North Country Now

Updated 2:58 p.m. Jan. 21 to fix incorrect statement about Dr. Bedros Bakirtzian

MASSENA -- More than 50 Massena residents and Massena Memorial Hospital employees and board members told the Town Council on Wednesday night that they are upset with how the supervisor is handling the hospital board and they are worried about possibly losing their community hospital.

The crowd spoke during a public comment session, normally limited to 15 minutes, that ran for over an hour and a half.

This all comes on the heels of a major shakeup in MMH board leadership. Town Supervisor Steve O'Shaughnessy in December decided to not re-appoint MMH board chair Scott Wilson, a move that drew vocal protests from Wilson's fellow board members. O'Shaughnessy shortly after that sent a letter to the new MMH board chair Sue Bellor saying he is firing her. That came two days after she criticized him in public for what she saw as a conflict of interest in appointing Dr. Michael Maresca to the MMH board. And MMH board members have accused O'Shaughnessy of threatening them with removal from the board if they don't act in step with his wishes, charges the supervisor denied.

The tensions have arisen as the MMH board announced they want to pursue an affiliation with Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center/North Star Alliance/Crouse Hospital. Many hospital employees and MMH board members say O'Shaughnessy and the Town Council would rather go with St. Lawrence Health System, but the supervisor won't say if he prefers SLHS.

Concerns About SLHS

Dr. Kejian Tang, an MMH neurologist, urged the board to affiliate with Crouse. He said partnering with SLHS would be a mistake because they are the same level of institution as MMH, whereas Crouse has access to services and specialist groups that can't be found this far north.

"If the patient has an acute stroke ... the patient needs a mechanical removal of the clot. CPH can do nothing. Zero," Tang said. "If I refer the patient, I want to refer to tertiary care, not the same level."

Joe Gray, who was town supervisor until 2017, agreed with Tang's assertion.

"Like the doctor said, Canton-Potsdam isn't marrying up. It's marrying your sister," Gray said.

Gray and O'Shaughnesssy had a tense interaction that led to Councilor Sam Carbone exploding in anger at the former supervisor.

Gray and O'Shaughnessy were arguing about town officials' level of awareness of what potential affiliates are offering. O'Shaughnessy said he doesn't feel the hospital board is keeping the Town Council in the loop, and said the MMH board hasn't provided to the town a copy of their resolution recommending affiliation with Crouse.

"Maybe you should be more pro-active," Gray said.

Pounding his fists on the table and turning red with anger, Carbone responded by shouted at Gray "Four years! Four yeas you sat here!" and then said "I'm not going to go there." He later apologized for the outburst and blamed it on a lack of sleep and said he is just as concerned with the future of MMH as everyone else.

A lot of the public comments centered around concern over whether or not Massena would still have a full-service hospital if the town were to affiliate with or sell to SLHS.

"A lot of us in the medical community believe they're going to shut us down ... I don't know why it's still an option," said Ashli Buddenhagen, MMH director of clinical pharmacy. "Rule them out and move to someone else."

Mary Mittiga, a registered dietician who worked at both MMH and Canton-Potsdam Hospital, said in her past experience there were tensions between the two organizations.

"It was very clear there's animosity between the two hospitals. There was never a feeling of teamwork between the two institutions," Mittiga said.

Courtney Kelley, an MMH clerk, said she is concerned that if SLHS were to take over MMH and scale it down, it would have a cascading impact on the local economy.

"If we partner with CPH and liquidate our hospital, Alcoa will be leaving too because they won't have an emergency room within reasonable distance," Kelley said.

MMH employee Amy Batten made reference to remarks she said O'Shaughnessy and Carbone made at a meeting of MMH's CSEA chapter held last week.

"In our two-hour meeting you said CPH wants to take us over, Crouse wants a loose affiliation," Batten said, a remark that neither O'Shaughnessy or Carbone disputed. "Crouse, to me, a loose affiliation, would be to share their services, to make us bigger.

"I just want to know if you weren't shown a presentation ... why do you think they want to take us over, why do you think Crouse wants a loose affiliation?" Batten said, referring to earlier remarks where town board members said they saw a brief presentation from Crouse and have not seen a presentation from SLHS.

"We were shown a Powerpoint," O'Shaughnessy said.

"They (SLHS) have money," Carbone said.

"And they offered it?" Batten asked.

"Can't say they have," Carbone replied.

O'Shaughnessy told a town resident that he heard something on potential affilation from St. Lawrence Health System, but at no point in the meeting did he give any details.

"Have you sat in on the affiliations," Massena resident Mac Shoen asked the supervisor.

"Two: Crouse and Canton-Potsdam," O'Shaughnessy said.

"Are you ready to make a decision on that?" Shoen asked, to which the supervisor replied "no."

O'Shaughnessy asked several members of the audience where they got their fears about SLHS's possible plans if they were to affiliate with or take over MMH. None pointed to a specifc source.

"You make generalizations about 'bandaid station,' how do you know that? Show me the writing," the supervisor said. Many who have voiced fears of an SLHS takeover say that they believe MMH would be turned into a "bandaid station," meaning all but basic services would be cut and most patients would be sent to CPH.

"Don't you think we should investigate that?" Massena resident Mac Shoen asked. 

"We've hit roadblock after roadblock from the Board of Managers," the supervisor replied.

Employees, Board Members Fear Retaliation

Members of the MMH board and MMH employees said they were afraid of repercussions for airing concerns in a public forum. Members of the MMH board indicated before speaking that they were there as concerned citizens and were not authorized to give input on behalf of the board.

"I'm afraid I'm going to be let go. Sue Bellor talked. She was gone the next day," said Judy Tubolino, MMH director of quality and risk management said. "I feel bad. I'm ashamed as a community member that they are scared.

"They should be commended, not taken from their duties."

MMH board member Carol Fenton said she felt she was speaking "at my own peril, because the last Massena Memorial Hospital Board of Managers person who stood at this podium was summarily removed."

"I fail to see why you are so interested in who we affiliate with if the main purpose is your responsibility to make sure we are not in any financial constraints," Fenton said. "If you have no money in the deal, what is your problem? I challenge you all to ask that question."

"If you read the resolution the town approved three years ago, it says the town may sign an asset agreement if it's happy with the deal. It says nothing about affiliation. I don't know where you got the idea it's you and you alone who can," O'Shaughnessy said.

Town attorney Eric Gustafson then chimed in.

"We have a statutory and constitutional obligation to make sure those assets are transferred in a way that's fair to the taxpayers," he said.

MMH board member Real "Frenchie" Coupal said he is upset with O'Shaughnessy's decisions with regard to MMH board leadership.

"The best person we had on the board was Scott (Wilson). The most knowledgable person," Coupal said to applause from the room. "We elected a new [chairperson]. She lasted two days and you got rid of her also because you didn't like what she said.

He went on to accuse O'Shaughnessy of "cutting the feet off" of the board.

Coupal at the meeting did not voice any fear of retaliation, but at the Dec. 17 MMH board meeting said he had been threatened with removal from the board by the town supervisor. O'Shaughnessy later said he didn't recall the conversation in question as being anything like that.

Supervisor, Councilors Say MMH Not Communicating

O'Shaughnessy and the councilors at several junctures told the audience that they don't know much about the MMH board's deliberations that went into picking Crouse, and don't know what Crouse is offering.

"Why would you not pick Crouse?" Massena resident Mac Shoen asked the supervisor.

"I don't know the first thing about Crouse," O'Shaughnessy replied.

Councilor Melanie Cunningham, who was an MMH board trustee before becoming a town lawmaker, said a presentation they saw from Crouse was "like picking up a brochure."

"I was at that presentation ... it was not in depth, more of this is who we are, this is where we're from," Cunningham said. "It did not say what their plan was."

In a Jan. 9 interview, MMH board chair Sue Bellor said the board used a points-based system where they scored potential affiliates based on criteria they wanted for affiliation, such as commitment to keeping MMH a full-service hospital, cultural fit, continued local input and influence by the local hospital board, commitment to growth of providers and services and several other areas. That scoring led them to CHMC/North Star/Crouse, Bellor said.

Community members said they want to see the MMH and town board working together to keep MMH around as a full-service hospital.

"This community doesn't need comprise. It needs communication," Massena resident Charlie Romeigh said. "I'm not pointing any fingers ... you want open discussion, then get together as a group. Don't send one person from the board."

"I'm sick to death of seeing this played out in the press," MMH Auxiliary Vice President Debbie Willard said. "Stuff is leaked ... I am sick to death of it. You are grown adults ... Put on your big girl panties and come together with this whole thing.

"It's sickening, and I am sick of it as an auxiliary member." 

Conflicts of Interest

When speakers criticized O'Shaughnessy's appointment of Maresca for what they feel is a conflict of interest, the supervisor at one point countered by saying he doesn't see a conflict as a problem.

"Conflicts are not illegal or wrong. We happen to have a doctor who makes a very good salary on that Board of Managers," the supervisor said, apparently referring to Dr. Bedros Bakirtzian. He is president and founder of Seaway Orthopedics.

Maresca, president of St. Lawrence Radiology, contracts with MMH to provide imaging services.

"If you affiliate with another hospital, he risks losing that contract. If you stay with Canton-Potsdam, he has that security," said Robert Elsner, MMH director of diagnostic and cardiac imaging.

"He has contracts with other competing hospitals," O'Shaughnessy said.

"I'm not interested in the other contracts Dr. Maresca has. I'm interested in this contract," Massena resident David Romeigh said.

"It is disturbing that you an this board apparently in concert with our town lawyer have decided no conflict of interest," Elsner said. "Have you actually read his contract? ... It's a clear conflict of interest."