Registered nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital on Wednesday called on the board of trustees to terminate the hospital’s top leader immediately in a petition of no confidence, according to the nurses union.
The 55 Houlton registered nurses, members of the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, said Wednesday that CEO Jeff Zewe has caused “significant damage to the hospital and community” in his 16-month tenure.
In response, the Board of Trustees said they stand “fully and unanimously” behind CEO Zewe.
“We have complete confidence in his leadership, the direction he has set for Houlton Regional Hospital and his vision for its long-term future,” Board of Trustees Chairwoman Lynette McLaughlin said. “Under his guidance, we are building an organization that will serve our community with excellence for generations to come.”
Wednesday’s action comes on the heels of a letter of no confidence sent to Zewe earlier this month by registered nurses at Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent, which he also leads. The northern Maine nurses issued the letter after half of the emergency department nurses resigned citing a toxic environment created by Zewe.
The nurses bargaining unit and hospital executives have been battling over safety and staffing concerns at both the Fort Kent facility and Houlton Regional Hospital. As contract negotiations appeared to drag on, especially related to emergency department staffing and patient safety concerns, several nurses expressed frustrations with leadership during multiple strikes and other public actions.
The Houlton nurses called a four-day strike in May, the second strike in six months, and still don’t have a contract.
Northern Maine Medical Center registered nurse Ami Maxwell said earlier this month that six emergency department nurses resigned and more were looking for new jobs. The nurses did not want to leave, but chose to look for new positions because it is an “awful toxic” work environment, Maxwell said.
Each hospital has 25 acute care beds and is classified as critical access, meaning it can claim some higher federal reimbursement rates. Combined, the two facilities serve almost half of Aroostook County’s 70,000 people, according to hospital officials.
In June 2025, Zewe, who had led the Fort Kent hospital since 2022, took on the Houlton hospital leadership in a management agreement intended to increase patient access, enhance quality outcomes and improve the long-term financial stability of both hospitals, with a more “formal affiliation” as its goal, hospital officials said at the time.
Zewe took the Houlton hospital reins a month after its labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum department closed on May 2, 2025.
The hospital’s medical executive committee felt compelled to respond to allegations recently published in the press, Dr. Soloman Olabiyi said Wednesday.
“The allegations presented in recent press coverage do not reflect our firsthand experience,” he said. “As physicians directly involved in delivering care, our assessment is grounded in our daily work and observations.”
Olabiyi said the committee unanimously supports the positive changes made under Zewe, including improvements in the quality of care, recruitment of highly qualified staff, and a patient-centered approach that has strengthened patient safety and care for the community.
Yet Zewe’s tenure in Maine mirrors similar concern from unionized nurses at hospitals he previously led in New York and Pennsylvania.
The New York State Nurses Association reported 753 formal protests of assignment — written documents notifying the employer that a nursing assignment is unsafe — signed by 2,820 nurses from 2019 to 2020 at Olean General Hospital. Zewe held executive leadership roles at the hospital from 2015 to 2021.
He was appointed chief operating officer in 2015 and chief executive officer in 2020. By June 2021, Olean nurses were publicly describing severe staffing pressures, according to multiple news accounts and New York State Nurses Association statements. He resigned in 2021, although no reason was given for his departure, according to a hospital statement.
Zewe did not comment about his previous employment when the Bangor Daily News asked him on Wednesday.
Since he has been in Maine, multiple complaints have been filed with the state Labor Relations Board by union members, claiming retaliatory actions by hospital leadership. The BDN has filed Freedom of Access Act requests with the labor board to access details of five open cases and is awaiting a response.
Houlton registered nurses said Wednesday they must take action “while there is still time to preserve and protect our community hospital.”
The nurses told the board of trustees in a written statement that they have no confidence in Zewe’s leadership for the following reasons: Failure to retain staff and local expertise; diminishing security capacity; failure to staff appropriately; failure to reach a fair contract; reliance on outside consultants; and creating an unhealthy culture.
Chief Operating Officer Gina Brown disagreed and said that retaining employees has been a top priority since Zewe became CEO.
“I can say with confidence that we are in a better place today under Jeff’s leadership,” Brown said. “We are on the right track to continue delivering quality care to the patients and families of our community.”
The bargaining committee, which includes registered nurses Tori Quint, operating room; Mary Howland, acute care department; Erin Mitchell, emergency department; Cassidy Hardy, acute care; Brooke Howland, acute care; Christina Schimdt, operating room; and Kelli Lawlor, operating room, sent a letter of no confidence in Zewe to the board of trustees in July and invited the board to a meeting to hear their concerns.
“They didn’t show up. All we’ve heard is silence,” several members of the bargaining committee said in a Wednesday statement. “We are greatly saddened that the Houlton Regional Hospital Board of Trustees didn’t keep its word to listen to employees.”
