Turmoil continues at a key safety net clinic on Oregon’s south coast, as its former medical director has filed a lawsuit alleging he was fired for opposing “unlawful practices” and alerting federal authorities to them.
Filed in Coos County Circuit Court on behalf of Dr. Henry Holmes, the May 9 suit claims he was fired on a flimsy pretext shortly after he and seven other staff members at Coast Community Health Center raised concerns with state and federal officials as well as top leaders at the publicly funded nonprofit organization.
The staff members were concerned by what the suit describes as mismanagement and substandard quality of care delivered to vulnerable patients..
Asked for comment on the lawsuit’s allegations, Kendra Newbold, the center’s current CEO, did not respond.
Diane Lenkowsky, a lawyer representing the center in a different suit filed by a former employee, sent an email saying “Ms. Newbold and Coast decline to comment on this lawsuit and Dr. Holmes’ allegations.”
Coast Community Health Center operates clinics in Bandon in Coos County as well as in Port Orford, in Curry County. It also operates a pharmacy in Bandon and several school-based health centers. Formerly known as Bandon Community Health Center, it is part of a network of federally funded nonprofit health centers that provide primary care to underserved communities and populations, regardless of ability to pay. Holmes had provided care there for a decade.
According to his suit, Holmes had served as the center’s chief medical officer from 2014 to 2017 and took over his most-recent position on an interim basis in 2023.
His predecessor had left the center during a period that a previous lawsuit called a “coup” by new top managers, fueling a “toxic work environment” and retaliation.
“The substantial decrease in staffing was the direct result of employment law violations, management policies that created barriers from providers acting within the standard of care, violations of regulations required by (federal funding), and protest resignations due to response from administration on raising concerns,”
Holmes’ lawsuit makes similar claims, citing a “hostile work environment” as well as “high staff turnover and the declining quality of care.”
So many providers had resigned from the center that last year the number of full-time-equivalent positions held by certified providers dropped from nearly 10 to less than 2, according to the suit.
“The substantial decrease in staffing was the direct result of employment law violations, management policies that created barriers from providers acting within the standard of care, violations of regulations required by (federal funding), and protest resignations due to response from administration on raising concerns,” the suit claimed.
According to the suit, Holmes complained to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration in September of 2023 and a staff member for the agency organized a meeting at the nonprofit health center on Sept. 27, 2023. Despite a top manager’s unsuccessful effort to remove him from the meeting, Holmes complained of rule violations, mismanagement and “efforts to withhold and hide information” from the federal government, according to the suit.
He continued to share information with the federal agency, including concerns that the board was not being informed of the problems. He alerted management to those efforts.
On Oct. 16, just two hours after he’d met with the center’s then-CEO, Eddie Larsen, to discuss his concerns, Holmes received notice that he had been placed on leave for what amounted to a false pretext, according to the suit. He was terminated three days later.
Holmes’ predecessor as Chief Medical Officer, Dr, Ann Kellogg, has not filed a lawsuit in court. However, public records show she filed a civil rights complaint with the state Bureau of Labor and Industries on Nov. 13, 2023, saying she was removed from consideration to be interim CEO and unlawfully terminated after alerting the federal government about the center’s failure to report a change in management as required. The complaint also said that a board member subjected her to sexist and homophobic comments. She gave notice only to receive a notice for termination on “pretextual” grounds, according to her complaint.
Coast Community Health Center is one of 34 federally qualified health centers in Oregon according to the Oregon Primary Care Association, a membership group representing the centers.
Holmes’ suit seeks $750,000 in damages. In addition to the center, it names Larsen, former administrator Melissa Cribbins and director of compliance Leslie Thomas as defendants.
The nonprofit center reported more than $8.2 million in revenue in 2022, the year for which it last filed a federal tax return.
