for the sake of our community, you need to give serious consideration to resigning and moving on. I know you’re a wonderful lady, you’re trying to do the right things, but I think we’ve attacked this thing too aggressively and it’s kind of down to ‘it’s you or them’ and this community does not want to lose these four doctors. … So please, please consider that.”
Others to speak in support of the physicians included Evelyn Salone who said personal feelings toward McPherson and Tesi should not matter.
“It’s whether we have health care in this town, in this community that we worked hard for and that we need,” she said. “You get in an accident today, I promise you whether you like her or not, or him or not they may be the one to save your life.”
“Claudia Eisenmann, as CEO, did not violate any bylaws with the action she took,” said board attorney Russel Cremaldi. “What was done was, in response to some complaints being received, the CEO felt that she needed to find whether or not anything further needed to be done. And she went and she got professional advice to do that. She did not commence what we call under the bylaws ‘corrective action’ which is action to try to take a doctor’s or affect a doctor’s medical staff privileges or membership on the medical staff.”
He added that there was nothing that required her to seek medical staff committee peer review.
In past sessions it has been learned that the referenced complaint against McPherson has since been ruled unfounded by both independent and medical staff peer review.
“That really should have been the end of it,” Cremaldi said. “Instead there was this massive attack that the CEO’s gotta go even though she didn’t do anything in violation of any bylaws.”
He added that he’s “hoping all of this gets resolved … and everybody can go back to doing what they should be doing,” including the CEO and the physicians.
In other business the board heard from Chief Nursing Officer Jennifer Wise who submitted her resignation effective Nov. 28.
Wise has worked at FFH for 10 years and has been CNO since 2007.
“No matter what happens in the board room, be it times of strife or times of success, the men and women who are out there at the bedsides and those who support that work have always and will always do what they do best, which is putting the patient first,” she said. “They do it because it has purpose. They do it because it’s worthwhile and they do it because it makes a difference in the lives of the patients.”
The board also heard from Chief Financial Officer Ron Bailey who presents a detailed financial report at each monthly board meeting.
In October, the first month of the hospital’s fiscal year, there was a $215,429 profit, he said, but added that the bottom line included $101,204 in Medicaid reimbursement adjustments.
Also, the board approved reappointment of several consulting physicians as presented by Chief of Staff Dr. Tesi as recommended by the medical staff credentials committee.
Items on the agenda to elect new board officers and renew the Quorum Health Resources management contract were deferred until the next meeting.