[Vision2020] Gritman aims to oust Swanson

Mon Jul 3 17:52:03 PDT 2017

Thank you Rose! My sentiments exactly!

Debi Robinson-Smith

On 7/3/2017 10:25 AM, Rose Huskey wrote:
>
> Darrell, I appreciate your tireless contributions to the community and 
> the support you have organized and provided for many folks who have 
> been marginalized but I respectfully disagree with your conclusions.  
> It is courageous and honorable when organizations goes awry, 
> particularly  when the leadership is involved and profits financially 
>  from self-serving behavior that the public is alerted.  Surely you do 
> not wish this unsavory and reckless behavior to remain hidden. 
>  Silence is assent – is that preferable to shining the light of day on 
> this conduct.  Ignoring or covering up malfeasance has a long and 
> disgusting history in this county.  It is a practice that promotes and 
> protects corruption.  You would not tolerate it in your organization 
> and the community shouldn’t tolerate from the Gritman Board.
>
> Rose Huskey
>
> *From:*vision2020-bounces at moscow.com 
> [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] *On Behalf Of *Darrell Keim
> *Sent:* Monday, July 3, 2017 9:18 AM
> *To:* Moscow Cares
> *Cc:* Moscow Vision 2020
> *Subject:* Re: [Vision2020] Gritman aims to oust Swanson
>
> Not surprising.  I'm not passing judgement on her claims RE Gritman.  
> Right or wrong, she took issues outside of the board and has caused 
> Gritman to lose face in the community.  It was nearly inevitable they 
> would consider censure.
>
> I wish all parties the best as they move forward maintaining Gritman 
> as a healthy and vital community resource.
>
> On Mon, Jul 3, 2017 at 12:45 AM, Moscow Cares <moscowcares at moscow.com 
> <mailto:moscowcares at moscow.com>> wrote:
>
> Courtesy of today's (July 3, 2017) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
>
> ---------------------------------
>
>
>   Gritman aims to oust Swanson
>
>
>     Longtime board chair planning to resign first
>
> Kara Besst, Gritman Medical Center CEO, has called a private meeting 
> of the 40-member general board of the community nonprofit and is 
> asking them to remove former board chair BJ Swanson from all her board 
> positions.
>
> Swanson was board chair for about 16 years, before being replaced last 
> year by Greg Kimberling. She has been critical of the way he has been 
> handling two major conflicts of interest after taking over the chair. 
> Recently, she was also removed as an officer of the 10-member board of 
> directors.
>
> Kimberling is the broker for Gritman's hazard insurance policies, and 
> his sister owns Sprenger Construction Inc., the hospital's favored 
> contractor for several years.
>
> Besst's email - calling the meeting for 5:30 p.m. July 12 at Gritman - 
> was sent Friday evening.
>
> Swanson said Sunday by email that she was writing her resignation from 
> the board.
>
> "I can't compete with the money and expensive attorneys hired by 
> Gritman and am working on my letter of resignation," she wrote in an 
> email to a general board member Sunday morning. "I no longer want to 
> be associated with the Gritman Board and Administration's raping of 
> the community to enrich just a few individuals."
>
> "The request is following allegations by BJ Swanson against Mr. 
> Kimberling," Besst wrote Friday. "The Board has investigated the 
> allegations on several occasions and, each time, has concluded that 
> the allegations are unwarranted.
>
> "Instead of accepting the Board's decisions, Ms. Swanson chose to 
> publicly disparage Chair Kimberling, the Gritman Board, and Gritman 
> Leadership, and, in the process, has undermined the public's trust and 
> confidence in GMC."
>
> Some members of the 10-person board of directors listened to both 
> Swanson and Kimberling state their positions at a meeting Tuesday, 
> Besst said. Then all those present voted to support Kimberling. 
> Besst's email did not say they had voted to remove Swanson.
>
> A general board member who asked not to be named questioned whether 
> the general board had any authority under its by-laws to remove a 
> member of the board of directors.
>
> Another general board member reacted strongly Saturday evening. Sharon 
> Harris of Kendrick has been a critic of the way Greg Mann, another 
> Kimberling critic, was removed from the board of directors recently in 
> favor of Steve Busch, who had not previously been associated with Gritman.
>
> "Should we not address my concern over the way the last election was 
> held before we stack another election on top of an invalid one?" she 
> emailed general board members.
>
> "Come on, fellow board members, how can you keep sweeping things under 
> the rug? How long before the public notices that there is a lot of 
> stuff under the rug and it is bulging?"
>
> She called for the meeting on July 12 to be public since Gritman is a 
> community nonprofit.
>
> "I am sure I will be the next target, since anyone who challenges your 
> actions is removed," she wrote, addressing Besst.
>
> "As you are no doubt aware, Gritman Medical Center, Inc. ("GMC") has 
> been the subject of several articles in the local media," Besst wrote 
> in the initial email to general board members. The meeting would, she 
> wrote, "address the misperceptions and correct the record and answer 
> any questions that General Members may have."
>
> ---------------------------------
>
> Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .
>
> "Moscow Cares"
>
> http://www.MoscowCares.com <http://www.moscowcares.com/>
>
> Tom Hansen
>
> Moscow, Idaho
>
>
> =======================================================
>  List services made available by First Step Internet,
>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> http://www.fsr.net
>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com <mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com>
> =======================================================
>
>
>
> =======================================================
>   List services made available by First Step Internet,
>   serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>                 http://www.fsr.net
>            mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20170703/917c7d53/attachment.html>