Skip to main content

Surgeons file $4.5 million whistleblower retaliation suit against Samaritan Health Services

Two reconstructive surgeons have filed a whistleblower retaliation suit against the Corvallis-based health system, saying they were fired for complaining that management’s cost-cutting hurt care
Image
SAMARITAN PACIFIC COMMUNITIES HOSPITAL IN NEWPORT./VISITOR7/CC BY-SA 3.0/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
October 15, 2024

The $4.5 million lawsuit filed Monday represents the second whistleblower claim filed against Samaritan in the last seven months. It comes as the health system, already dominant in Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties with five hospitals, is moving into Marion County as well.

The 48-page suit, filed by Kevin Day and Richard Havard in Benton County Circuit Court, comes nearly a year after their termination led to the sudden closure of their Samaritan clinic specializing in reconstructive and hand surgeries. The closure sparked a local uproar as breast cancer patients planning mastectomies were suddenly left in limbo. 

“Samaritan just ghosted me,” Michelle Bangs told The Lund Report. 

Bangs, an Albany resident who received a double mastectomy from Day in February 2023, said she found out he had been fired when she showed up for reconstruction surgery in November.

The unexpected firing of Day came at one of the most vulnerable points in her life, said Bangs, 40. After being told that he had been let go, she said a Samaritan representative handed her a list of other plastic surgeons, which she likened to “a sculpturist having to finish another sculpturist’s work.”

Image
Samaritan group
COURTESY/MICHELLE BANGS.
After Dr. Kevin Day's firing from Samaritan, his former patients formed a support group. From left, Andrea Schmidt, Mo Weinman and Michelle Bangs. 

The suit, filed by attorneys Dana Sullivan and Kelly A. Fisher of Buchanan Angeli Altschul & Sullivan LLP, provides Day and Richard’s perspective on what led up to their firing. It alleges Samaritan’s cost-cutting and mismanagement meant sudden cancellations of entire days of surgeries, at times with little or no notice. 

Asked for comment, Samaritan leadership responded with a statement denying the allegations, describing Havard and Day as “not aligned with our organizational values.” The statement noted the time and expense of recruiting physicians and described the situation as one leaders did not take lightly. 

In the meantime, Samaritan has recruited Gary Donath as a new plastic surgeon.

“We look forward to him building a successful patient practice,” Doug Boysen, Samaritan Health Services president and CEO, said in the statement. 

Conditions degraded over years, per suit

After 2017, when Boysen took over as Samaritan’s CEO, the surgeons’ compensation shifted from traditional salaries to a production-based model based on their billing, according to the suit.

The hospital system also created Samaritan Medical Group to give clinicians more autonomy, but the suit says it “insulated Samaritan’s administration from clinical concerns.” 

Starting around 2019, the suit claims, Samaritan’s administration “grew increasingly top-heavy and profit-focused” and the surgeons “found it progressively more difficult to secure the resources they required to provide timely, quality care to their patients.” 

“They frequently had patients waiting more than 30 days after their surgery approval to be booked in an (operating room).”

Day and Havard complained that they were increasingly confined to cramped operating rooms for breast reconstruction operations, which “made little sense because mastectomy and reconstruction cases require two surgical teams working at the same time, each with its own equipment and personnel, and cramming all that staff and equipment into a small area increases the risk of contaminating the surgical field,” the suit states. 

The suit alleges Samaritan management ignored their complaints and denied their request for what they called necessary and relatively inexpensive surgical equipment that would significantly improve care. At the same time, Samaritan spent over $1 million on a DaVinci robotic surgery system that has barely been used because no operating room is large enough for it, the suit claims. 

Things come to a head

In May 2023 Samaritan announced it would cancel its contract with the Oregon Anesthesiology Group. Despite assurances from Samaritan management the move would not disrupt patient care, they were unable to hire enough anesthesia providers, and administrators in July gave Havard short notice he would have to give up a day blocked out for scheduled surgeries, according to the suit. 

Following what the suit called the “anesthesia fiasco,” Day and Havard became even more openly critical of management which provided them even less access to operating rooms. 

“This was incredibly frustrating, because they had patients desiring their services but insufficient space and time with which to schedule them,” according to the suit. “They frequently had patients waiting more than 30 days after their surgery approval to be booked in an (operating room).”

Surgeons stepped up complaints

In May 2023, an administrator canceled a breast reconstruction surgery after discovering the patient would require an overnight stay. The patient had arranged childcare for her young children. Upset about the cancellation, Havard complained to an administrator, who filed a complaint alleging he called her “simple-minded” and a “dimwit,” according to the suit. Havard denied using the language, but apologized for any offense, which the administrator accepted, the suit states.  

In September 2023 the hospital suddenly canceled Day’s scheduled time in an operating room. Day was furious and sent an email to administrators about the lack of support from Samaritan and his inability to care for patients, including one who traveled from Alaska for surgery.

He angrily expressed his frustrations to an administrator, who filed a complaint saying he had cursed at her, according to the suit.  

“Samaritan just ghosted me.”

In October, two medical assistants working for Havard and Day were written up for “unprofessional behavior” after they complained about the impacts of the surgery cancellations in Microsoft Teams messages, the suit claims. 

Samaritan placed Havard on administrative leave for a week over “retaliatory behavior” in a conversation with an administrator over the Teams messages, according to the suit.

The hospital expected Day to perform a breast reconstruction surgery on one of Havard’s patients the following day, according to the suit. Day described it as a “tall ask” considering he had never met her and did not have a plan for the operation. 

“The next day was a disaster,” the suit states. 

An administrator began demanding that Day’s staff “reschedule appointments in ways that violated their typical patient care and follow-up procedures” and fired one of his assistants for refusing, the suit states, describing it as a “chaotic scene.” 

Samaritan terminated Havard after his administrative leave ended in November, walking him out with a security escort. Day was fired a day later. 

Image
Andrea Schmidt
COURTESY/ANDREA SCHMIDT
Andrea Schmidt said she found out her surgeon had been fired after she woke up from a double mastectomy. She described it as very upsetting to lose her doctor during a critical time in her care. 

Woke up with doctor gone

Andrea Schmidt recalled that Day held her hand as she was administered anesthesia for her double mastectomy surgery. As she drifted off, she made a mental note to tell him how much the gesture meant to her when she woke up. 

But when Schmidt, 50 of Albany, woke up the next morning, she was told that Day had been fired. 

“I was so lost,” she said. “I cried and I cried.”

Schmidt described Day as an exceptionally personable physician who earned her trust. During appointments before the surgery, Schmit said Day spent extra time describing the procedure in detail and answering questions from her and her daughter. 

Both Schmidt and Bangs said they found doctors in Salem to finish their reconstruction surgery. The two also formed a support group with other patients affected by the firing at Samaritan. 

Day has since started his own private practice in Corvallis.


You can reach Jake Thomas at [email protected] or at @jthomasreports on X.

Comments