Interview highlights
On the request to replace South County Health CEO Aaron Robinson
Steven Fera:
He’s made some management decisions that have not involved collaboration with health care workers, physicians, nurses, or community members.
Some of those decisions involved the loss of most of our primary care providers in Washington County. So there’s one provider left at (the) Westerly office, none in the South Kingstown/Narragansett office on Woodruff. The three out of four cancer specialists have resigned along with several staff members and a nurse practitioner.
We had trouble because we were growing and we needed more resources, and we appealed to the current administration on multiple occasions that we needed more staff, more technicians to be able to deliver appropriate care to our patients and timely care. We were basically told to make do with what we had.
On how the Board of Trustees responded to the letter
Fera: I don’t think they reacted appropriately. The board essentially has ignored the letter. Joe Matthews, the chairman of the board, said that they would not change anything in verbal communication to the group that conceived the letter. I think everyone is very frustrated that the board has not taken action.
Initially, we felt the CEO needed to be replaced, perhaps the chairman of the board who is not taking action. Now it’s clear that a good segment of the Board of Trustees has kind of shirked their fiscal and moral responsibilities in taking action. They can no longer say they’re not informed of the problems.
On what will happen if things don’t improve at the hospital
Fera: I think eventually the quality has to be impacted. I think people are going to find that out. They’re going to experience a different standard of care than they’ve had all along. They’re going to do things like some have already done, which is go to Westerly Hospital and experience a much better experience.
It pains me to hear when patients have said, “You know, I went to Westerly and it’s really nice there. It’s just like South County Hospital used to be.” I mean, that’s a stake in my heart, for someone who developed a program there. If you lose a provider, the patients go elsewhere. They may follow their provider to Warwick or wherever the provider is. … If the doctors leave, the hospital at some point is not going to be sustainable and provide the care it does now.
This interview was conducted by The Public’s Radio. You can listen to the full interview here.
