The Eureka Springs City Council voted unanimously at its regular meeting on Monday, Jan. 27, to removed Kent Turner from the city’s embattled hospital commission.
The decision, on a voice vote, came after a motion by council member Harry Meyer and a second from council member Steve Holifield.
After Holifield’s second, council member Terry Mc-Clung said he would like to hear Mayor Butch Berry’s opinion on the issue. Seven weeks earlier, at the council’s regular meeting on Dec. 9, Meyer had asked Turner if he would resign.
“Sure,” Turner replied. “I’ll resign.”
At that point in the Dec. 9 meeting, Berry suggested that the council hold off on any decisions regarding commissioners, noting that the hospital commission was in the process of responding to adverse findings in a survey conducted by Medicare inspectors that a state health department official had said could place the hospital’s Medicare agreement.
Both Berry and Turner said Dec. 10 that Turner had not resigned.
At Monday’s meeting, Berry again urged the council to keep Turner in place. He noted that Turner is no longer chair of the hospital commission, with commissioner Sandy Martin taking over those duties on Jan. 1.
“Now that he’s not the chairman, I think that puts him in a different position on there,” Berry said. “Also, I think that when we remove a commissioner, it’s supposed to be for cause, and I’m not sure the cause has been established on here yet.”
At that point, Meyer said Turner “broke federal law by carrying blood products to Berryville.”
Among the findings in the Medicare survey was the lack of availability of 24-hour emergency diagnostic laboratory services. In a response to that finding, the hospital said some test specimens were being collected and processed at Eureka Springs Hospital and then transported “via courier” to Mercy hospital in Berryville.
Turner and Martin transported some of the specimens. Some former hospital employees contend that commissioners transporting blood samples in such a manner is a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Berry interjected, saying there was no proof that Turner had transported specimens.
Martin, who earlier in the meeting had presented a report from the commission, acknowledged that Turner had transported one specimen but said that the action did not violate HIPAA.
“It is against federal law,” Meyer argued.
“Well, we have a conflict here, and I don’t think our city attorney is versed in that field,” Berry said.
Council member David Avanzino, who had originally seconded Meyer’s motion, asked if city attorney Forrest Jacobi could look into the issue before the council voted on Turner’s removal.
“The law says they can be removed for cause,” Jacobi said. “This isn’t a court of law. We’re not having witnesses. We don’t have any proof. If you vote to remove somebody for cause, you need something very specific, in my opinion, to remove them.”
Berry then read the procedure for removing a commissioner and the definition of “good cause.”
“I’m sure that violating the law would be part of it, without a doubt, but I’m not sure — it seems like we’re at an impasse here,” Berry said.
Holifield then asked about newspaper reports that Turner violated the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act by exchanging text messages regarding hospital personnel matters with former commissioner Barbara Dicks. Dicks resigned from the commission at Berry’s request on Nov. 15, one day after the Times-Echo reported on the text messages between her and Turner.
“We’ve also had a city council member do the same thing,” Berry said in response to Holifield’s comment.
“The subject is Mr. Turner, not a council member,” Meyer said.
“That’s true,” Berry replied.
“You know, cause could be as much as: ‘We’ve lost confidence in his services, you know,’” Jacobi said. “That would be sufficient.”
“And I have lost confidence when he stated that he knew nothing about all the problems at the hospital after May,” Meyer said. “Everything was fine at the hospital in May and then all of a sudden we find out that it’s going down the tubes.”
At that point, Avanzino withdrew his second, saying he was doing so based on what Jacobi had said and what Berry had read. Holifield then seconded Meyer’s motion.
After council member Susane Gruning asked for clarification on whether Turner transporting blood specimens had actually constituted a HIPAA violation, Berry said that it was “up to the council whether or not there’s good cause.”
“At this point, I’m going to go ahead and call for a vote,” Berry said.
On a voice vote, the council voted 5-0 in favor of Turner’s removal.
“Mr. Turner will be removed from the commission,” Berry said. “Five-zero.”
Given an opportunity to comment for this report on Wednesday, Jan. 29, Turner replied by email.
“I was in the hands of the City Council, and I respect their decision,” Turner said. “In my humble opinion it did not have to be done that way but nevertheless I understand why the Council thought they needed to take action.”
Commission report
Before the vote on Turner, Martin presented a report from the hospital commission, including addressing complaints from former hospital employees who have repeatedly described the hospital as a “toxic” and “hostile” work environment.
The complaints from former employees have singled out the hospital’s chief financial officer, Cynthia Asbury, and human resources director Jodi Edmondson, currently serving as the hospital’s interim chief executive officer after the commission fired former CEO Angie Shaw at a special meeting on Nov. 1.
Martin said some hospital employees did not react well to the hospital’s shift from being designated as a critical access hospital to a rural emergency hospital.
“The REH designation required realignment of staff, with some positions being eliminated,” she said. “The staff was notified of these changes in mid-April by the former CEO. Some of the staff handled the changes very well, while others obviously did not. Many of the staff did their jobs and did them well. Others did not do their job.”
Martin noted that a survey conducted in May 2024 resulted in only a few adverse findings compared with the November survey report.
Starting in August 2024, Martin said the hospital commission began “internal investigations” into staff complaints that she said “led up to a rebellion and a threat of mass walkout.”
“While I cannot disclose details, the state survey was not a total surprise,” Martin said. “Certain personnel and management were clearly not doing their jobs, and they were putting the hospital in jeopardy and under additional strain.”
Martin said the commission has hired an attorney to conduct an independent investigation “to identify how we got from May, relatively clean, to November, with so many issues with the same staff and management in place.”
The commission continues to conduct its own internal investigation, Martin said.
Martin also referred to what she described as “many false allegations stated during recent public comments.”
Among those, she said, was “that the hospital had no clinical staff.”
“This is not true and never has been true,” Martin said, referring to four employees recently hired by the hospital, including director of nursing and clinical services Lana Mills.
Martin also refuted the idea that the hospital commission has no medical, hospital or management experience.
“The commission has a doctor, RN, LPN, that have all worked in hospital, clinical, emergency, outpatient and/or academic environments,” Martin said. “It is rounded out with financial management, marketing and business professionals.”’ Martin said the commission has not rejected a proposal by Dr. John House to have his management company take over operations of the hospital.
“We have stated publicly in commission meetings and directly to Dr. House that we have that on hold pending the state determination,” she said, referring to the state’s pending response to the hospital’s plan to correct the issues raised in the Medicare survey report. “After that determination, we will have a workshop with him, and we’ve told him that, to discuss his proposal.”
Martin said the hospital’s financial condition has improved since the move to an REH designation. The hospital’s net operating margin for 2024 was more than $1.7 million, she said, and the hospital’s bank balance as of Dec. 31 was more than $7.5 million.
Martin said she has “total confidence in, and respect for, every commissioner currently serving.”
“And speaking on behalf of the commission, we have total confidence, appreciation and respect for each of our current employees, including Jodi Edmondson and Cynthia Asbury,” Martin said. “Did we make mistakes? Yes, and we own up to them. None were intentional, nor malicious. However, reputations were damaged, and that’s a crying shame.”
