The Wrangell Medical Center Board and Dr. Greg Salard are at a stalemate concerning the reinstatement of the doctor’s hospital privileges.
The Wrangell Medical Center board is still discussing Dr. Greg Salard’s credentialing.
WMC board members have been meeting for the last few months in executive session to discuss the matter, but have yet to officially give Salard a yes or no. Some board members, such as Judy Allen are blaming their attorney, Roger Hillman, for the delays.
“I do not see that he is at all making any serious effort to carry out the wishes of this board. I don’t see that he’s doing that at all. I am frustrated that here we are, deadlocked, and marching to the tune of an attorney that I don’t even trust. So we need to do something,” she said.
During the meeting, members pointed out they were told by Hillman to wait for Salard to drop his appeal for reconsideration. That’s according to an interpretation of a judge’s order. Salard said he doesn’t believe that move is necessary.
“I’ve got three attorneys that have told me no, that the judge did not mean that. The judge would never make someone give up his rights on the hope that he might get something down the road. That’s ridiculous. Ask another attorney,” he said.
He said he doesn’t understand why his offer of mediation was turned down. Salard said he’s concerned about how much longer it could take for the issue to be resolved.
“You were elected because the people of Wrangell thought you would make a decision. If I was in your position and a doctor got, excuse my language, screwed over by a previous board and administrator for political reasons, my first course of action would be to right a wrong that’s been done,” he said.
A few of the board members, including Terri Henson, wanted to reassure Salard and the residents who attended the meeting that they are taking the matter seriously.
“We do have to consult with the lawyers, and we do have to take into consideration the information that was given to us. We weren’t able to move forward until some decisions were made on Dr. Salard’s part. That doesn’t mean that we’re not moving forward, and I don’t like somebody accusing us of not moving forward. And I really don’t like being accused as a board of a whole of having some kind of personal vendetta out there. I think that if people want us to move forward in a positive way, there should be a little bit of support out there too from the community. And I don’t think we’re getting that,” she said.
Members once again moved into executive session to discuss credentialing. The matter is still unresolved. The next hospital board meeting is Dec. 19.
