Newspaper Page Text
6A
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2006
FIRED
From page 1A
the question of whether or
not it was illegal to do it the
way they did, the Authority
decided to have an “emer
gency called meeting” Friday
at 4 p.m. to vote in open
session to fire Aaron, with
out cause and name Alford
as successor, because “the
healthcare system did not
need to be without a leader,
we need a CEO,” explained
Authority Vice Chairman
Dr. Robert Carter.
How much of an emergen
cy was it? Hospital Authority
Attorney Mike Gray notified
the legal organ of the county,
the Houston Home Journal,
when returning a phone call
at about 12:40 p.m. Friday
about the previous issue
of voting in a closed ses
sion. Media relations at the
hospital was notified about
the meeting by this newspa
per when returning a call.
Formal notification of the
4 p.m. meeting came about
1:30 p.m.
Notification of Thursday’s
meeting, which reportedly
was called to order at about 7
p.m., in Perry and went into
closed session to offer Alford
the job, never came. Alford
mentioned the meeting while
talking with reporters after
Friday’s “emergency called
meeting.”
Gray admitted the legal
organ should have been noti
fied, and said he was not
aware it wasn’t until Friday
after the meeting, when con
fronted about it. By law, the
Authority has to notify the
legal organ for the county, in
this case, the Houston Home
Journal, at least 24 hours
before any called meeting
and cannot vote in closed
session.
According to attorney
David Hudson it is “plain
ly illegal to take personnel
action in a closed meeting. It
gives anyone 90 days to go to
court to have the action set
aside. Code 50-14-1 (b). Also
this is so plainly illegal if the
vote was in a closed meeting
that criminal misdemeanor
sanctions in 50-14-6 may be
appropriate.”
According to Authority
member Sonny Watson, the
vote to fire Aaron was held
in executive (closed) ses
sion Wednesday following
the regular meeting, which
he said the Authority was
allowed to do.
Friday afternoon, Gray
said the Authority could
discuss personnel issues but
“cannot take a final binding
vote in executive session.”
On Monday, Gray said,
“not to my knowledge,” when
asked about Aaron appeal
ing the decision or any legal
challenges to closed session
votes. “They voted in open
session Friday,” Gray said
and noted he was not there
for Wednesday’s closed ses
sion.
At Friday’s “emer
gency called meeting,”
the Hospital Authority of
Houston County voted in
open session formally to fire
Aaron. Authority member
Dr. Daniel Deighton, chief
of staff at Houston Medical
Center, made the motion “to
exercise our right under the
contract to terminate with
out cause” the contract with
CEO Aaron.
Authority member Dr.
Horatio Cabasares, Perry
Hospital chief of staff, said
he was “opposed to the
motion.”
He was the only one. The
remaining members pres
ent, Glynn Greenway, Sonny
Watson, Dick Bexten, Jack
Ragland and Trudie Warren,
raised their right hand in
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favor. Chairman Dyson was
not at the “emergency called
meeting,” and Carter, lead
ing the meeting in Dyson’s
absence, called for the show
of hands.
The vote was the same for
the naming of Alford as CEO,
with Cabasares abstain
ing “consistent with my
stand,” he said. Cabasares
said he would work with the
CEO in his post as chief of
staff at Perry Hospital.
Cabasares asked for the
Authority to attend the July
11 medical staff meeting in
Perry to “brief the staff on
what’s going on.”
At Friday’s meeting Gray
explained what was going
on.
“The board met in exec
utive (closed) session
Wednesday to evaluate the
performance of Aaron. He
was given the opportunity to
resign. I spoke with him at
10:30, this morning,” Gray
said Friday. “He declined to
resign. He did not indicate
why. He said he would pro
ceed with the contract.”
If Aaron resigned, the
Authority would have given
him six months salary in a
lump sum, Gray said. Per his
contract signed in 2005, if he
is terminated without cause,
he receives 12 months of
pay, continued medical and
life insurance in monthly
payments for the next 12
months, unless he finds
other employment. Then the
payments stop.
According to the contract,
for Aaron to resign, he has
to give a minimum of 120
days notice in writing. And
he would not be entitled to
any severance.
Aaron had held the job
since August 2000. And as
of Aug 1, he was to be paid
$275,000 a year plus ben
efits through 2010 according
to the contract he signed a
year ago.
On Friday, Watson said
the meetings, in the future
will be more open and he’s
for open government. Dyson
said at Wednesday’s meeting
that the executive session
then dinner would be held
at the beginning of the meet
ing, instead of at the end.
“Frank has served our
organization well during
these past six years, and
we wish him success in his
future endeavors,” Dyson
said in Friday’s press release.
“We appreciate the many
accomplishments Houston
Healthcare achieved and the
overall performance of the
organization under his lead
ership and direction.”
Alford has been with
Houston Healthcare for five
years as executive director
of medical affairs. He came
here from Signa of Louisiana
in Baton Rouge.
When asked about a direc
tion, Alford said. “I answer
to the board. We’re working
to develop a vision, moving
forward, to develop addition
al services to serve the com
munity is what we’re gonna
do.”
Alford said his former
position and that of Houston
Medical Center executive
director vacant since the
retirement of Art Christy
“would eventually be filled,
but will probably remain
vacant for a while,” with
department heads filing the
gaps.
Houston Healthcare offi
cials could neither confirm
nor deny the employment
status of two department
heads rumored to have been
fired.
On Friday, Gray said he
had not received any let
ters of resignation and hos
pital spokeswoman Mary
Jane Kinnas, said Monday
the personnel issues had not
been resolved yet.
FOURTH
From page 1A
to Officer James Jones of
the Warner Robins Police
Department.
“Everything has been
good,” he said. “We haven’t
had any problems.”
Although the Band of the
U.S. Air Force Reserve is
used to playing with famous
musicians all over the coun
try, they rarely get to play
at home, according to David
Ballengee, deputy director
of operations.
“I think it was magnifi
cent,” said Ballengee. “The
biggest gig in our backyard
is a pretty cool deal.”
Several members of the
band expressed similar feel
ings.
“We don’t get to per
form in Warner Robins too
often,” said Sgt. Marcel
Marchetti, a trumpeteer
who was performing in his
12th Independence Day
Celebration. “Getting to
perform in our community
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have a familiar audience.”
Sgt. Janis Thrift, a vocal
ist, had her husband and
two sons in the audience.
“It’s the best to perform
for friends and family,” she
said. “It’s nice to give back
to the community that gives
all year round to you.”
Airman Tom Salyers,
another trumpet player,
said it’s the first time his
daughter, Adriana, 10,
has heard him play at the
Celebration.
“It’s awesome,” she com
mented before the con
cert, adding that she was
looking forward to “great
music and fireworks.”
Weather was another fac
tor that everyone agreed
was fantastic.
“The honor band keeps
getting better every year,”
said Capt. Chad A. Steffey,
the commander and con
ductor of the Band of the
U.S. Air Force Reserve.
“Guest artist John Berry
is wonderful to work with
... and it’s not raining.”
After the band played
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-15 flyover with three jets,
a coordinated effort with
Team Robins, according to
Ballengee. “It’s a total force
operation with active duty
and reservists working
together.”
Ballengee said the fly
over is coordinated, but not
rehearsed.
“They hit the mark right
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on the money,” he said. “As
we say in the Air Force,
‘SHACK’.”
A 20-minute display of
fireworks and music con
cluded the event.
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