The Eureka Springs Hospital Commission continued its support for the hospital’s acting chief executive officer and chief financial officer in a pair of meetings over the past week, refusing to submit to a demand from the city council that changes be made in the hospital’s administration.

The commission held a special meeting on Thursday, March 13, and a regular meeting on Monday, March 17. No personnel action was taken at either meeting, save for the appointment of a search committee to assist in the hiring of a new CEO.

The March 13 special meeting came less than 72 hours after the Eureka Springs City Council voted at its regular meeting on Monday, March 10, to give the commission two weeks to take action in connection with persistent complaints by former hospital employees and contractors of a toxic work environment. Most of those complaints have centered around Jodi Edmondson, the hospital’s human resources director and acting CEO, and CFO Cynthia Asbury.

At the March 10 city council meeting, council member David Avanzino made a motion of the issue, saying: “I make a motion to give the Eureka Springs Hospital Commission two weeks to make changes to their membership and their administration or else we start removing commissioners.”

Council member Susane Gruning seconded Avanzino’s motion and it passed unanimously on a voice vote.

Berry issues veto

Mayor Butch Berry advised council members via email on Thursday, March 13, that he was vetoing the council’s order.

“I am making this veto because the Order is an inappropriate attempt to force the Eureka Springs Hospital Commissioners to give up their power and duty to manage the operation, management and control of the hospital,” Berry’s email says. “The Order would force the Hospital Commissioners to ascertain and adopt the will of the Eureka Springs City Council when faced with decisions on how best to perform their duty to manage, maintain and control the operations of the hospital. “I am also vetoing the order because it contains an inappropriate threat to remove hospital commissioners if they fail to institute the will of the Eureka Springs City Council within two weeks.

“This Order of the Eureka Springs City Council would wrest control of the operations of the hospital by the Eureka Springs Hospital Commission and place it under the control of the City Council. If this motion is allowed to stand it would lead to negative ramifications on not only the costs to the hospital but also the city.

“That, along with the threat to remove the hospital commissioners for the sole reason of failing to make the changes desired by the City Council are inconsistent with the Arkansas law which specifically speaks to the powers and duties of the hospital commission, as well as the power of the City Council to remove them. For these reasons, I hereby veto the Order.

“I intend to request that the Eureka Spring Hospital Commission provide the City Council with reporting specific to the City Council’s concerns and for that reporting to be made as soon as possible but not later than the regular meeting of the City Council on April 14, 2025.”

On Tuesday, March 11, Berry emailed a group of recipients including Arkansas Municipal League attorney Caleb Alexander to ask whether state law prohibited one or more city council members from serving on the hospital commission. The Times-Echo obtained the email in response to an open-records request pursuant to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Alexander replied to Berry’s email to say that “it does not appear that the law would allow a Council Member to serve on the Hospital Commission.”

On Wednesday, March 12, the city council scheduled a special meeting for 1 p.m. the following day, but that meeting was canceled within hours after it was announced.

The city council’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, March 24. The agenda for that meeting includes items for an override of Berry’s veto and removal of hospital commissioners. Both of those agenda items are sponsored by council member Harry Meyer.

Special commission meeting The hospital commission convened shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday, March 13, in the basement of The Aud, with chair Sandy Martin announcing that the purpose of the meeting was “employment, promotion, demotion, termination or discipline.”

Immediately after roll call, Martin called for a motion to go into executive session. Commissioner Sharon Deramus made the motion, with a second from Kate Dryer, and the commission approved the motion 3-0. Martin did not vote on the motion.

At that point, the commission went into executive session and the audience was asked to leave the room.

Audience members were asked to return to the room approximately 62 minutes later. The commission then voted to adjourn the executive session and resume the open session. Commissioner David Carlisle, who was not present before the executive session, was at the table when the commission returned from the executive session. Commissioners also were joined by Little Rock attorney Gabe Mallard, who was present from the beginning of the meeting.

After the commission returned to open session, Martin said she would entertain “a motion of no action taken,” and commissioner Brian Beyler made the motion with a second from Deramus. The commission then approved the motion on a voice vote with no dissent. Martin did not vote on the motion.

Regular commission meeting During public comments at the commission’s regular meeting on Monday, March 17, Becky Gillette read a letter to the commission written by Kristie Hamilton, a respiratory therapist who worked at the hospital from December 2022 to July 2023. Hamilton wrote that she reported the hospital to Medicare and Medicaid after a dispute with Asbury over billing procedures. According to Hamilton’s letter, she resigned from the hospital and noted in her resignation letter that she was leaving because of a toxic and hostile work environment. Hamilton wrote that Edmondson and Hamilton’s supervisor came to her office and informed her that her services were no longer necessary, rather than allowing her to work out her notice.

Martin declined to read another letter during public comments. That letter, submitted by Heather Wilson, discussed Asbury’s sister, Darlina Maree Jasso, who worked in medical records at the hospital before being arrested at the facility by federal agents and ultimately sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole on a charge of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity. Wilson’s letter questioned whether Jasso was properly vetted before being hired.

Martin said Wilson’s letter would not be read “because it has to do with personnel records and past employees.”

During her CEO’s report, Edmondson told the commission that a maintenance employee would be taking a licensure examine to operate the hospital’s boiler system and that the hospital has hired a radiology manager, a lab manager and a facility services manager.

Asbury delivered the monthly financial report, telling the commission that the hospital saw a decline in revenue in February compared with February 2024.

Asbury said some of that decline is connected to a decrease in services withe the hospital’s transition to Rural Emergency Hospital status.

“We do have a loss for the month of about $233,000,” Asbury said, adding that the hospital purchased new equipment during February that impacted the facility’s bottom line.

The hospital’s director of clinical services, Lana Mills, read several pieces of correspondence from state and federal health officials describing a lack of communication and documentation from the hospital before a November 2024 audit that cited multiple findings of deficiencies. The commission fired then-CEO Angie Shaw and then-nursing director Jessica Petrino in early November, before the audit findings were announced.

The hospital has since submitted a plan of correction that has been accepted by the Arkansas Department of Health.

Martin asked for a motion to go into executive session “to talk about employment, personnel, promotion, demotion, hiring, firing, all of that stuff. Basically employment.”

After a motion from Dryer and a second from Beyler, the commission approved the motion unanimously and went into executive session for approximately 38 minutes.

After returning to open session, the commission voted to appoint a CEO search committee of Dr. Jacob Roberts, Edmondson, Dryer, Mills, Carlisle and Deramus.

Commissioner comments

During the portion of the meeting designated for commissioner comments, commissioners praised Edmondson, Asbury and Mills and had sharp words for critics of the hospital.

“I know for sure that we would not be open still, if Jodi and Cynthia had not rolled their sleeves up over the last several months,” Dryer said. “I also know that if Lana had not come along, we would be probably closed down. You have done an incredible job, the three of you. … The public has, in my estimation, about 10 percent of all that’s going on. Someday, I hope very much that a hundred percent of what has taken place from mid-2023 to today will be out there for the whole world to see. It is my firm desire for every single stone to be unturned and innuendo and rumor and falsehoods — outright falsehoods — will cease.”

Beyler also expressed support for the hospital’s leadership.

“My support for this commission, my support for you gals at the hospital, is above all,” he said.

Martin said she wanted to address “misleading and false statements that were made at city council as well as some of the public.”

Martin said the company is audited each year and any financial improprieties would have been identified in those audits.

“Our audits have been clean,” she said. “There were no financial issues. There were no financial issues cited in the state audit, which I think is significant.”

Martin also clarified that the hospital receives no funding from city tax revenue and noted that a May 2024 health department audit revealed only a few minor issues. She criticized what she described as a Facebook comment that the hospital was “spiraling out of control” beginning in November after the firing of Shaw and Petrino.

“That is absolutely not true,” Martin said. “You look at the facts, you look at the timeline, you use common sense. It spiraled out of control starting in May, and it was put back into control starting in November and December. Basically because the very people that the public want to fire are the people that stabilized and corrected everything at the hospital.”

Martin clarified that the hospital did not fire its medical director, Dr. Gary Parkhurst, but instead terminated its agreement in January with the company that it had partnered with since October 2023 to run its emergency room.

“He was not an employee of the hospital,” Martin said.

Martin also responded to what she described as an “attack on Mayor Berry.”

“Mayor Berry, nor this commission or anybody else, are covering anything up,” she said. “It’s further from the truth. There are things that we can’t talk about, as Kate mentioned, that we’re dying to talk about, but we can’t, but no one is covering anything up. We will remain transparent and we will fulfill every FOIA request.”

Martin said “the hospital is in good shape,” and said the public hears only the negative comments about the hospital, not the compliments that the commission and hospital staff hear.

“I’veheardmanycomments from many different people, as I know some of the commissioners have,” she said. “This hospital is here to serve this community, and it’s a quality healthcare facility and it’s getting better. And we would definitely like your support to help us continue to grow, because we’re not giving up.”