Tension grows between Golden Valley Health Centers’ employees, CEO
What a difference six months have made for the Golden Valley Health Centers.
Since Tony Weber took over as chief executive officer in May, the top executive has:
▪ Fired Dr. Silvia Diego, the former chief medical officer and a respected physician.
▪ Terminated the former manager of Golden Valley’s west Modesto clinic and cut ties with a well-regarded mental health counselor.
▪ Accepted the resignations of former interim CEO Christine Noguera, former Nursing Director Connie Diers and a former grants manager.
▪ Appointed a physician’s assistant as interim chief medical officer to oversee doctors and other health providers in Golden Valley’s 20-plus clinics, which serve 100,000 patients in Stanislaus and Merced counties.
Former Executive Director Michael Sullivan led the Merced-based organization for 40 years, developing clinics and health services for farmworkers and the uninsured in the Valley. The nonprofit’s nine-member board never had to hire a CEO until Sullivan retired.
Weber has not been popular with many employees, judging from complaints detailed in letters to the board of directors.
In a blistering letter this week, Dr. Liza Marie Pham charged that Weber has created a hostile work environment and “culture of oppression.” She claimed that staff members risk being fired or are asked to resign if they don’t fully support the CEO’s directives. Her letter recounted heated exchanges between Weber and provider staff at a meeting last month.
According to Pham, staffers are divided between those who support Weber and those who were outraged by Diego’s termination.
“There is a prevailing sense of fear,” Pham wrote. “There is no freedom to express oneself, without fear of retaliation from the leadership team.”
Weber did not return calls or an email requesting comment.
Before he was hired by Golden Valley, he held positions with San Ysidro Health Center in Southern California and Family HealthCare Network. Vocal employees have criticized Weber for hiring a friend as Golden Valley’s chief operating officer.
Diego confirmed she was fired Nov. 17 after 17 years with Golden Valley. She said she had raised concerns about Weber’s goals to open the clinics to thousands of people who enrolled in Medi-Cal through the Affordable Care Act.
Diego said she supports greater access to care but the clinics do not have the medical staff to safely care for so many new patients. “It was because I was the one who was saying, ‘Slow down, we just can’t do it this way,’” Diego said. “The doctors are overwhelmed with the patients they have. If you give access to a lot of new patients, you have to take away access from current patients.”
Employees say the new management wants health care providers to take on six new patients each day, or 30 per week. For a full-time physician, the total would be 1,440 new patients in a year, Pham said.
Physicians and employees critical of Weber were hoping to speak to Golden Valley Health Centers’ board of directors Thursday evening, but the meeting was canceled. There was no word on when another meeting would be scheduled.
Board members and top managers have not responded publicly to the harsh critiques of the CEO.
“We can’t comment,” board Chairman John Price said Wednesday. “It’s a personnel issue, and we have policies and procedures for that. … Our board meetings are not public meetings, but we have never turned anybody away who wanted to talk with the board.”
Weber’s critics have said the tensions began soon after he arrived. They claim Weber took action against staff members who opposed his hiring and had drawn attention to events in his background.
The CEO was one of the defendants in a 2007 whistleblower lawsuit filed in federal court in Fresno. The plaintiff accused Family HealthCare Network, Weber and a chief operating officer, Harry Foster, of fraud in obtaining grant funds from federal government agencies and how the money was spent.
Weber is a former chief financial officer for Family HealthCare, which has clinics for the underserved in Tulare and Kings counties.
Sharman Wood, a former grants management coordinator, claimed the defendants prepared applications for grant money with the stated intent to hire additional staff and increase the hours at two health clinics.
The competitive grants were awarded, but the defendants did not use the funds to expand clinic services, the lawsuit said. The money was used to cover operating expenses, Wood claimed.
According to court documents, the plaintiff and Family HealthCare agreed to settle the case to avoid the costs of prolonged litigation. The defendants agreed to pay $400,000 to the U.S. government. The federal government gave $100,000 to Wood for bringing the action under the False Claims Act.
Weber also has a bankruptcy on his record. In a 2004 filing in the U.S. bankruptcy court in Fresno, Weber and his wife reported owing $289,325 to creditors, including a $184,500 home mortgage, credit card bills and vehicle loans. The Webers reported assets worth $264,050. The bankruptcy case was discharged and terminated in May 2007.
Pham said she believes Golden Valley’s board should appoint another CEO. “Golden Valley Health Centers are suffering, even the brand is suffering,” the pediatrician said. “It is absolutely time that they listen to us.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2014 at 7:42 PM with the headline "Tension grows between Golden Valley Health Centers’ employees, CEO."