On Friday, April 27th Superior Court Judge Kevin G. Miller ruled in favor of Wrangell Medical Center (WMC), denying local Physician Dr. Greg Salard the ability to work at the city-owned hospital pending his appeal.
Dr. Salard says he’s not surprised by the Judge’s decision.
“He made his decision based on irreparable harm, and he thinks we will have an adequate remedy at law for any lost wages or damages to reputation, so he didn’t issue stay because of that. The next step is for the appeal. The Judge will look at the Fair Review Hearing, and we expect for him to prove that the board’s decision was arbitrary and capricious. We fully expect to win the appeal,” he says.
This case stems from a decision made in early March by the Hospital’s Hearing Committee to deny Salard his privileges to work at the city-owned hospital. In late February a Fair Review Hearing was held for Salard, where a committee made up of Hospital Board members heard testimony of patient complaints against the doctor as well as staff reports of disruptive behavior by Salard. This was used as grounds for denying the doctor his privileges.
Dr. Salard works as a physician for Alaska Island Community Services (AICS), which contracts with Wrangell Medical Center. At this time Salard is still seeing patients at AICS.
According to court documents the Judge orders that WMC will not report any adverse decisions regarding the privileges of Salard to any credentialing board until the outcome of the appeal has been decided.
Hospital Board Chair Mark Robinson declined to give comment on the case. An appeal date has not been set.
