Re: Response from McCurtain Memorial Medical Management, Inc, doing business as McCurtain Memorial Hospital
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the McCurtain County Board of County Commissioners and McCurtain County Hospital Authority Board:
I would like to begin this correspondence with my sincere apologies for missing your Monday, March 3 special meeting. I had planned to attend your regular meeting scheduled for Monday, February 24 but you canceled it last minute due to attendance conflicts with your colleagues. I had a prior engagement to attend with my daughter on March 3. In my stead, I sent Kena Allen, the hospital’s Chief Financial Officer, and my executive assistant, Brooklyn Allen.
Following your meeting, I had an opportunity to review the audio recording of the meeting and while I wish I could display some genuine shock or dismay, I simply cannot. I cannot because, like so many times before, you prove that you have the capacity to be tyrants and intimidate individuals who appear before you with nothing but pure intentions and a resolve to work together in the spirit of unity. Moreover, individuals who appear before you as a courtesy and not out of obligation. To my team, I owe an apology for placing them in the position they found themselves in, not for the first time, out of respect for me and at my request. To both Kena and Brooklyn, I am incredibly sorry.
The forty-five minute audio recording of the meeting begins with a prayer. McCurtain County Hospital Authority Board (“Authority”) member, John Clinton (hereinafter, “Mr. Clinton”), begins by asking God to give “wisdom,” and asks God to give us the ability to work in “unison.” However, I find it disgraceful that just twenty five or so minutes into the meeting, Mr. Clinton went on a “hoorah” (his words, not mine) of sewing discord at the meeting, making disparaging statements about the hospital administration and the McCurtain Memorial Medical Management, Inc., (Hospital Board”) board members. Mr. Clinton announced his resignation, seemingly to the surprise of everyone in the room, then went on a fifteen minute tirade about how someone “younger,” needed to replace him and that he was doing so because, “these other folks just don’t see things the way I do,” assuming he was referring to his other Authority members?
To no surprise insofar as I am concerned, other members of the Authority plead with Mr. Clinton to stay on as a member. Equally to no surprise, not one member expressed their views on how this move by Mr. Clinton was in the best interest of the Authority and potentially pave the way to progress – but yet, has done so many, many times privately and behind Mr. Clinton’s back. I will not be two-faced in my position as it relates to Mr. Clinton’s resignation. Instead, I will tell you that I am pleased that he chose to resign amid nothing less than three years of turmoil and chaos that was created and cultivated by Mr. Clinton and his repeated attempts to sew discord between the hospital, our Hospital Board, the Authority, and Commissioners. His resignation is welcomed and frankly, appreciated.
I would be remiss in my role as the hospital administrator to merely leave allegations made by Mr. Clinton at the Authority meeting unchecked as he so cowardly made his exit from the Authority board. Insofar as the Authority, Mr. Clinton was only met with hallow pleas by his fellow members to stay – rather than the chairwoman of the Authority calling him down and preventing the charade he put on. I would also be remiss if I turned a deaf ear to assertions made by Commissioner and Chairman, Robert Beck (hereinafter, “Mr. Beck”).
Because this letter will be public record, I feel it is important to educate the community on the establishment of the Authority. Decades ago, the Authority was established to create a buffer of sorts between the hospital and the county. Mostly, this is done across the country to shield local and county government from lawsuits that arise out of the hospital. A “public trust” is established and in this case, that public trust is the Authority. In 2002, the residents of McCurtain County passed a ¼ cent sales tax for McCurtain Memorial Hospital and the Authority’s role broadened by way of overseeing the sales tax and ensure that taxpayer dollars would only be spent for approved expenses as authorized by the ballot language voters said “yes” to. For decades, the hospital has presented purchase orders to the Authority for review, consideration and approval to be paid with those tax funds. The Authority members are appointed by the county commissioners.
In public meetings recently, Mr. Clinton has repeatedly insinuated that he could withhold the tax dollars from the hospital, and he is incorrect. The voters passed the tax for the sole purpose of offsetting expenses incurred by the hospital. This tax is heavily relied upon by the hospital given that we provide an enormous amount of charity care due to residents’ inability or refusal to pay their medical bills. I can only assume that Mr. Clinton was referring to the other Authority members’ refusal to join him in illegally withholding the tax as his reason for resigning.
The Authority, nor the Commissioners, have any governing power over the hospital. Despite knowing this, for many, many years, attempts have been made to force upon the hospital unsolicited and unwelcomed dictatorship. Meeting minutes from the Commissioners’ meetings, Authority meetings, and Hospital Board meetings are littered with these attempts to dictate operations at the hospital and paint a very clear picture that the desire to seize control of the hospital is ever evolving by way of new schemes and vices that the hospital is constantly thwarting off – such as threatening and conspiring to withhold tax dollars.
At your meeting Monday night, it was stated that the Commissioners were “supposed to be able to place three members on the Hospital Board, but that never happened.” Mr. Beck was right in this assertion but stopped short of explaining why that never came to fruition – and despite knowing why – not a single member of the Authority spoke up and said why. So, I will take you all down Memory Lane.
Over three years ago, then Chairman of the Commissioners, Jimmy Westbrook (hereinafter, “Mr. Westbrook), was upset at the former hospital administrator. He insisted that the CEO of the hospital resign from his position and when he refused, he summoned the McCurtain County District Attorney, Mark Matloff (hereinafter, “Mr. Matloff”), from a ballfield where he was attending one of his children’s sporting events. Mr. Westbrook insisted that he come to the Commissioners’ office and once he arrived, insisted that he indict the CEO. Mr. Matloff refused. In February 2022, in a totally unrelated matter, the Hospital Board voted unanimously to terminate the CEO for misconduct.
Following the former CEO’s termination, I was inserted as the interim. I began working with the Commissioners on our lease of the hospital building which was set to expire in December 2022. We worked hard to iron out differences and come to mutual understandings of how to advance forward. In open meetings, Commissioner Chris White (hereinafter, “Mr. White”) expressed that he had no desire to keep the hospital open and initially, was opposed to renewing a lease1. Regardless of our differences in opinion, there was a collective belief that we had to work together, and we did. In August 2022, in a signing ceremony that took place at the hospital, all three Boards (Commissioners, Authority and Hospital) met and signed leases that guaranteed another seven years the hospital could operate at its present location. Community members, hospital employees and members of each governing body filled the room as we met and signed, then shook hands, pledging to work together in unison to ensure healthcare was available in McCurtain County for many years to come.
A short while after the signing of leases, Mr. Westbrook informed me that he and the Commissioners would be supporting a ballot measure to present to taxpayers in November (2022) that would fund the construction of a new hospital. Despite shock that we went from no lease and even stern positions by some Commissioners that they could care less if the hospital closed, to now campaigning for a new hospital, was exciting. I was told this had been attempted at least four other times and the measure failed miserably. Still, my team and I was up for the challenge. We went to work campaigning and making our case to the community that we needed a new hospital. Just over sixty days after launching a campaign, the vote was held, and we were successful. Over sixty-five percent of voters said “yes,” and we were elated.
Immediately, Mr. Clinton went to work sewing discord. Also in that election, Mr. White was defeated in the Commissioners’ race by Mr. Beck. It should also be noted that Mr. Westbrook did not seek re-election. Therefore, both White and Westbrook were leaving office in January 2023.
Mr. Clinton began holding behind-closed-door meetings with the Commissioners and on three separate occasions Mr. Clinton urged Mr. White to become the “Owners Representative” in the construction of the new hospital. How do I know this? Because Mr. Clinton came to my office and said he needed to “warn [me]” that the Commissioners were “scheming” behind the hospital’s back to turn the multi-million-dollar construction of a new hospital “into a money cow.” I asked how this was being done, and he informed me that it was Mr. White who was devising the plan to profit from the project – but asked me to not tell anyone he had informed me.
I refused to commit to Mr. Clinton to not speak out and instead, summoned Mr. Westbrook, Mr. White and Mr. Clinton to my office at the hospital and told them I would go public if this plan progressed. It was then that it was exposed that the idea, to put Mr. White over the project of building a hospital was not his own – it was John Clinton who approached Mr. White on three separate occasions about becoming the “owners’ representative.”2 I followed through with my promise to expose the attempts to mislead taxpayers by putting my opposition in writing.
Prior to this exchange, Mr. Westbrook and former Commissioner, Mark Jennings, (hereinafter, “Mr. Jennings”) met with me on several occasions and expressed their desire to have the Hospital Board to amend their bylaws and create a process by which the Commissioners could “appoint” one member each to the hospital’s management board. Mr. Westbrook and Mr. Jennings insisted that this was necessary to ensure the construction project was done correctly and that oversight of the hospital was needed. I met with and worked with my Hospital Board to garner support for the amendment of their bylaws, and we had a plan in place to move forward with Mr. Westbrook’s and Mr. Jennings demands – until the underhanded attempts became known to appoint Mr. White as the “owners’ representative” that is. It should also be noted here that Mr. Westbrook was actively seeking a management company behind the hospital’s back to take over operations at the hospital and demanded in an open meeting that the hospital relinquish its CMS provider number which would pave the way for a management company to come in and take over. This plan was quickly shut down when the publisher of The Gazette, publicly exposed the management company being sought for their mishandling of rural hospitals across the country and bankrupting them.
With the leases signed, the hospital was able to stand against Mr. Westbrook and Mr. Jennings. Therefore, I informed the two of them that there would be no amendment to the bylaws, and they would not be allowed to appoint members to the Hospital Board. Mr. Westbrook, leaving office January 2023, had one more trick up his sleeve, however.
On or about December 5, 2022, just weeks before he was to leave office, Mr. Westbrook came to my office at the hospital, with Kena Allen present and the meeting recorded, told me that he received a call from his legal counsel, attorney David Floyd of the Floyd Law Firm, and was informed that the leases we executed in August (four months prior) were “not legal,” and that the leases were “improperly executed.” Mr. Westbrook gave me an ultimatum: insist that the Hospital Board amend its bylaws within two weeks (December 19, 2022 was the date he gave) or else, the hospital would close, and no lease would be extended on the property.
After Mr. Westbrook left, I contacted our legal counsel and learned quickly that Mr. Westbrook lied about the leases not being properly executed. I was disgusted at the attempt to extort the hospital and me. I resolved at that moment, for so long as I was the administrator of the hospital, I would stand against attempts to take control of this hospital by the Commissioners or anyone else, and this resolve has only strengthened.
McCurtain Memorial Hospital is a private, not-for-profit corporation doing business in the State of Oklahoma. We are a sovereign organization and are under no control of the Authority nor the Commissioners. We have our own governing body, and it will stay that way. Some may ask “Why is this coming up now? What is the motivation to start this all over again? Why wont the Commissioner’s leave the hospital alone?” I can sum it up for anyone who desires to know in two words: money and control.
The vote failed when it was challenged in the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2024 due to technical deviations from the law as it relates to publication requirements. I do not wish to throw stones here, but it was the Commissioners, not the hospital, who failed to cause the ballot to be properly published. It was the Commissioners who cost the hospital and local taxpayers hundreds of thousands in legal expenses. It was the Commissioners who ultimately cost the hospital and taxpayers a new facility.
Following the devastating blow to the hospital by the Supreme Court, the Commissioners sought to go about funding the hospital a different way – including reallocation of existing taxes. That plan, like the prior plans, failed, too. Why? Because millions in lawsuits were pending against the county and those would need to take up tax dollars currently being collected and there was no additional tax to be passed that could fund a hospital. Also, the Commissioners learned that tax dollars they sought to reallocate would likely place the entire tax in peril and cut off millions in revenue to the county if challenged.
In late 2024, as a part of Oklahoma’s transition to Manage Care, the hospital began receiving quarterly enhanced directed payments from the three participants in the managed care program (Medicaid). The Commissioners learned of these directed payments, and it is without a doubt that this is cause for the renewed attempts to extort the hospital and its management. At Monday night’s meeting, Mr. Clinton and Mr. Beck both made disparaging comments about the Hospital Board, insinuating that someone else needed to oversee “the millions” the hospital was going to be receiving. Just who might that be? Mr. Clinton? Mr. Beck? No – we’ve done just fine managing our own finances.
Mrs. Allen was berated with questions such as, “Is it true that those funds could be used to pay for college education?” and, “Isn’t it true that those funds could be used to rent cabins by the lake?” To these absurd questions, Mr. Beck responded, “I went to Oklahoma City and learned they can do anything they want to with those funds – even pay their lawyer fees out of them.” Mr. Clinton took the blatantly false allegations to a whole new level when he stated that while the Hospital Board has “four board members, there is three on there that really controls the money.”
Since Mr. Clinton and Mr. Beck want to question the integrity of the hospital, its administration and board, let’s talk about integrity. It was Mr. Clinton and the Commissioners who attempted to extort the hospital, and it was Mr. Clinton and the Commissioners at the time who attempted to profit from a multi-million-dollar construction project. Never, to my knowledge, in its 70+ years existence, has the hospital or its management board been accused of embezzling money. I can say with certainty, never during my tenure has this been raised as a concern.
Our meetings are open to the public and are published in advance as required by law with the county clerk and posted on the window of the hospital’s main entrance. We have nothing to hide. The hospital undergoes a rigorous audit process every single year by highly respected auditing firms across the country. We have nothing to hide. I would also point out, if we are so untrustworthy, WHY DOES THE AUTHORITY TRUST THE HOSPITAL TO TAKE CARE OF ITS ACCOUNTING? We do this as a courtesy to the Authority – not because we are required to by any stretch.
All our board members are highly respected retired educators, an attorney, and a retired public works/utilities professional. Their integrity has never been questioned about any decision they’ve made. Multiple attempts have been made to collectively work with the Authority and the Commissioners to move plans forward for a new hospital. Not a single member of the Authority has attended a board meeting in over three years and neither has a commissioner. This administration took a failing hospital that was millions in debt to zero dollars in debt. We have balanced our budgets and today, as I draft this letter, have millions in the bank. We are not behind on bills and are current with our suppliers and our vendors, alike. We have raised the hospital’s wages for every employee in the hospital and took our minimum wage from $8.50 an hour to $14 an hour. We have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in aged equipment and infrastructure and we are doing everything we can to buy time in this existing building. We do not jump when we are told to jump; we are deliberate and strategic in our decision-making and given the opportunity, we could be an asset to the county government. After all, it is not us who is sitting on a two-million-dollar piece of property with no plan to fund or build a hospital on it. It was I who cautioned the Commissioners about moving too fast with that land purchase. I would also put to rest that should you think, in the next several years we will set millions aside for a hospital and build on your land, then fight you constantly as we have thus far, you are sadly mistaken. We’re not fools, ladies and gentlemen.
Be careful, please, at accusations you toss against this hospital and its management board. To-date, I think it is clear where integrity issues exist and where a watchful eye is needed. However, the invitation remains to come to the table to work together on a plan forward that makes good sense for all involved. You might as well abandon, however, the notion that you will seize control of the hospital, its operations and/or its management board. This will not ever happen. Today is an exceptional opportunity, with a known pot-stirrer and discord cultivator gone, to work together. We shall see whether now, your ego’s and feeling guide you and how you choose to proceed from here. My door is open and my hand is extended to you, but leave all of the former drama and schemes at the door step.
In closing, nowhere in the statutes, law or my job description am I, nor any member of my team, required to come before the Authority to present a report about hospital operations. We have done this for years as a courtesy. We are only required to present to you purchase orders to be paid with the ¼ cent sales tax. We will continue this long-standing custom of attending your meetings but from this day forward, those meetings will be conducted with decorum and respect for all attending, or we will kindly excuse ourselves and will not return. We are not punching bags and will not be treated disrespectfully. I apologize again to my team for the meeting they attended for I know, without doubt, had I been present, these ladies would not have been treated the way they were.
For the complete meeting audio, visit www.mmhok.net/meeting03032025 .
On behalf of the Hospital,
Brian Whitfield | President & CEO
