The Shadow
HOT SPRINGS — The Bath County community has spoken, and an overwhelming majority want Dr. James Redington reinstated at Bath Community Hospital.
That was the consensus Tuesday night at a forum organized to promote quality health care in Bath County, held in the auditorium at Bath County High School to accommodate an extremely large crowd.
Approximately 50 speakers streamed to the microphone to relate stories of Dr. Redington’s commitment and compassion to his work, his patients and his community. Many speakers also addressed the quality of health care they had received at Bath Commun-ity Hospital through Dr. Redington and other staff at the facility.
Several months ago, Dr. Redington’s contract was not renewed by Bath Community Hospital. It was reported Tuesday night that the hospital board is now negotiating with Dr. Red-ington to bring him back to the hospital.
“We are all here tonight because a cascade of events started after the sudden, shocking dismissal of Dr. James Redington by Bath Community Hospital,” said Barbara Howell, a nurse and member of the Con-cerned Citizens group that organized the meeting. “Dr. Redington is a skilled, trusted and respected physician who has devoted more than 26 years of his life to this hospital.”
Howell said Dr. Reding-ton’s dismissal led to the resignations of four other doctors — Dr. Asher Brown, Dr. Michael Bost, Dr. Jeff McCray and Dr. John Stout. They total 160-170 years of emergency room experience.
“Many of us feel that Dr. Redington is like the keystone of medical care in Bath County,” Howell said. “When that keystone was abruptly jerked out, the walls began to crumble — our other excellent, seasoned physicians have resigned and will be gone by Christmas, an aura of suspicion and apprehension is pervasive in the halls of Bath Community Hospital, the specter of an endless round of unproven doctors alarms us, the cohesiveness of a well-run organization seems to be lost, and the public outcry is swelling.”
Howell said she hoped Dr. Redington would be reinstated, the other doctors would remain on staff “and a sense of confidence and stability be returned to our hospital.”
Dr. Bost said he submitted his resignation several weeks ago. He added that he had been told his “input would not be allowed in reference to the termination of Dr. Redington.”
“Medical staff is very strongly committed to getting Dr. Redington back in his formal capacity, so committed we are that four of us were willing to resign,” Dr. Bost added.
Both Carl Chestnut, a member of the Concerned Citizens, and Dr. Bost asked members of the hospital’s board of directors to resign. They also suggested the termination of Bath Commun-ity Hospital CEO Jason Paret.
“Because of the way the board has treated the medical staff with disrespect, refusing to allow us to voice issues that dealt with patient safety in the hospital, we all now feel that in order for us to continue here, Dr. Redington must return in full capacity, Jason Paret in his position as CEO must be terminated and the leadership of the board must resign,” Dr. Bost said. “If those three things are met, we will gladly come back to stay.”
Bath County Supervisor Bart Perdue said “the current situation at Bath Community Hospital is cause for alarm.”
Perdue said he was speaking individually and his comments did not reflect the feelings of the entire board of supervisors.
“The leading health care providers at the facility are walking away in protest of the non-renewal of Dr. Redington’s contract,” he added.
Perdue said he was alarmed to hear from the public about a 5½-hour emergency room visit for two stitches, a three-day wait for a doctor’s appointment for a sick child and a 70-plus-year-old doctor working over 100 hours a week in the emergency room.
“This does not sound like an OK situation or a fully-staffed hospital,” he said.
“Can we trust what the hospital leadership is telling us?” Perdue said. “Can we trust an organization that fired a man who built his life and reputation providing medical service above and beyond what was asked of him? What will it take to rebuild that trust?”
After opening statements from organizers of the forum, members of the hospital board were given an opportunity to respond.
“We will listen to your comments, concerns and questions,” said David Troast, co-chair of the hospital’s board of directors. “We are here to listen to you and hope to improve a hospital based on your concerns and comments.”
Board member George Phillips said he would not second-guess recent decisions.
“Sitting here, I know that the board is acting in the best interest of the hospital and the community,” he said. “I’m sorry that you’re angry, but I’m not going to tell you that the board has done anything wrong.”
Phillips said privacy concerns prevented the board from discussing in detail any personnel decisions.
“We know that you came here tonight wanting us to answer specific questions,” he said. “We want to provide those answers, but this is an open public meeting and not the proper setting for an individual board member to provide off-the-cuff answers on behalf of the entire board.
“As a hospital board, we deal with federal and state laws that absolutely protect patient privacy and the privacy of our employees,” Phillips said. “There are many things that we unfortunately cannot answer.”
Phillips described a Tuesday morning meeting with doctors as “productive.”
“We look forward to continuing to work with the organizers and the community to solve this issue,” he concluded. “We desperately, desperately want to solve this issue.”
Ruth Rodgers, a former nurse at the hospital who has served on the board for the past 25 years, said the board is now in negotiations with Dr. Redington.
“I can tell you the board has reached out to Dr. Redington and is trying to come to an arrangement that will return Dr. Redington to the hospital.”
Dr. Redington did not attend Tuesday evening’s forum, but his wife, Sarah, spoke briefly.
She said she had discussed recent events with her children. “I said, ‘Guys, this is the only hospital in the state of Virginia who doesn’t want him on staff, and it’s the one that needs him most.’ ”
Mrs. Redington’s comments were greeted by a loud ovation.
Following a plethora of public comments, organizers offered closing remarks.
“I hope you board members will be paying attention to these passionate stories,” Howell said. “Dr. Redington has been off the job for two months. Every day that he is not on the job, there is a decreased level of care.”
“Dr. Redington is always there and always on the job,” Chestnut added. “We need him back.”
One speaker said the situation had created a “P.R. nightmare” for the hospital.
“I think the medical staff and the community need to know more than the board and the administration are saying,” Dr. Bost said. “They continue to hide behind legal advice and say that they can’t discuss anything.
“What I have told the administration and board multiple times is: How’s that working. This community is in an uproar.”
Perdue said Dr. Redington “is the centerpiece of this hospital.”
“I implore the board of directors to put this critical piece of the hospital and the community back where he belongs,” Perdue concluded.
Organizers of Tuesday’s meeting presented petitions containing approximately 900 signatures asking that Dr. Redington be fully reinstated to the hospital staff and as chief medical officer. They added that a Facebook page created earlier this month now had over 700 followers, and they asked anyone who wished to join their efforts to contact any member of the organization.
“If there’s no resolution, we’ll have another meeting,” organizer Jeff Grimm said. “Maybe we didn’t get through. Let’s see if we got through.”
