https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=save%20dr%20kearney
Okay, okay, maybe it is time for another post to the blog. It has been a long summer and I unfortunately/fortunately have been preoccupied. Lots happening recently that might have some bearing on the Dr. Kearney case. Much if not all of this can be found in other places like the Dr. Kearney Facebook page cited above, but I include it here for the new and frequent visitors to this blog site who may not visit these other sites.
To begin with, just yesterday UKHC administrators, as well as president Capilouto and his posse of lawyers, received the embarrassing news [in the form of a Kentucky Herald Leader article (http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/education/article166487142.html)] that the faculty in the College of Medicine, in defiance of this university and hospital administration and in support of Dr. Kearney, voted to have Dr. Kearney represent them on the College of Medicine Faculty Council. This, along with the 100s of letters to President Capilouto airing public support for Dr. Kearney, as well as his election by the general faculty to the University Senate and the recent establishment of a teaching award in Dr. Kearney’s name by the College of Medicine resident students, all voice the majority sentiment with regards to this total mistreatment of a university tenured professor and outstanding trauma physician. Of course what is perhaps most interesting about this is the distinct possibility that the College of Medicine Faculty Council is where it all began. Back in the 4/15/2014 College of Medicine Faculty Council meeting, Dr. Kearney suggested an audit of KMSF might help answer some of the questions the Faculty Council had with respect to the mystery Practice Plan Committee and hospital finances. This of course resulted in the response from Dr. Karpf (something about him leaving if he didn’t like how things were run around here) that many interpreted as a threat. Shortly following this meeting Dr. Kearney was cited for use of improper language in a trauma ward. This citation was subsequently used as an excuse to assemble a committee of KMSF employees to litigate the incident (of course in the absence of Dr. Kearney). This jury of totally biased KMSF employees (several of which were on the KMSF board of directors), as might be expected, found him guilty. They then went on to implement an unprecedented sentence of loss of patient privileges and banishment from the university. Unfortunately for Dr. Capilouto and his cadre of arrogant lawyers (but fortunately for faculty throughout the university), Dr. Kearney chose not to “take the deal or we will destroy your career”. Thank you Dr. Kearney. Offering support to the belief that all of this was simply a witch hunt, is the observation that the Chief Medical Officer Dr. Boulanger, the College of Medicine Dean Dr. deBeer, and the Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. Karpf, all of whom participated in the manufacturing of this vendetta against Dr. Kearney (along with the university president Dr. Capilouto and his General Counsel professor/adjunct instructor Thro), have managed to flee the scene of the crime. Furthermore, this would also seem to support the contention that this is a case of personal vendetta and harassment by these individuals rather than a legitimate violation of university or university hospital regulations that merit the punishment implemented.
Let’s see, what else is there? Oh yes, there’s the UK dentist, Dr. Raynor Mullins, who, like Dr. Kearney, recently filed a Whistleblower lawsuit against a senior administrator (Mark Birdwhistell) in UK Healthcare (http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/article164966162.html). Mr. Birdwhistell is UK’s vice president (or is that president of vice, I get these mixed up) of administration for UK Healthcare. This case appears to reflect, once again, that arrogant practice of the lawyers at the University of Kentucky who think they are all powerful and can strong-arm anyone. That might work well for sexual harassers under employment by the university, but probably not so well for retirees who they can no longer bribe with NDAs or harass with termination.
Speaking of the UK traditional strong-arm approach to handling vocal faculty, there is also the recent newspaper article detailing the Sergio Melgar lawsuit (http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/education/article165159277.html). Sergio Melgar was a former Chief Financial Officer at UK hospital who recently filed a discrimination lawsuit against UK Medical Center. Mr. Melgar apparently made the mistake of voicing a complaint about his salary and was fired by Mike Karpf for it. It seems they didn’t have to recruit a kangaroo court for this one, Dr. Karpf simply said, ‘you’re fired’. Donald Trump would be proud of him.
Finally, there is the recent court-mandated release of information surrounding the Hazard money mismanagement debacle. If you remember, the university filed a lawsuit against the Herald Leader to stop them from accessing the infamous Hazard Board of Trustees presentation by the Washington lawyer, David Douglas, who they paid a million dollars to fix (at the cost of another 4 million dollars) the UK/Hazard mismanagement of Medicare/Medicaid billing (see presentation provided by an anonymous contributor). With something obvious to hide, the university of course is contesting much of this (see attached university motion to alter, amend or vacate the judge’s opinion and order).
So there you have it. The University of Kentucky appears to be spending more time and money (taxpayer dollars by the way) in court this year than they are educating the youth of this state. Speaking of which, what a poor example for the youth of the state. I have to wonder how much of this could have been avoided if the university had administrators and lawyers with the least bit of humility or the least bit of negotiating skills.