Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Another anonymous critique of Mission Hospitals CEO Joe Damore. Quick note: I don’t know Joe Damore and I don’t know about his leadership track record. But a nerve has been struck, and I’ll be investigating the claims – pro and con – though my journalistic endeavors. You can read all the comments, which are both positive and negative, at this post.
The fault for the problems at Mission lies only with the hospital board and the present administration. Physicians have been marginalized from decision-making at Mission by Joe Damore and his administrators.
Multiple physicians have been threatened by the administration if they speak with board members. I know this from firsthand experience. If the Mission board had done their homework and spoken to physicians at Sparrow (JD’s former stomping ground), they would have learned that Joe was viewed as disrespectful and manipulative.
Multiple sources from Sparrow describe him as ‘not to be trusted.’ I encourage you to contact individuals at Sparrow to verify this. JD was more interested in controlling healthcare than the quality of the healthcare that was delivered. That seems to have become the case here in Asheville. Asheville grew into a center of medical excellence under Bob Burgin’s leadership. We were been able to attract the best and the brightest medical minds from the elite programs in the United States.
If Joe Damore continues as the leader of Mission Hospital, that will no longer be the case. His administration has made it clear they want to hire the cheapest rather than the best. Ask the trauma surgeons. I’m told that JD’s recent contract renewal did not go to the MH board as it had for previous CEOs. Supposedly it somehow was implemented by Human Resources without the board’s approval. I don’t know if this is true (or even if it’s possible) but if so, this is a clear lack of transparency in a not-for-profit hospital organization. It also verifies the ‘manipulative’ descriptor given by the Sparrow folks.
At present, the MH board has asked to speak with members of the medical staff. It will be very interesting to see if they act on the information they gather or if this is just posturing. You can be sure JD is doing his best to spin this as ‘those greedy doctors’ are upset because they don’t want to be integrated into the hospital. What JD doesn’t get is that those ‘greedy doctors’ have been instrumental partners in building MH into a superior medical center. Most local physicians take the MERIT principles seriously. But JD has lost the trust of local physicians and the surrounding medical centers. His lack of interest in excellence or respect for physicians will allow CMC to easily infiltrate this region and delegate Mission into a second tier medical facility.
Unfortunately the strategy and tactics employed by Damore and his henchmen have worked. The entire business community, not just the physicians and employees, has been too scared to stand up to Mission’s administration. City government caved early as did the Chamber of Commerce. The AC-T has yet to even print anything and WLOS only serves up the Mission message. The few who dared to challenge Mission have seen funding cut or employment ended. Many, like myself, understand that Mission already controls our employment future if we want to live in Asheville. The creation of this dictatorial monopoly was approved by the state, but the attorney general’s office refuses to enforce any stipulations in the COPA. We have waited months if not years for the board to even recognize this problem. Can we really depend on these people to set aside their own self-serving biases and take corrective action to protect our community?
Evelyn:
Are the FACTS becoming apparent enough to you? Have the letters from our medical staff, the Buncombe County Medical Society, and finally the Board given you enough FACTS for you to divine that these are real and serious threats to OUR hospital??? Or do you need a blinking spotlight?
Thank you for posting all of this and allowing comments to come through. Including those by anonymous posters and even those like the ones with names but no URL or website to "verify" them as above. There is something clearly awry at the Hospital (I work for a practice that the Hospital is attempting to purchase) and even though many of the grumblings are as yet unverified, it helps point to issues and problems that will definitely affect me in the short and long-term.
Please don’t stop blogging about issues like this. I think you have disclosed exactly what you don’t know; do know and hope to know and let commenters (named and anonymous) have their say. It isn’t the role of news media to think for us. As long they disclose fully and offer a place to have opinions, MANY, but not all Americans are capable of thinking for ourselves.
I’m still awaiting some facts, figures, examples of mismanagement, consequences of such or other INFORMATION about this story. So far all I’ve read is allegations of what? People are unhappy but readers who rely solely on comments here haven’t a clue of what Damone has done, or not done. Whining, whinging & grumbling about Mission without specific incidents, practices, or conditions to consider leaves your readership uninformed and confused. If you only interest is to give a forum for disgruntled Mission employees to vent then march on. But if you have any interest in reporting an important (maybe) story for the Asheville community at least, the very least, get some substance into your posts. Maybe, if you post this, unlike my earlier comment, those involved, with some genuine information, might post comments with information that would help clarify what’s going on at Mission that seems to be making so many employees unhappy.
Kudos to Ashevegas for your various blogs on what is one of the most serious issues our city has ever dealt with. One suggestion, if possible,,,consolidate the blogs on Damore and the hospital.
You are also to be commended on your attempts to verify what has been said. Based on what I believe (and what has already transpired), your attempts to veriify will prove out all remarks critical of Damore and the despotic manner in which he has been administrating the hospital.
For those defending the administration, they are doing so based on lack of knowledge of what has happened internally over the last two plus years as well as lacking a true understanding of the relationships necessary to have achieved the reputation Mission has, due almost emtirely to the skill and dedication of the medical staff.
A comment on the NPR reference found on the other "Commenter’s" site. That information was based on a study done years ago. To anyone posting., please verify/quantify your data before commenting. That is only fair.