The New Hampshire Attorney General's Charitable Trusts Unit concluded that North Country Healthcare breached its fiduciary duties when it terminated Weeks Medical Center President Michael Lee, according to a report released this week.
The unit, which oversees hospital mergers, recommended a series of corrective actions including an independent board governance consultant, annual trustee training, quarterly community listening sessions, and a $75,000 reimbursement for the review. The hospital system also agreed to pause any restructuring plans.
"We appreciate the thorough process undertaken by the New Hampshire Charitable Trust Unit," North Country Healthcare CEO Tom Mee said in a statement. "We are prepared to work diligently and collaboratively to pursue CTU's recommended steps to address areas requiring attention."
The unit did not find legal violations on other complaints from the Concerned Patients Group, including outsourcing of revenue cycle management, executive salaries, and loss of local control. But it criticized communication failures and the failure to replace Lee, which led to resignations that "calling into question the validity of a WMC board affirmative vote" regarding governance changes.
Rebecca More, a member of the Concerned Patients Group, said the community listening sessions were "highly controlled" and lacked genuine dialogue. Still, she praised the Charitable Trusts Unit for taking action.
NEK will be looking into the board governance changes proposed by North Country Healthcare and the status of Dr. Elizabeth Cooley's termination.
Originally reported by New Hampshire Bulletin.
Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0). Photo is illustrative and not from the scene.
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