Government involvement is not always good. Not sure how this will work out. But the other way with those people was certainly bad.

Sad but inevitable.

I was hoping the State may ask Mr Hennessey, for example, or another successful, seasoned Downeast community business person and community leader to head up the hospital recovery in receivership until they can get back on their feet.

Believe me there are a half dozen of these Mainers, in the Machias area, who are and have been getting it done for years, some generations, and have the faith, trust, and ears of the Maine people in Downeast now and with their expertise and understanding of the economics too, of this area, can make it happen!

Need to take a good look at the mission of the board as well. Why didn't they step in and do something about it. Seems to me there's more people besides Dodwell and Plout to blame. Something's fishy and don't think we're getting the whole story.

Something has been 'fishy' for yrs. Something never quite smelled right.

Pretty amazing - the bald one and the rest of his cronies in Augusta are what put DECH in the horrible condition that it is in by holding back Mainecare (AKA Mainetheft) payments for the past 5 years. Mainecare patients represent the majority of any Maine hospital's income. You can't work out of an empty wagon let alone provide quality healthcare. Then they have the audacity to demand an outside party takes control of the organization. Rest assured that outside party will be directed to funnel any profits to Augusta. But don't worry. This is just the beginning. They haven't paid any hospitals for Mainecare services since 2004. You will see more and more private practices refuse Mainecare patients because the state cannot require them to do so. Unfortunately hospitals don't have that option for emergency care so the state of Maine has been robbing them of payments for the past 5 years. Where is the justice in this? Just try not paying your income or property taxes for 5 years and see if you don't end up in jail.

The lack of payments has not helped, but worse yet is the admin turning a blind eye, again and again and again, to unsafe practices. They were happiest if one ignored problems and papered them over.

This had little to do with payments.

EMHS proposed Doug Jone;

'14 employees laid off at Ellsworth hospital ' (4/9/09 )

By Meg Haskell

BDN Staff

ELLSWORTH, Maine — Maine Coast Memorial Hospital on Wednesday announced 14 employee layoffs and unspecified reductions in executive compensation, citing backlogged Medicaid reimbursements and economic hard times.

The 60-bed hospital’s vice president for marketing, Kristin Tardiff, said 12 full-time and two part-time employees were laid off Wednesday morning, effective immediately. The cuts include positions in administration, laboratory and clinical services, she said.

In addition, another eight positions that are currently vacant will not be filled, and some of the hospital’s top executives, including Chief Executive Officer Doug Jones, will take a reduction in their compensation packages, Tardiff said.

Tardiff declined to provide more specific information about the compensation cuts. In a recent Bangor Daily News survey of CEO compensation at Maine hospitals, Jones’ annual salary and benefits totaled $310,304.

The cuts are expected to save the hospital about $900,000 a year and are needed to help it weather the general economic downturn, especially given the state of Maine’s failure to keep up to date on payments from MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program for low-income and disabled residents, Tardiff said. According to a recent estimate from the Maine Hospital Association, Maine Coast Memorial Hospital is owed about $7.6 million in Medicaid funds dating back to 2005.

Gov. John Baldacci and the Legislature have pledged to use federal stimulus funds to pay off a portion of what is owed to Maine hospitals, but the money is not yet available.

Though the decision to lay off some of its 700 employees was “heart-wrenching,” Tardiff said that overall Maine Coast Memorial Hospital, the second-largest employer in Hancock County after The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, remains a “longstanding and stable hospital” that contributes more than $43 million a year to the local economy.

mhaskell@bangordailynews.net

On 4/9/09 at 2:40 AM, Amazed wrote:

I understand that times are difficult, but I also wonder if the hospitals are vying for a "bailout". MCMH is in the process of adding on to their hospital, perhaps their plans for enlarging their facility should be put on hold before they begin adding more space. If 14 employees cost the hospital that much money, how will they ever be able afford to pay the heating and cooling bills for their new facility along with the new taxes, new equipment, new new new... that will be put in their NEW facility?

If the common folks can't afford to build a new home... the banks won't give them the money to do it. So why is it, that during the hard economic times the hospitals don't have a problem cutting back on workers but are continuing to build facilities that they can't even afford to run? Can someone please explain that to me?

Mr. Jones' salary is $310,304.00 a year... but what does he make for a compensation package aside from his salary? Did he offer to forgo a raise this year? (I bet not). Why can't we get REAL MEN and WOMEN to step up to the plate and really take a hard hit in the pocketbook like the rest of the common folks who are losing their income and can't find another job?

Reminds me of the AIG big wigs who took their bonuses while we sat back and watched AIG get their bailout at the taxpayers expense. I really got a kick out of the guy who said he would take a $1.00 salary for a year when he knew he had a bonus coming to him and God knows what else his contract promised him.

On 4/9/09 at 2:57 AM, Amazed wrote: Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

(When I said: "REAL MEN and WOMEN" I was referring to the corporate big wigs at AIG and other companies as well as the hospitals top executives).

If this whole economic "recession" teaches us all one thing, it should be that we must put money away for rough times such as these and not spend every dime we have, just because we think we can.

Why is the Maine Medicaid System so far behind on their payments to these hospitals, doctors offices, etc...? 7.6 million in overdue payments is an absurd amount to be owing these hospitals. How can we expect the hospitals to continually carry the burden of debt owed to them and still run a hospital where patients are supposed to be able to get good care? I can't imagine any patient being SAFE in a hospital that is so short staffed.

On 4/9/09 at 10:57 AM, countryliving wrote: Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

The last thing I want to do is get sick and have to be put in the hospital. I don't care where, at what hospital. I keep hearing horror stories. Getting the wrong meds or not getting your regular meds. These hospitals are so short handed and it puts so much stress on the nurses. This Doug Jones could have saved a few jobs if he were willing to take a cut in his salary. Making over 300,000,00 no wonder they had to cut others. What does he do anyway? Save lives? I think not. Some of the people they have cut did that! I think it is greed on his part, not caring and knowledge.

A friend took her son to the emergency room, due to arm pain. Ten minutes with a PA , an x-ray and a sling and a bill for almost 2,000.00 ! She has no insurance. My last check up was 143.00 for less than 20 minutes at another hospital. Nobody can afford to get sick and God forbid you have to be put into the hospital! It's best to make sure you have a family member there with you around the clock. With any luck they will catch the mistakes before they are made.

On 4/9/09 at 1:54 PM, sidelineobserver wrote:

You are absolutely right country living. I'm sure this Mr. Jones can do more than survive if he was only making 100k a year.. That's just absurd to get paid that much, but cut TWELVE full time employees that are NEEDED on the floor to help save lives. Maybe Mr. Jones aught to get out on the floor and do some REAL, HARD, HONEST work. Not destroy the lives of others to keep his salary above 300k. Sickening. We do need better people to manage our hospitals.

On 4/9/09 at 6:07 PM, scodud11 wrote:

WOW! $310, 000 a year for CEO of a podunk hospital. That is living large in Ellsworth Maine. The layed off employees combined salaries probably did not equal that. But you really can't blame Doug Jones. If someone offers me 300K tomorrow to do my job, guess what?

On 4/11/09 at 7:40 AM, coastalmaine wrote:

Same scenario in the school systems, cut the positions that are needed, while paying administration unbelievable salaries, never a cut in sight for them!

On 4/12/09 at 10:26 AM, pearyb wrote:

Work a few years and retire with that kind of salary.

On 4/13/09 at 4:53 PM, JoeNiemczura wrote:

I am a former employee of MCMH who was in a layoff there in 1999 ( how time flies! ) and I for one do not begrduge Mr. Jones his salary. When the previous CEO at MCMH was there ( and have no idea what that guy was paid) he presided over a dramatic expansion in respiratory care thorughout Maine, trying to exploit a loophole in the CMMC regulations regarding reimbursement of respiratory care costs to nursing homes. After a whole bunch of contracts were signed, CMMS closed the loophole, and MCMH's empire-building came a cropper. MCMH had a budget that was supposed to be $800,000 in the black but turned to $600,000 in the red, in the blink of an eye. To top it off, the Ellsworh Hospital learned that they owed the state of Maine two million dollars in back payments to the "tax and match" program. Large layoff ensued, and the top executives of MCMH were all replaced by their Board over the next year. All of this was amply covered in the papers at the time. it was front page news.

If these persons posting here knew that background, they would rgive credit to Jones for rebuilding a lot of trust at MCMH, and getting them back into operating in the black. After having been through the disaster caused by the poor executive that preceded him, I am sure that MCMH woudl pay any amoount of money for competence and solid performance.

Having said that, there is no hospital that is immune from the economic situation. What are they to do when nobody has insurance? hospitals also have a bottom line to support.

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/103383.html

I have a number of contacts affiliated professionally with MCMH -- employees and people in other professional relationships with Maine Coast. I hear in very glowing terms from family and friends that MCMH is an excellent place to work. No workplace is perfect. There will ALWAYS be problems. But when there are problems, good leaders will do all they can to rectify them and not sweep them under the carpet for years and years while they fester and finally burst the way things did at DECH.

Another thought: at least 15-20 professionals (nurses, etc) who once worked at DECH are/or have been working happily at MCMH.

As a former employee of DECH for a number of years, I can tell you that the Dodwell regieme was disasterous from the beginning. Scores of good people, some working there for decades and excellent physicians were fired, forced out, or left out of discouragement and disgust. And during this time the board in general failed to recognize the hand writing on the wall. There were trustees who tried to resolve the issues but they were elliminated somehow. EVEN volunteers were removed from their duties (how do you fire a volunteer?).

Please don't prejudge Jones. If EMMC recommends him, it is because he has expertise in some area (perhaps finances) that can benefit DECH. Once anyone's hit bottom, it's time to look up and give other options a fair chance. That's the best course for the community of Machias and the surrounding area. We NEED that hospital. So let's stop picking and embrace the hope that is now ours.

great , MCMH is a terrible hospital . I wouldn't send my worst enemy there.

Finance issues are now so important that a major tune-up is needed. The welfare state does eventually hit bottom, and this is it. Hope you saved your money boys as the bald one will simply float another bond, which although many do it, will also crash.

For the health and safety of the residents of Washington County, DECH needs to be closed. If need be, a clinic can be established at the former hospital and a place established to stabilize injured patients for their trip to Ellsworth or Bangor Hospitals. The operating room should be closed as well as overnight care has to be abandoned at DECH. Both the Administration and Medical Staff are incompetent.

Downeaster thanks for posting the article on Mr Jones. He seems like a very humble man. Layoff's are inevitable at times especially in a failing economy. Would you rather he keep this deserving employees at the expence of the care and treatment that his hospital offers? Something had to give and thank goodness unlike Mr. Dodwell who kept all his employees except those who got out while they could, our care and services at DECH have suffered a great deal. If you bothered to read teh whole article you will see that he too took a pay cut!

I have and still work with several hospitals in rural Maine as well as many of the largest hospital groups in the US . The trend in Maine is the demographics, as the oldest state in the US, we provide older patients, which = more acute care which = more expensive health care costs. And with smaller group of, younger folks, coupled with a younger work force who do not pay into the system nor work for a company who can provide health care, this younger work force, does not add revenue from healthy patients like a North Carolina system. And then too this younger folks also does not get the hospital until their health issues are serious and require expensive interventions. A perfect storm.

DECH has no more issues than the rest except that it appears that a few well heeled detractors stirring the pot, calling upon their buddies in DC health care regulatory agencies, and it's now beyond just safe medical care. In rural areas all over the US, this scenarios are popping up in small towns when these folks try to micro manage the local health care facilities. In Machias it appears these few are hell bent on closing DECH and have made it a personnel issue, though the State and the folks in Machias are will never let this petty personnel battle stop a needed health facility from operating I hope.

It always happens too when a few 'rich and famous' retire or move to these small towns like Machias and Ellsworth and get involved because they think money = superior intellect and where they came from before, had premier health care services in the communities they came from, like a Boston, Phily, etc. and demand and feel entitled to the same care in Maine with a million folks state wide, when the city they lived in had 3 or 4 million like in metro Boston alone.

This to shall pass.

fredrogers, we are not trying to micro manage DECH, and yes it is a personnal issue for everyone relying on care at DECH. We have never been hell bent, as you put it, to Close DECH, we very much want DECH to become the hospital we all used depend on. I am not sure which one of our group is rich and famous, but I was born and raised in Washington County and have worked since I was old enough to do so, starting on the Blueberry fields. I was also and EMT-I for many years in Machias, and have seen up front the decline in health care services.

To think that DECH should close is not thinking clearly. If it should close, many people would be affected, for example:: the staff,lab,x-ray,resp, these services would be gone plus don't forget many people go to the Dr's that are on the hosp campus. You would have to travel to have lab work done, xrays and other testing. Yes changes need to be made and hopefully it is going to happen STAT. Just because the bath water is dirty don't throw the baby out with it.

Dodwell hand picked his people so that he could do whatever he wanted. Those people along with Dodwell need to attone for their actions. It was not just Dodwell it was his hand picked miniuns that caused the problems the hospital is facing now. I am so happy to see that everything is coming out in the downeast tide. While this action of recievership is a drastic step it is one that is needed to hopefuly restore the hospital to what it was before Dodwell came aboard. It will take time do this it's not an over night thing but I think in the long term it will be what will put this hospital back to the safe, trusting and community place it once was. Hats off the Save the Hospital Committee may the good Lord bless you all.

Right on, DaffyDuck -- you have the correct perspective on what has happened and what needs to be done. I just hope the community is able to be patient with the painful process that has to occur in the coming months. This community is too special to give up on the hospital. It CAN be rebuilt and help is on its way.

We all need to remeber that Dodwell was not the only problem!! Quorum and the BOT knew what was going on, and supported it. Hopefully the new CEO can make drastic changes, like get rid of Quorum and a clean sweep of the BOT. There needs to be better communication between an Admin., the BOT, staff and the community. If the Community joins forces and helps the new CEO, anything is possible. We need to look forward to a brighter future with health care restored at DECH.

Hey, DaffyDuck, if you look back and remember, no one was happy with the administration before Mr. Dodwell either. I suspect the next poor person in line for the CEO job will suffer the same fate before his/her tenure is complete.

The guy before Dodwell was also from Quorum.

Hey ProudDECHemployee: Philo was also a Quorum employee - we need to get rid of Quorum and its employees. Hopefully, the next CEO will operate above board, not behind closed doors, and I hope, we as a community can work together.;

Hey ProudDECHemployee: Philo was also a Quorum employee - we need to get rid of Quorum and its employees. Hopefully, the next CEO will operate above board, not behind closed doors, and I hope, we as a community can work together.;

If I remember correctly Philo also got a vote of no comfidence. That is 2 CEO's placed by Quorum that have failed at running this hosp. Time to wake up and smell the coffee or be more selective in who they place here. Someone with experience, ability to deal and converse with staff and public, someone who will be honest and not be afraid to stick neck out for the employees. The board also needs to be employee friendly and not just adhere to CEO's thought process. Should the next CEO be someone local or someone from away that knows no one here and start fresh. Whoever it is has a big job and a lot of damage control to do. Maybe it's time for a woman to take over ,I still say Sr. Mary Norberta can run a tight ship, get a few pages from her book!!

Why a woman? What does the sex have to do with it?

IN the 1960's, two women were the head of countries. Golda Meir, Indira Ghandi. They were both at war at the same time.

And then Margaret Thatcher in 1978.

People are people.

Why not a woman, seems like the last 2 men have really been a success (NOT).

Interesting article in MVNO.....so has the hospital bought Machias Medical?

evidenlty so about the purchase of Machias Medical, big sign covering up saying it is DECH Medical Assoc.