Last week, the Wrangell Medical Center filed an opposition in court to local physician Greg Salard’s request to have his privileges restored at the hospital pending his appeal process.
The WMC Board of Directors, acting as a review committee, voted in early March to deny Salard the right to practice at the hospital.
A week later, on March 9, Salard filed an appeal to that decision in Wrangell trial court, and also requested he be allowed to work at WMC pending the court’s decision on that appeal.
In its memorandum of opposition, WMC states Salard’s motion for a “stay,” is unwarranted.
“That Salard disagrees with the Committee’s conclusion is unfortunate, but it does not entitle him to a stay of the decision,” the court document states.
Salard has argued in his court documents that not being allowed to work at WMC will cause him “irreparable harm.”
Salard is employed through Alaska Island Community Services (AICS) and was previously contracted to practice at WMC on a temporary basis. WMC’s decision to not allow Salard to see patients in the hospital’s emergency room or patients in long-term care, infringes on his contract with AICS.
“This will affect [Salard’s] retirement, his ability to earn a living, and forever blemish his professional credentials…” Salard’s attorney Lee Holen wrote in court documents.
WMC, however, argues that Salard can only claim some financial loss from the decision not to allow him to practice at the hospital.
“Mere financial loss does not constitute irreparable harm,” states WMC’s memorandum in opposition of Salard’s motion for stay.
WMC also said it would not report Salard to any credentialing agency while his appeal is pending, according to court documents.
“This vitiates his claim of irreparable harm, as his professional credential will not be forever blemished,” WMC’s memorandum states.
WMC argues the hospital and its patients do stand to suffer harm if Salard’s stay is issued, according to the memorandum.
The hospital denied Salard privileges based on his conduct toward and interaction with patients and WMC staff, according to court documents. Complaints against Salard, filed in court, include patients saying they felt uncomfortable when cared for by Salard, and WMC staff members saying they felt threatened by him.
Salard has discredited the complaints. In his appeal, Salard said WMC’s decision to deny him privileges at the hospital was not based on any competent evidence and was “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.”
The decision was also “unprecedented,” given the few allegations presented by WMC and was not based on the quality of care provided by Salard, the physician’s appeal states.
WMC disagrees, saying the complaints are extremely serious and demonstrates that Salard cannot communicate effectively with patients or staff, according to WMC’s memorandum.
“This is evident in his dramatically inappropriate conversations with pregnant patients about adopting their babies…with hospital staff who have felt demeaned and threatened by him, and with several patients in this community and their families who refuse to be seen by him,” the memorandum states.
Having Salard back on staff would disrupt the care environment at WMC and prevent WMC from immediately finding his permanent replacement, the memorandum argues.
Salard has also filed a motion of expedited consideration by the court of his “stay” request, which is still being considered, Holen told the Sentinel Tuesday.
On March 20, a request for the court to hear oral arguments on Salard’s motion for a stay was also filed. Two days later, WMC stated it would not oppose that request for oral arguments, despite the fact it did not believe there was a need for expedited consideration.
WMC’s attorney did not return calls to the Sentinel before deadline.
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