Heppner gazette-times., May 19, 1999, Page SEVEN, Image 7

Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 19,1999 - SEVEN
that have been offered to us.
Since then many friends and
community members have
suggested that I have grounds to
challenge the agreement I signed
as having been forced or
coerced, done under duress.
Additionally, I believe the whole
process completely ignored my
right to due process. I was, by
my contract, due an employment
review during the month
following 31 January. That
review somehow did not occur
until 28 hours before the board
meeting of 05 May 1999. I was
given no warning or counseling
by Mrs. Dahlman before 04
May. I was offered no avenue
by Mrs. Dahlman to contest her
e v a lu a tio n
or
her
recommendation to the board. I
was given less than a pitiful
amount of time, 28 hours, to
seek legal counsel. And then the
board accepted Mrs. Dahlman's
version of the events without
even the courtesy of allowing
me to defend my position.
I had the right to prior
notification, I had a right to a
reasonable amount of time to
prepare a defense and I had a
right to a fair hearing. All of
those rights were ignored. By
denying me those rights I
believe the board has, once
again, placed itself and the
Morrow County Health District
in a dangerous position.
With this letter I renounce the
agreement forced on me 04 and
05 May. I have no desire to
bring legal action against the
health district but I will not
allow these charges against me
to go unchallenged. I am not a
liar. I have falsified no medical
records. I have assaulted no one.
I have offered verbal or physical
intimidation to no one. I have
neglected no patient. I have
offered to murder no one.
My initial reactions in this
situation were what every soldier
learns, when you are under
attack give away as little as you
can and conserve as many
options as you can for future
use. The threat to take away my
principal means of earning ¡t
living holds far less importance
for me than being labelled a liar.
I will defend myself against
these charges vigorously and by
any and every means available
tome. These actions against me o
meant,jpube,,silent and
„tqoncealed. Thom people 1 of
Morrow County Health District
can now make their own
judgement of the charges and of
the methods used against me.
(s) Clyde M Burnham, MD
Heppner
_______ letters to the Editor_______
Editor's note: Letters to the Editor must be signed. The Gazette- Times w ill not
publish unsigned letters. Please include your address and phone number on all
letters for use by the G-T office. The G-T reserves the right to edit.
Dr. Burnham responds
To the Editor:
On Tuesday, 04 May I went to
the office of Mrs. Sheila
Dahlman, interim CEO of
Morrow County Health District,
as she had requested.
The
purpose of this meeting was the
sixth month performance review
which I had requested and which
was now more than three months
overdue. Present besides Mrs.
Dahlman and me was Dr. Ken
Wenberg, chief of the medical
staff of Pioneer Memorial
Hospital.
Mrs. Dahlman went right to
work and announced that the
next day, Wednesday, 05 May,
she would make a written
recommendation to the board of
directors that my employment be
terminated for cause.
She
presented me with her written
performance evaluation of me.
In
that
evaluation
my
performance
was
rated
unsatisfactory in 10 of 11 areas
and needing improvement in
one. She then presented me with
the letter she planned to submit
to the board. The letter listed 15
charges against me. I was given
no supporting documentation for
any of these allegations.
Mrs. Dahlman then outlined
her plans. If I did not accept her
actions against me she would be
required to report those actions
to the Oregon Board of
Examiners and to the National
Practitioner Data Bank. She left
unsaid
that
that
would
effectively end my medical
career. She then offered me a
deal. If I agreed to resign and
say nothing and give up all
rights to future action she would
recommend to the board that
they accept my resignation and
pay me three months wages. I
would not be reported to the
Oregon licensing authorities or
the National Practitioner Data
Bank. Again she left unsaid that
although I would walk away
with no charges against me I
could depend on it that there
would be no future good
employment recommendations
going out in my favor. Also a
stake in the heart of my medical
career.
The meeting had begun at three
in the afternoon and Mrs.
Dahlman now informed me that
I had until 8 o'clock the next
morning to make my decision.
If I had further questions she and
her lawyers would be available
to discuss the issues between
two and six the next afternoon.
Then at seven the done deal
would be presented to the board.
She indicated our business was
over but did offer me the
opportunity to work the rest of
the afternoon. I declined.
I was able to speak to Dr.
Wenburg privately shortly
thereafter and I asked if he had
been aware of this action
beforehand. He said he had
learned of it only the hour
before. Wendy Haack, NP, also
was taken by surprise. I am sure
if either Dr. Wenberg or Ms.
Haack had had significant
concern about the quality of my
practice they would have offered
advice or assistance. I can't
conceive of either of them
seeing substandard performance
and ignoring it. Neither had a
single member of the nursing
staff come to me with concerns
about my patient care.
It was now near the end of the
business day and, as Mrs.
Dahlman well knew, it proved
difficult to contact a lawyer, let
alone a lawyer experienced in
medical law. I was able to
contact a specialist and very
briefly discuss the situation with
him that evening. Without any
documentation in his hands and
only what I could tell him over
the phone, but most important,
no time to work with, his advice
was
pragm atic.
He
recommended that unless I had
$50,000 to spend fighting the
charges against me I should take
the deal and get out of town.
That night my wife and I
discussed our response. A major
concern we both had was that if
I accepted Mrs. Dahlman's deal,
that would leave in the health
district records Mrs. Dahlman's
letter stating that I had lied on
my employment application to
the district, that I had falsified
medical records, that I had been
physically assaultive, that I had
engaged in verbal and physical
intimidation, that I had been
neglectful in my patient care,
that I had threatened murder,
that I had misdiagnosed cases,
and on and on. I have made
mistakes in diagnosis and in
treatment, only one physician
ever lived who didn't. The rest
of her charges I deny
categorically.
That night my wife and I
decided to do whatever was
necessary in the short-term to
limit the damage done to my
reputation so we could buy some
time to fight back. The next
morning I sought counsel from a
number of people whose
opinions I respect. I shortly
received a phone call from the
lawyer I had consulted. Mrs.
Dahlman had called her lawyers
and told them that Dr. Burnham
was downtown bad mouthing
her to the Chamber of
Commerce and the deal was off.
She planned to report me to the
Oregon Board of Medical
Examiners and the National
Practitioner Data Bank. The
lawyer said he might be able to
negotiate something and prevent
her report, I asked him to do his
best. The deal he brought back
was this: sign a letter admitting
I had given cause for my
termination, take the pay and
vacation pay due me and in three
months if I kept quiet I’d get one
month's pay. My wife and I
discussed it and agreed that, at
that point, signing the agreement
was the least harmful course for
us.
That evening at the board
meeting the board went
immediately into executive
session which I was invited to
join. Mrs. Dahlman presented
her recommendation and asked
if I had signed the agreement
which she had offered. I asked
to address the board and was
permitted to do so. I pointed out
the terrible damage this action
would do to the district. Once
again a doctor would be leaving
under mysterious circumstances.
I pointed out the possibility o f
expensive litigation which the
district could ill afford.
I
pointed out the likely further
loss of public confidence in the
district and the possibility of a
firestorm of public protest if the
action Mrs. Dahlman proposed
was carried through. At that
point I offered to the board to go
back to the original offer and in
return I would do everything I
could to prevent the inevitable
uproar if they went through with
Mrs. Dahlman's plan.
Mrs.
Osmin, the chairperson, thanked
me for my thoughts and asked
me to leave the room.
The board spent more than an
hour on the issue, no doubt with
considerable input from Mrs.
Dahlman and the two Portland
lawyers she had flown out in a
private jet to support her case.
Mrs. Osmin asked me to return
to the executive session and
informed me my offer was
rejected. The board asked me to
sign the last agreement Mrs.
Dahlman had offered me or I
would be terminated for cause
and I would therefore be
reported to the Oregon Board of
Medical Examiners and the
National Practitioner Data Bank.
To avoid that immediate report I
signed the agreement and
resignation. As I did so I offered
one last time to go back to the
previous agreement to avoid the
inevitable public uproar, Mrs.
Osmin said, "We'll take that
chance" and they have.
The board went back into open
session and my resignation was
immediately announced. The
announcement was just as
quickly followed by a question
from Mrs. Marlene Peterson, of
Heppner. as to whether the
agreement was obtained under
duress. To preserve my position
I said it had not been. Since
then my wife and I have been
gratified by the many kind
words of support and concern
Baffled
To the Editor:
The people of Heppner have
lost another competent doctor.
How many times has this
happened? We, the patients, are
concerned about this. Why isn't
the Morrow County Medical
Board concerned? Do they want
the revenue from our beautiful
little town to go to the larger
towns? Why are we not
encouraged to give our local
merchants, doctors and hospitals
our business?
Dr. Clyde Burnham, a doctor
we have confidence and trust in,
was asked to resign. We have
not been given an explanation
for this. Wouldn't you think
everything possible would have
been done to keep a doctor in
town who has concern for his
patients and one in whom the
patients have confidence?
(s) Marlin and Ruth Donohoe
Heppner
Counselors make Tupper experience a positive one
To the Editor:
In the recent weeks, we have
been bombarded with news about
troubled teens, kids killing each
other and themselves to the point
it makes you wonder what this
world is coming to. Fortunately for
our community we don’t have to
look very hard to find some of the
greatest kids any community could
ask for.
Last week was Tupper Out­
door School for the sixth graders
from Heppner and lone. I have
been fortunate to experience
Tupper as a sixth grade camper, a
counselor my junior year of high
school and as a parent helper in
1996. I think the Tupper experi­
ence is one of the most informa­
tive, hands-on, positive learning
environments our children will
ever experience. Not only it is a
chance for the kids to have out­
door classrooms, for some it is
their first taste of camping or be­
ing away from their parents. It is
a time for them to learn about and
rely on themselves. I know my
memories from Tupper are some
of the most cherished memories I
have.
This year my sixth grade
daughter had the chance to find
out how special Tupper is for her­
self. Not only do the sixth graders
Time for state
to pony up
To the Editor:
Several weeks ago, Oregon's
Attorney General recommended
in an official task force report
that the state legislature provide
$20 million in additional
funding for the state's district
attorneys. Despite the fact that
DAs are state officers whose
primary duty is to prosecute the
violation of state crimes, county
governments currently bear the
burden for 80 percent of these
costs.
As of today, the state has not
provided any new funding for
the people's prosecutors.
It is time for the state to begin
paying its fair share for state
prosecutions.
County
governments across the state
have been hard hit in ' the- last
decade by declining timber
revenues, lost O&C county
revenues,
property
tax
reductions
and
PERS
obligations passed on by the
state. As a result, many counties
have made significant cuts in
services.
In fact, many counties have cut
other important services in order
to protect the public safety.
These types of state-mandated
services shift tax dollars away
from other vital county services
such as roads and economic
developm ent
programs.
Counties need the state's help to
strengthen
their
district
attorneys' offices and to rebuild
other critical programs.
I urge voters to contact their
state legislators and urge them to
follow the attorney general's
recommendation to provide
more funding for district
attorneys. When it comes to
public safety, we can't afford to
wait.
(s) Dan Brosnan
Morrow County Commissioner
Heppner
Pioneer Memorial Clinic
will be closed Friday, May 28th
and Monday, May 31 st
in observance of
Memorial Day.
Have a safe and happy holiday.
\
have given this year’s sixth grad­
ers positive role models to look up
to, friendships and happy memo­
ries to last a lifetime.
In a world where we tend to
hear only the bad, it is nice to know
that we have kids like Nikki
McElligott, Niki Sullivan, Angela
Munkers, Laurie Michael, Macy
Rhea, Ashley Ropp, Trisha
Adams, Jessica Maben, Julie
Watkins, Amy Drake, Bobbie
Rankin, David Bates, Mark
McElligott, Tim Dickenson, Jake
Roy, Jacob Neiffer and Bias
Elguezabal who are great kids and
are doing their best to make our
community a better place and one
we can all be proud of. They have
passed on the Tupper Outdoor
School experience to the next gen­
eration of counselors in a positive
way.
Former Spotted Fawn
(s) Kaedene Bailey
Heppner
Had it with the tobacco industry
To the Editor:
The March jury trial verdict in
Oregon against "Big Tobacco"
reveals a fundamental truth. The
truth is that everyday people
serving on juries have had it
with the tobacco industry's
record of deception and coverup.
Philip Morris tried to use an
eight- year limit in Oregon law
as a loophole during the March
trial. The tobacco company said
it was only responsible for
cancer caused by cigarettes
purchased and smoked in the last
eight years.
"Big Tobacco's" strategy is
clear. It will use any loophole it
can to escape responsibility for
the thousands of people killed
each year by cigarettes. The
Oregon Legislature has before it
a bill (HB 3430) to close this
loophole for tobacco products.
We should all urge our
legislators to support this
change.
(s) Steve Hill
Pendleton
Holly Rebekah Lodge meets
By Dalpha Jonas
Holly Rebekah Lodge met on
Thursday evening for the regular
meeting with the Noble Grand
Marlene Gray presiding.
Reports were heard concerning
ill members and friends.
Virginia Peck, a member, has
returned home from major
surgery in Bend.
Plans for the next two months'
meetings were discussed. The
Thursday, May 20, meeting will
start at 6:30 p.m. with a Mexican
dinner. The main dish will be
provided by the hostesses
Marlene Gray and LaRae
Kindle, with members bringing
snacks.
The Thursday June 17 meeting
is a planned potluck at the
Friendship Park.
*
Our new
Millenium CD”
rates are well
worth celebrating!
Seeking school
friend
To the Editor:
I was hoping that perhaps you
could help me locate a school
friend, with whom I somehow
lost contact over the years. Her
name is Paula Palmer-Hickey,
the daughter of Shirley and
Roger Palmer. We graduated
from Heppner High School in
1981.
My e-mail address is:
Kranzpiller@t-online.de
I would greatly appreciate any
information provided.
(s) Susan Johnson-Kranzpiller
Germersheim, Germany
obtain knowledge from the out­
standing job their teachers, Mrs.
Allen, Mrs. Smith-Griffin, Mr.
Robinson, Mr. Ewing, Mrs. Gibbs
and Mrs. Orwick do, there is an­
other group of people who con­
tribute to the success of the Out­
door School Program. The group
I am speaking of would be the high
school kids who attend the Out­
door School as counselors. These
kids are from Heppner and lone
high schools. They donate their
time to attend classes to prepare
themselves on the do’s and don’ts
of being responsible counselors.
Being a counselor is an honor and
one the kids have to earn. An­
other benefit this offers both the
campers and the counselors is the
chance to build lasting friendships
with the kids from lone. This
year’s group did an outstanding
job with the sixth graders. They
*
*
0
*
t
m &
48
60
120
Month Term
Month Term
Month Term
30% APT*
5 .
50% apy *
5 .
5 .
75% APY*
Stop by your local branch for all the details
Klamath
at Federal
We d be honored.
Heppner Branch:
111 N. Main Street
676-5407
•A fY - Annual Ptocantog« Yiald • AFV i« accural« a> of May 13, 1999
$100 Mirumum Dapoul f HXC Inwrad up to $100,000 • *ato wbtacf to chano«
In o ra ti C o m p o u n d CViily « In to rn i p»noi»y u raqt rad lor «oHy withdrawal
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