NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
A3
Clark makes plea for reinstatement at hospital board meeting
Nursing director says
situation appears to
be ‘calculated public
humiliation’
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Longtime medical provider
Shawna Clark, who was placed
on paid administrative leave last
month for adding something to her
medical records in violation of Blue
Mountain Hospital District policy,
requested to be reinstated Thursday
at the district’s board of director’s
meeting.
Clark, a family nurse practi-
tioner, said in a statement to the
board that she accessed her own
chart with a phlebotomist witness-
ing and put in an order in her pro-
vider’s name for fasting blood
work that she said her provider had
already ordered.
“I accessed my own medical
record. After hours. When I had
been checked in as a patient, my
blood was drawn. And there were
no orders, despite the fact that they
were sent twice over the month
prior by my provider,” she said.
Clark said the accessing of her
own medical records was not what
she was at the board meeting to dis-
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Family nurse practioner Shawna
Clark addressed the hospital board
Thursday at the Blue Mountain Hos-
pital. Clark, who was placed on paid
administrative leave in July, asked to
be reinstated.
Deborah Morris, director of nursing
at Blue Mountain Hospital, addresses
the hospital’s board Thursday during
its monthly meeting.
pute. She said she was witnessed
accessing her records and that she
knew she was violating an internal
policy.
“I assumed that I would be
given the reasonable opportunity
to explain, which I was not given
prior to being asked to leave the
facility while I had two patients
roomed and waiting,” she said.
Clark said she is not a safety
concern and that she had given over
nine years to the district.
“I’ve been loyal,” she said. “You
have always got way more out of
me work-wise than you’ve ever
paid me for. And I am asking for
reinstatement. I believe I deserve it.
This is not a competency thing. It’s
not a competency issue.”
Thursday before the meeting,
Clark said she had met with district
CEO Derek Daly about a separation
agreement.
“Derek and I have had sev-
eral meetings and have attempted
to work some something out. But
there’s also the question of what
type of privileges I’m allowed
to have in our facility, other than
ancillary services. So I’m not going
to be able to provide the same level
of service to my patients that I have
been providing — that’s not accept-
able. So I’m asking for reinstate-
ment,” she said.
Board chair Amy Kreger
thanked Clark for coming and said
the board would need to talk about
Clark’s statement in a closed exec-
utive session. The board took no
immediate action.
Clark gave the board additional
documents related to the inci-
dent, including a self-report of the
incident to the Oregon Board of
Nursing.
Clark said she was told by the
hospital that if she did not self-re-
port to the board of nursing that it
would “look really bad.” Clark said
she meets with the state board of
nursing about the incident Oct. 8.
She said the nursing board meets
the first week of the month and that
they will not meet again until the
first week of November to review her
case.
Deborah Morris, hospital dis-
trict director of nursing, said Clark
being placed on paid administrative
leave appears to be “calculated pub-
lic humiliation.”
“Why would you remove a pro-
vider in the middle of the day when
they have patients waiting?” she said.
“I’m sorry but this has created a lot of
distrust within our organization.”
In a letter to the board, Morris said
“justice does not appear to be admin-
istered equally within our organiza-
tion.” Morris said five staff mem-
bers told her they have accessed their
medical records, or a family mem-
ber’s medical record, without being
reprimanded.
Morris said she supervised an
employee she believed was engag-
ing in an illegal activity and, despite
numerous ongoing complaints, the
employee was not terminated until
many months after being spoken to
about the activity.
“(Clark) was not a liability to the
organization,” Morris said in the let-
ter. “... It makes me believe that there
must be some hidden agenda. I do not
believe that the punishment fits the
infraction. This situation has dam-
aged trust within our organization
along with damaging public percep-
tion regarding our hospital.”
Daly declined to discuss the issue,
stating it is the protocol of the district
to not comment on an active person-
nel matter.
County affirms public records request policy
Court forgoes
payroll tax deferral
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant County Court
said Wednesday that all public
records requests to all county
departments would need to go
through county court mem-
bers in the future.
The county adopted a pub-
lic records policy Aug. 14,
2019.
Additionally, Grant County
Commissioner Sam Palmer
said that if one media orga-
nization asks for a reduction
or waiver of fees, all other
organizations should get fees
waived.
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
County Roadmaster Allen
Hickerson addresses Grant
County Court Sept. 23.
Court moves to forgo
payroll tax deferral
Laurie Wright, Grant
County human resources man-
ager, requested the court forgo
payroll tax deferral, which
would have allowed county
employees to defer their
social security tax payment
temporarily.
Last month, she said, Pres-
ident Donald Trump issued
a memorandum directing
the Treasury Department to
allow employers to defer pay-
ment of Social Security pay-
roll taxes for employees mak-
ing less than $4,000 every
two weeks.
Wright said the problem
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Grant County Justice of the Peace Kathy Stinnett requests funding to hire another employee Sept. 23 during a session of Grant
County Court.
with allowing county employ-
ees to defer the payroll tax is
that ultimately the employees
would have to pay the money
back.
Grant County Commis-
sioner Jim Hamsher said
allowing
employees
to
defer the payroll tax would
“cause a hardship” in Janu-
ary when employees would
be required to pay the money
back.
Wright said allowing the
deferral would double the
deductions in the new year.
County Judge Scott Myers
said the court voted “yes, to
say no” to allowing employ-
ees to defer the payroll tax.
In other county news:
• The court approved the
renewal of its membership
with the Association of Ore-
gon Counties.
• The court approved the
extension of its contract with
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