Herington Hospital employees: administration 'failed us;' Emprise Bank denies having medical records
Ed Boice, Abilene Reflector-Chronicle, Kan.
5 min read
Nov. 10—Two employees who formerly worked at Herington Hospital spoke with the Reflector-Chronicle about what they witnessed during their time at the hospital before it closed down suddenly. For their safety, the employees will remain anonymous. They will be referred to as Employee #1 and Employee #2. Employee #1 worked at the hospital until it closed, while Employee #2 resigned earlier this year.
"The board of directors completely failed us and left us to fend for ourselves," Employee #1 said. "Many of my previous coworkers are still without jobs. We are all having to pull out of savings and run up our credit card just to pay our basic bills. I fully believe that the board of directors saw this coming and yet they allowed this to happen."
"And those of us that were under their (administration's) leadership, had no idea," Employee #2 said. "Bryan (Bryan Coffey, chief financial officer of the hospital until February 2022 when he resigned) was good at making things appear so good, but the board members, they failed the facility. They should have been far more diligent in their obligations to the citizens of Herington."
Employee #1 said hospital administration announced to employees Oct. 6 the hospital would be closing. Administration gave two reasons why they were closing. The first was the IRS decided to withhold a grant the hospital was accepted for because they had accrued too much debt. Administration also claimed that one of the banks the hospital used was seizing the facility's equipment and forcing them to shut down.
Employee #2 said Herington Hospital had accounts with Central National Bank in Herington and Emprise Bank. According to a story in the Marion County Record, Emprise Bank sued Herington Hospital, Amberwell and other parties Oct. 9. The story confirmed the bank holds a mortgage line and granted loans for the hospital's Hillsboro clinic. The bank seeks $1.9 million plus interest and foreclosure of the property.
Emprise Bank submitted a statement to the Reflector-Chronicle Nov. 3. They denied having possession of the hospital and its medical records despite Harold Courtios, chief executive officer with Memorial Hospital System, commenting to the Reflector-Chronicle that MHS was working to get Emprise to release the medical records Herington Hospital held. The Reflector-Chronicle is waiting for clarification from Emprise.
"It's our understanding that the hospital leadership, including its board of directors, abruptly resigned and walked away from the facility, effectively abandoning it without complying with requirements that are mandated by state and federal law for closing a hospital," reads the rest of Emprise's statement. "We share everyone's concern over the privacy and safety of all medical records. We encourage affected parties to reach out to the hospital's prior leadership."
Administration staff then organized a meeting with the chief executive officer of Amberwell, Jeff Perry, and hospital staff for Oct. 9, Employee #1 said. Amberwell is a healthcare system with locations in Atchison, Hiawatha and other cities. Perry and administration told staff they were not sure when benefits would end. Personal time off would not be paid out and staff could not use PTO during the final week the hospital was open, but staff was told they would receive their last paycheck.
"I witnessed my previous staff boxing up their entire department," Employee #2 said to the Reflector-Chronicle Oct. 9. "They're shutting the doors. They're too coward to speak up. It's disgusting."
Perry also shared that Amberwell had given Herington Hospital $400,000 to pay off debts and would not give more. Amberwell has not responded to the Reflector-Chronicle when asked to comment. Employee #1 said the amount did not "even put a dent," in the debt.
"Amberwell believed in a 'silence is golden' and a 'let's prove it' approach when it came to the community and all communication with citizens stopped," Employee #2 said. "Zero transparency."
Staff asked if they could apply for extended coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). COBRA is offered by the U.S. Department of Labor and is an option for workers who have lost their job or lost work hours to maintain health coverage for several months. Employee #1 said Kayla Meyer, the interim CEO of the hospital, told them applying for COBRA, "wouldn't be worth it."
The next day, Oct. 10, Meyer sent an email to employees reading the last day of benefits coverage was the same day, Oct. 10. Employee #1 said their healthcare provider is Auxiant.
"Therefore all employees that have paid for the month of October insurance benefits, including myself, lost all benefits," Employee #1 said.
On Oct. 11, Employee #1 and #2 said staff was notified they would not receive their last paycheck. Administration told them they could not pay because "their bank accounts had been illegally seized," Employee #1 said. Employees did eventually receive their last paycheck Oct. 13, said Employee #1, but were also told PTO and retirement would never be paid.
"The employees at Herington Hospital were completely blindsided," Employee #1 said. "We were constantly being told our jobs were safe, and Amberwell was going to help us. We have been left with no jobs or benefits."
Employee #1 said they did not know how much the hospital is in debt. They do know the hospital's lab owed around $200,000. At one point, the reference lab they used, Kansas Pathology Consultants P.A., refused to send supplies until the debt was paid. Red Cross also threatened to take away the hospital's blood units and stop deliveries.
"Towards the end we had to find different companies to get our reagents and slides through because the hospital would not pay our old companies," Employee #1 said.
Employee #2 said they witnessed hospital employees boxing up supplies to send to a pathology organization to satisfy the hospital's $20,000 debt.
Toward the end of October, Employee #1 received a letter from Auxiant stating their insurance ended because the hospital had not paid their share. Employee #1 said Auxiant had previously ended coverage for a day or two sometime in the beginning of 2023. Administration did not tell employees about it at the time, so anyone who had a doctor appointment had to pay out of pocket without knowing beforehand.
"The problem I have with that is most of the employees, including myself, were paying around $130 a month for insurance," Employee #1 said. "Where did all our money go?"
