Medical center CEO disputes provider’s claim about closure

“I'm the doctor who left the handgun in the Bean's store in Ellsworth,” said Benjamin Newman, MD, addressing a crowd at Uncle Kippy's Restaurant in Lubec on Saturday, October 19. "I'm human; I make mistakes. Sometimes really stupid ones." Newman had arranged the meeting to discuss his recent departure from the Regional Medical Center at Lubec (RMCL), where he had worked for "about three years" as a provider.
The crowd included a number of RMCL staff members, but CEO Marilyn Hughes and members of the board of directors, all of whom had been invited to the 3 p.m. event, were absent. Newman is a retired U.S. Navy captain who was once the senior medical officer in the Second Fleet; he started his medical career in a forward field hospital in Vietnam.
While details differ between Newman's account of the events that led to his resignation and those provided later by Hughes and RMCL board Chair Roger Quirk, they agree that it started with a meeting regarding Newman's concerns about an employee. Hughes declined speaking on‑the‑record about the specifics of Newman's allegations, as it is an employment question and thus confidential.
"I am told," Newman said of the medical center, "that it is a possibility that they will have to close their doors within six to 12 months because of economic failure."
Addressing this suggestion, Quirk, in a separate interview, replied, "Not according to figures provided by our chief financial officer." Hughes points out that economic conditions have forced some changes in operating practice, largely driven by cash‑flow problems stemming from a slowdown in payments for MaineCare and Medicare. "We've been here 40 years," Hughes states flatly, "and we will be here for another 40."
Hughes does agree with another of Newman's observations, when he suggested the RMCL "needs to do a better job of community outreach." Hughes says, "It is fair that we need to be more in the community." When asked if there is a plan to do this, she replied, "We're working on it."
Newman also complained about the RMCL board, pointing out that it "holds secret meetings" and that while the staff is "eating hot dogs and potato chips, the board is getting steak and lobster." To this allegation, Quirk replies that board members are unpaid and spend much time, and occasionally their own money, in serving the medical center. "So we have an annual dinner over at the Roosevelt park," he says, adding that the cost of the dinner is covered with private funds and not those of the RMCL.
Hughes reiterates that the board meetings are not open to the public and states, "I don't know of a single medical center in the state that opens up its board [meetings] to the public." Both Hughes and Quirk point out that interested members of the community are welcome to apply for board membership.