McGlew takes reins as KVHD CEO
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Susan Barr
Kern Valley Sun
Regular attendees of Kern Valley Healthcare District board meetings have come to expect a few surprises at the monthly meetings, but last week’s June 3 gathering went beyond the norm.
Board Chairman Kay Knight announced that a new CEO had been chosen. Tim McGlew brings with him 20 years of experience in acute hospital administration. McGlew, who was present at the meeting, has held positions of chief operating officer and vice president of operations at the 1,000-bed Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aged and has served as vice president and chief operating officer of San Gabriel Valley Medical Center. He will officially assume his new duties on June 12. Addressing the board briefly McGlew stated, “I am looking forward to helping make this the best hospital it can possibly be. It is all about caring for the community and I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to be a part of that.”
From then on, the meeting took some unexpected turns. During the public comment portion of the meeting Marge Swedelson, a regular attendee of the monthly meetings, questioned the board in a very direct manner about the bylaws that were recently revised by Scott Nave, the district’s attorney. Swedelson wanted to know when they will be available for public viewing. Knight stated, “They (the by-laws) will be open to the public, but they need to be approved first.” No date was given for when that will take place.
Voting on whether or not to accept the consent agenda, Knight wanted to pull the minutes of a recent committee meeting regarding a 90-day review of the Hospitalist Services Agreement for the physician appointed to oversee the treatment of patient and resident wounds. Dr. Robert Gross, one of the newer board members and a local physician who is employed by the district was the physician in question. Knight expressed her opinion that it was unnecessary for Gross to have a 90-day review as he was certainly qualified to supervise wound treatment. She maintained that the 90-day period was not what was agreed upon at the meeting, and wished the agreement to accurately reflect that. Bob Jamison, long time board member, didn’t hesitate to disagree with Knight. He countered by stating the wound doctor position was actually being mandated by the state in response to a situation that had occurred in the past. As such, he felt that it was not untoward to have the 90-day caveat tagged on and that it was in fact agreed upon at the meeting. After a lengthy discussion between the two board members that had the public shaking their heads, Jamison finally suggested that Knight listen to the taped recording of the meeting to clarify the matter. Heidi Sage, the employ of the district who takes minutes for the board, said that she would get the recording to Knight.
When it was time for monthly reports, Joan Amos, President of the Hospital Foundation, provided final figures for the recent Heart Walk fundraiser. A little more than $15,000 was raised. Amos added, “Considering the economy at this time, I think we did very well.”
Tracy Brown, Administrator of the district’s 74-bed Skilled Nursing Facility was up next. What came next certainly had members of the public sitting up in their seats. After her normal report, Brown went on to thank everyone for their ongoing support of the SNF and regretted having to inform the board that she has tendered her resignation and has given her 90-day notice. Brown will be with the district until the end of August.
Chet Beedle, District CFO was heard from repeatedly during the report period as he is currently wearing three hats; his own, that of interim CEO since Rick Carter resigned and also that of Chief Clinical Officer since Sherri Depperman resigned. With the appointment of McGlew, his CEO duties will soon be over. Dr. Cynthia Burciga, a board certified neurosurgeon will officially assume duties as CCO on June 15.
As far as the district’s financial situation, Beedle provided essentially the same information that he has for the past several months. He said the district is doing much better than it was at this time last year. The current economy and existing state budget situation is however taking a toll.
The meeting was then opened up for comments from the board. Jamison asked a rather cryptic question of Knight, “Were all of the qualified candidates who applied considered for the position of CEO?” Knight replied that they were. Jamison rephrased and asked the question repeatedly. Each time, the chairman replied in the affirmative. Finally he asked point blank, “Was there anyone that should have been interviewed that wasn’t?” At that point, Gross interjected and asked him what he was trying to get at. Jamison then relayed that Brown had in fact applied for the position and had never received an interview. Both Jamison and Gross requested that Brown return to the podium to clarify the matter .
Brown confirmed that she had applied and had followed up on the submission of her resume but never received a call back from any one. She added that she had emailed Knight and Victoria Alwin, another member of the board, of her intent to apply. She continued, ”I know that I am extremely qualified for this position. I have two masters degrees and am working on my Ph.D. I am very proud of the work that I have done for the district and know that I have played an important role in turning things around.” Brown said she was unaware of why she had not been considered. “I love this district and this community. I will miss my staff, the patients and the people of this valley. If there is ever anything I can do to help the district, I will be more than happy to do so.” She then went on to wish the new CEO well and stated that she was confident that he would do a fine job.
After direct questions from the public as to why Brown was not interviewed, both Knight and Alwin could not provide any plausible explanation of what had occurred, or more aptly what had not occurred. Board member Brad Armstrong asked Beedle to look into the matter and get back to the board.
Knight later commented that the revelation of Brown’s submission of a resume and her desire to be considered as a candidate for the CEO position, “Took me by surprise.” She went on to add that the situation was unfortunate and she was unsure as to how it had transpired. She did indicate that the responsibility for getting resumes to the board and lining up interviews was Hoffman’s. Of Brown’s work with the district Knight added “Tracy has done a wealth of good to help the district over the last two years.”
In an email, Alwin stated “Kay and I thought that Debra Hoffman would process, then pass on Tracy’s resume’ application onto the Board; whereas, Debra thought that because the e-mail was sent to Kay and myself that we would act on it. In short, it was a very unfortunate, but unintentional oversight of Tracy’s resume. I am certain that the Board of Directors and the administration of KVHD will work diligently to improve the process so that this does not happen again.”
Debra Hoffman, Human Resources Director for the district declined to comment on the situation in a telephone conversation the day following the meeting.
