Newspapers / The Warren Record (Warrenton, … / Nov. 26, 1970, edition 1 / Page 5
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'Or. Bunch Gives Statement Of Warren General Hospital Controversary EDITOR'S MOT*I The toUow3r1>C statement by Dr. Charles Bunch U published by request, jv with the hope thai It may throw |lv aoroe light on the controversy . at Warren General Hospital. I )5 Is realised that thla statement is only Dr. Bunch's version of the controversy and should be , read with this In mind. In falrness to Mr. Thompson and the '' Board of Trustees of Warren ' General Hospital, The Warren Record offers apace and equal prominence to any views that either or both wish to make. I have been asked to five a ' statement concerning thepreJ sent conditions existing at Warren General Hospital so that the " citizens of Warren County will know Just what has happened there. In order to do so 1 , must go back to the time when unI first came to Warren County. I(l!1' At that time, Mr. John Kerr, , Jr., was Chairman of the Board |t of Trustees of Warren General ,, Hospital.' The Hospital was In dire straits both financially and otherwise; thp surgical department was closed and for all i.practical purposes, I believe, l( only the late Dr. F. P. Hunter ,) was treating patients there at that time. After my contract was ,v .executed, Mr. Kerr handed it to me with words In effect as —follows: "Here Is the key to ' <he Hospital. You run It because neither I nor any member of tbfe Board knows anything about adtalnlsterlng a hospital." That contract was exe :uted In April of 1966 and I commenced the practice of surgery here In ,, War rent on under the terms of this contract In August of 1966. in January 1967 Mr. SherrUl Harris came to the Hospital to assist me In the administration. Early In 1969 he resigned because he had obtained a better > <posltlon elsewhere. The Board ^was faced with the problem of obtaining a successor. At a meeting on March 19, 1969, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Elmer W. Harris, proposed to the Board that Mr. W. Bernard Thompson, a Board Member, be hired as a replacement for Mr. Sherrlll Harris. The minutes of that meeting provide In pertinent part as follows: "The Chalr<§cq| asked if the other membece had taroqe In mind that they'wo&d like to be considered. Several other names ot very capable people were mentioned and there was some feeling among some raember^ of the Board that the matter was being rushed to a dose too fast and that the matter should remain open until other people who might be Interested in the Job could have an opportunity to apply and be considered. The resigning administrator, Mr. 8. L. Harris, suggested that " If given a few weeks there would possibly be trained applicants from hospital circles when news of his resignation had had time to get into hospital channels; that to date his resignation had not been made public long - enough for trained personnel In hospital and medical channels to know of the vacancy, for the reason that although he (adx mlnistrator) tendered his resignation to Mr. Elmer Harris, Chairman of the Board, on February 19, 1969, It was not made known to the Board members as a group or the public In (antral until approximately the second week in March. This course of action was taken by the Chairman as it was felt that if Dr. Coffman, ' a physician interested in possibly locating In Warren ton, should hear of the resignation of the Administrator, he might not want to Come. Mr. W. Bernard Thompson at this point came into the meeting and was interviewed. General discussion followed and Mr. Thompson was asked to retire from the meeting for a short while. Discussion continued and although some members still felt that action now would be too hasty, motion was made by Mr. James Y. Kerr that W. Berntrd Thompson be made administrator of the Hospi al. This motion was seconded by Mr. W. F. Davis; however, discussion continued and the majority of the members present feltthat Dr. Charles Bunch, as Surgeon, should be consulted before any decision on the position of Administrator was reached. It was pointed out that the Surgeon of the Hospital is a key man and that also in his contract with the Hospital Dr. Bunch is authorized to direct the administration of Warren General Hospital. Whereupon Mr. W. F. Davis withdrew his second to the motion previously made and Mr. J. Y. Kerr thereupon withdrew the motion. Mr. Thompson was questioned further with reference to his interest In the matter and following such discussion the Board postponed action on the matter until a special called meetingof the Board on Monday night, March 24th, with the understanding that Dr.' Bunch would be present for this meeting and given an opportunity to go Into the matter with the Board before any one is designated as Administrator, and that further discussion would be had at the special meeting and action taken, if deemed advisable, after the Board meets with Dr. Bunch." The minutes of the meeting on March 24, 1969 show that the Board met at 2:00 p. m. with Representatives Church, Speed and Senator Allsbrook and discussed matters of Interest. The minutes than provide " Follow,.»0£th» adjournment of the above meeting, Mr. Elmer Harris, Chairman of the Board, decided that rather than have the Special Meetingof the Board on Monday night, March 24, 1969, as agreed upon by the Board at its regular meeting on March 19, 1969, tor the purpose of discussing further the employment of an administrator for the Hospital, that said meeting should be held at this time. Whereupon following discussion with no motion being made or vote of the Board members present, the Chairman stated that Mr. W. Bernard Thompson is hired as Administrator of the Hospital." You will note that Mr. Thompson was never officially hired by the Board of Trustees at that time. It was not until the matters now in controversy arose that the Board took belated action to hire Mr. Thompson. It was at this special meeting that the question was put to both Mr. Thompson and myself if we thought we could get along together and subsequent minutes of the Board of Trustees of Warren General Hospital are abundantly clear and every member of the Board of Trustees who was present at that time and heard what transpired between myself and Mr. Thompson will testify that we shook hands and a aid we would try to get alone harmoniously, and Mr. Thompson stated that if va ever had any disagreements and things did not proceed smoothly, be would resign. He has consistently refused to do so ever since. As time went on I realized more and more that It was a mistake to have employed Mr. Thompson. The problem came to a head In June of this year in the Incident Involving Mrs. Candles Miller, a Licensed Practical Nurse, who has been with the Hospital for, I believe, more than 15 years and who Is, in my opinion, a thoroughly competent and weU trained Licensed Practical Nurse. Mrs. Miller had been working at the Hospital under an understanding by which she would not be assigned certain hours. Mr. Thompson, In conjunction with Mrs. Marie Abernathy, elected to disrepari this understanding and assigned Mrs. Miller *ork hours which were In conflict with her outside commitments. This was In violation of her employment agreement and a breach of such agreement by the Hospital. Mrs. Miller approached me regarding this and discussed the matter with me, and for doing so she was summarily dismissed because, as Mr. Thompson has stated: "She failed to follow the chain of command." I asked Mr. Thompson to reconsider his action and to rehire Mrs. Miller. He adamantly refused to do so. Therefore, on July 3, 1970, In my capacity as Director of Administration of Warren General Hospital, I then directed him to rehire Mrs. Miller and to pay her for all time lost. Again Mr. Thompson refused to follow my instructions. At various meet-: ings thereafter the Board of Trustees has supported the position of Mr. Thompson and it was only after this that Mrs. Miller employed an attorney and went to Court for an injunction to restrain the Board of Trustees from interfering with her right to return to work. As most of you know, The Honorable Coy E. Brewer, Presiding Judge of the Superior Court, ruled on 21 October 1970 her position as a Licensed Practical Nurse. Judge Brewer found as a fact that the Board of Trustees entered Into a contract with me In April of 1966, wlilch contract was In full force and effect on the date of Mrs. Miller's dismissal, and that on that date I held the position of Director of Administration and Medical Director and had full authority In all matters pertaining to the administration of the Hospital subject to some authority and supervision retained by the Board. Judge Brewer further found that there was no written contract between Mr. Thompson and the Hospital and "that the employment of Bernard Thompson rendered his position, at most, as that of Assistant Director of Administration to Dr. Charles Bunch." The Court further found that I was within my rights whoa Iordered Mrs. Miller's reinstatement. Now, to go back to the events which transpired between myself and the Board of Trustees after Mrs. Miller was fired by Mr. Thompson. In view of the Miller incident, on June 30, 1970, I wrote a letter to Mr. Elmer Harris,'Chairman of the Board of Trustees, In which I stated that considerable friction had arisen between my Mil and Mr. Thompson and that It vaa my position that either Mr. Thompson or my •all must be disassociated with the Hospital. I stated that Mr. Thompson had opposed every move I had made to Improve the administration of the Hospital, that my suggestions tor Improvement had not been followed and that employees were hired and fired Indiscriminately by Mr. Thompson without any prior consultation whatsoever with me. I directed the Board's attention to Paragraph 3 of my Contract which provides that I will direct the administration of Warren General Hospital. On July 1, IVIO Hrrs *'ts a called meeting of thr; " .jcirfiw Commute of the Bom' of Tmstejh. Nothing wuc resolved at ihls meeting except that the Board voted that no decision would be made at that time. It was agreed that Mr. Thompson would approach me in a day or two in an effort to work out our differences. Mr. Thompson has not to this day approached me in an effort to work out our differences. Since that time there have been numerous meetings of the Executive Committee and also of the Board of Trustees. Nothing has been resolved apparently because the Chairman, Mr. Elmer Harris, feels that if the Board does nothing the problem will Just go away. Nothing could be further from the truth. I was employed, among other things, to direct the administration of Warren General Hospital. All action taken by the Board of Trustees to date has been aimed to prevent my doing so. There have been several statements to the effect that if I stayed with the Hospital and did In fact perform my duties as Director of Administration that a vast majority of the employees would resign. Nothing could be further from the truth as shown by the minutes of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees held on July 22, 1970 where the following is recorded: "Mr. Thompson said . . .that if Mrs. Miller Is rehired, the Hospital is going to lose a number of employees, two of which wouMbe the anesthetist and the supervisor of nurses." (B should be noted here that Mrs. Miller has been rehired and neither the anesthetist nor the supervisor of nurses has left.) The minutes continue: "There wau> uiouuasiuii on now previously nurses have made such threats and when the Issue was put to a test, the nurses did not leave. Mr. Thompson was advised by the Committee that this was being done In an effort to get some concession from me. As I have Indicated to you, In spite of all my efforts to rehire Mrs. Miller, Mr. Thompson and the Board of Trustees refused to do so until ordered by Judge Brewer to rehire her In October of this year. To give you a further idea of their thinking and action I quote from the minutes of the meeting of the Board of Trustees held on August 6,1970. Those minutes provided In pertinent part that there was presented to the Board a "letter dated July 24, 1970 on stationery of Warren General Hospital and addressed to Mr. Elmer Harris, Chairman of the Board - The doctors on the Staff of Warren General Hospital demand that Mrs. Candles Miller be reinstated in her former position In Warren General Hospital/signed by Dr. Coffman, Dr. Bunch, Dr. Haywood and Dr. L W. Cavedo. The Chairman stated that this letter would be fUed in the minutes of this meeting." You will note that no action was taken by the Board on this tetter which was signed by the four doctors named. Only Mr. Harris, the Chairman, stated that It would be filed. Meanwhile, since the Board has taken no affirmative action with regard to the differences which had arisen between Mr. Thompson and myself, I wrote letters on August 3, 1970 to Mr. Thompson and to Mrs. Abernathy, Chief Nurse, advising them that in my capacity as Medical Director and Director of Administration of Warren General Hospital thair services were no longer needed. With regard to these tetters the Board of Trustees agiln vacillated and took no action to support either me or Mr. Thompson other than to state that the letters would be held in abeyance. At this same meeting, that is the meeting of August 6, 1970, Mrs. Fit*, a Member o<tt»&>ard, asked Mr. Ing of the Board of Trustees held on August 19, 1970, Mr. Thompson said, "B the Board cannot tell who Is going to administer this Hospital, then I am quitting If I am not going to administer the Hospital, then I will find employment elsewhere. If I am not going to have the authority, then I am not going to stay. That Is as plain as I can put It." Subsequent to this announcement by Mr. Thompson Judge Brewer ruled that Mr. Thompson Is at most my assistant. Nevertheless, Mr. Thompson stays on. In view of the ruling by Judge Brewer on October 21, 1970, i In view of these statements ^ Mr. Thompson, written Inquiry was made of Mr. Thompson as to when he would get out. He has not had the courtesy to reply to these inquires and apparently intends to remain with the Hospital although he refuses to carry out my instructions. Several members of the Board of Trustees have expressed the opinion from time to time that they think Mr. Thompson has been a very fine administrator and they point to the fact that the Hospital's financial situation has improved recently. Without going into my own opinion as to his capabilities as an administrator, I think that all concerned citizens should realize the true reason for this Improved financial situation. Since Mr. Thompson has been with the Hospital there have been vast Increases in payments by Medicare for which Mr. Thompson is in no way responsible. If anyone was responsible for the increased medicare payments, it is myself In my capacity as surgeon and the work that I have performed In the Hospital. In addition, the Hospital collected from the County Commissioners last year $38,000.00 which Is an increase of $14,000.00 over what was received two years before. Again Mr. Thompson had nothing whatsoever to do with these increased receipts. I think it is Important at this time to point out some adverse effects which have already taken place because of the biased and capricious actions taken by the Bo*rd of Trustees. As Indicated earlier, they have attempted coerce me into not insisting on my rights under the contract by claiming that many <* the employees will resign. Also, as I have indicated earl14006 °' Oils has materialised. However, we have recently lost one o/ our most trusted and valued workers, Mrs. Ida D. Martin, a lady who has been Executive Secretary of the Board of Trustees since the Hospital was founded and who has been consistently, and with practically no remuneration, given freely of her time and efforts. She was recently named "Woman of the Year" by the Warrenton Woman's club. She has had nothing on her mind but the welfare of Warren General Hospital and the citizens of Warren County who use it. Although she had no vote on the Board, she has felt very keenly that the actions taken by the Board lately have not been for the benefit of Warren General Hospital. Because of her strong feelings In the matter and because she did not wish to have any part in the actions which the Board of Trustees were taking, she submitted her resignation on November 2, 1970. This was prior* to a special meeting of the Executive Committee held that night, i can assure you that the Hospital has lost a truly valuable friend and worker because of the actions of the Board of Trustees - not because of any action on my part. Now, to bring you up to date on what has transpired since that time. On the same date, November 2, 1970, as Director of Administration and Medical Director, I advised Mrs. Marie Abemathy that the Hospital could better use her services as a floor nurse, she refused to follow my Instructions and ordered me to get out of the room and said to me words to the effect, "I don't want any more of your damn mess." Now, if a hospital can operate with nurses with this attitude «nd if the Board of Trustees permits such nurses to continue their employment, how can you expect any hospital to operate efficiency. Whan the time comer, that a nurse can order a doctor around, than It la time to make some chances. On the same day, because of her attitude, I addressed her a tetter advising her she was no longer an employee. That night the Executive Committee met and the next day delivered to me a copy of the resolution adopted the prior evening. I see no need to quote this document as It was published in The Warren Record on Thursday, November 3, 1970. However, It should be noted that the Board went to great pains to declare that Mrs. Abernathy was still an employee of the Hospital thereby condoning her actions and making It Impossible for me to function as a surgeon at Warren General Hospital. Nor is there any need to quote my letter to Mr. Harris dated November 3, 1970 In which I stated that I would no longer admit surgical patients to Warren General Hospital as It too was quoted In the same Issue of the Record. The following evening the Board of Trustees met and on November 5th delivered to me a copy of a resolution passed the prior evening. The resolution demanded that I resume my practice and advise the Board immediately of my Intentions. I did so in a letter dated November 6th which reads as follows: November 6, 1970 Mr. Elmer Harris, Chairman Board of Trustees Warren General Hospital Warrenton, North Carolina Dear Sir: I acknowledge the receipt of a copy of the resolution passed at a called meeting of the Board of Trustees of Warren General Hospital held on Wednesday, November 4, 1970 at the Hospital. It should be noted at this point that I was not given any notice of such meeting, as has been customary In the past, and, therefore, was not given an opportunity to state my position In the matter. In my letter to you dated November 3, 1970 and In my h^ste to get It to you I may haw wed mim language looaely which did not accurately reflect my real reasons for refusing to admit any of my patents to War ran General Hospital. I did not Intend to redact criticism ooallnuralnf peraonnel, many at whom are truly dedicated Individuals. But under tension and turmoil which now exists at Warren General Hospital, due solely to the actions of the Board of Trustees, no one can be expected .to perform at their best. In other words, in my opinion as a professional surgeon, the hospital efficiency has, as a result of recent events, decreased to such an extent that, to admit patients for surgery at this time, would Jeopardize their condition and lives. What other doctors in the area may think of the conditions at Warren General Hospital and whether or not they wish to admit their patients there is entirely their business. But surely you and every member of the Board of Trustees must realize that neither you, the Board, nor anyone can "Demand" that any surgeon admit his patients to any certain hospital when that surgeon, in his sole discretion, considers that such admission Is not in the best interest of the patient. There are other hospitals In the area, competently staffed and not under the tension which now exists at Warren General Hospital, which can adequately handle any of my patients that I may see fit to refer to such hospitals. B is my intention to do so until such time as conditions at Warren General Hospital have been rectified to my satisfaction. (See BUNCH, page 12) FOR THE BEST FURNITURE VALUES IN TOWN SEE US Satterwhites HENDERSON, N. C. Ford Pinto s1919* leads the low-price parade at R>rd Dealers
The Warren Record (Warrenton, N.C.)
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Nov. 26, 1970, edition 1
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