'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)
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