Sunday, July 08, 2007

The Trouble With Holly.....8/4

Holly has been brought up a few times, and I would say the damage is done. For the folks that think that I have been excessive in what I've published, let me review the story for you in sequence:
The Initial Post:
I kind of wondered if the "we're really interested in your opinion" held true. Here is a copy of the emails to Dick from a (now, less than ardent) supporter....frank

-----Original Message-----From: HOLLY PETERS [mailto:_______@msn.com]
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2007 3:07 PM
To: Salerno, Richard
Subject: Welcome to Paris
Hello Mr. Salerno,

My name is Holly Peters and I worked with you on occasion, at the Austin Diagnostic Clinic and Medical Center under Jim Thomas. I was a Team Leader in the Clinic and my husband actually worked in the Radiology Department and the Nephro-vascular Lab.

I have to say that I have been very troubled with what has been going on, at the hospital you are now managing, since we moved here four years ago. Because my husband did at one time, work there in the cardiovascular lab, I am all too familiar with the problems you face.

My concern is, of course, for the community as a whole and my family's need for future medical care. I want to see you achieve the greatness, I believe the medical community of this area is capable of and deserves.

I will tell you, that based on my experience, I believe management, insurance contract negotiations, as well as improper coding for services are ultimately the cause of the dilemma the hospital is in.

I would be happy to help, in any way I can and provide you with my honest opinion regarding a number of challenges you face, if you are interested. I am sure my husband would also gladly provide you with any knowledge he may have too.

Sincerely,

Holly N. Peters
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Holly,

I am sorry but I do not recall you. If I saw you, I may recognize your face. What kind of help are you referring to? Do you work as a consultant or have a business.

I am reading something between the lines but I am not sure of your motive.

Richard E. Salerno Interim CEO
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To: Salerno, Richard
Subject: Re: Welcome to Paris

I really did not expect you to remember me, we only met a few times and it has been a while. I used to work for Dr. George Handley, if that helps any.

I really have no, between the lines, motives. I would like some genuine improvements in the healthcare available in this area and see additional services offered. I do not own a business or anything of the kind, in fact, I just completed Paramedic School and am currently taking Biology.
I am just concerned by the negative viewpoints and lack of teamwork, that seems to permeate the majority of the staff at PRMC. It is like everyone has forgotten what being in healthcare is all about, Caring.

I am not sure when all this began or why, I only know that, the longer it continues, the more patients are willing to drive a little further to receive medical care. I try to live by the moral principle of, do no harm and whenever possible, achieve the greatest good.

I honestly, do not know if there is anything I could really do, I am sure you have very capable people to assist you. However, I do know when a person’s livelihood is involved, people tend not to bite the hand that feeds them. I just wanted to offer to help in any way that I can, my candor and input are not contingent on fear of retribution or loss of income.

I guess it is weird to offer something for nothing, but in the long run we all benefit.

Holly
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From: ______@msn.com
To: richard.slaerno@ftihealthcare.com; Richard.Salerno@prmc.com; Charles.fletcher@essenthealthcare.com
Subject: FTI Professionals Richard Salerno
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2007 14:59:46 -0600

Does Interim CEO really mean that you are a part time CEO? Now, I am concerned about your intentions Mr Salerno. Perhaps, you are not the man of integrity I thought you were and are nothing more than a company "yes" man.

Since you are listed as an employee of two companies, I do not see how you could possibly give PRMC the attention it requires and deserves. Thus, an explanation for your frequent absences and lack of preparation for meetings you request.

I am beginning to understand the many references to you around town....maybe they suit you

Holly Peters
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From: Frank Pasquale To: HOLLY PETERS ______@msn.com
Subject: RE: FTI Professionals Richard Salerno
Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:57:48 -0600

Holly,

Thought I'd use your letter as a comment, but considering a short post. Any reservations?
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HOLLY PETERS (______@msn.com)
To: fac_p@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: FTI Professionals

Richard Salerno he wrote me back and said he is not part time and that he no longer works for FTI.

I believe, he was hired by Essent, through his consulting firm, to serve as the axe man, in a manner of speaking. I do not get the sense that he is here to really fix anything other than the hospitals finances, on paper.

Whether it is to sell off some of their assets (Aerofit and the professional building) or sell the hospital outright, I am not sure. But he is definitely not here to save the day.

He also asked me not to send him anymore emails. I did not respond. I am hoping to hear something within the next week, so you can post the letter.

Holly
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My opinion differs, somewhat, from Holly's, but we concur on one thing: Dick is not our (the hospital's, nor the community's) friend. He's here to put it back on Essent's track, take no prisoners, and cut losses. No exceptions.

I think that he's not in a consultant mode, but doing Hud a favor, like he did previously. He's one of the few that has fallen on his sword for Hud, and that rates him house guest privledges.

Sounds like Holly has a good heart, but had faith misplaced---no longer.
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A follow-up:

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From: Frank Pasquale
To: HOLLY PETERS (______@msn.com)
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:37:31 -0500

A comment:

Not only that, but follow the link and you'll see what Dick is trying to ban. Already in use in PRMC's cath lab, it has already saved lives.

So, Dick is playing games with the Kerberos (Foxhollow.) But here's their dilemma:


    • If they agree to fire Holly's husband to keep a client, does she get the residuals? After all, PRMC would almost have to give Kerberos a lock on the cath lab to have them do so.
    • PRMC already pushed the publicity from the 'save', showing that it was a worthy product, are they showing the belief that we don't deserve the best?
    • As long as the community continues to crave favorites like biscuits and gravy, fried whatever, and have a high incidence of diabetes (and smoking), the procedure will be in the necessity column for plaque and thrombus removal.
    • Kerberos just got free publicity targeted to physicians, hospitals, cath labs, and healthcare workers about a product that works.
    • Will Kerberos be publicly bullied by PRMC?

    • --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      From: (______@msn.com)

      To: fac_p@hotmail.com
      Subject: NO MORE


      Yes seriously. I feel horrible that all of this has happened to my husband and it cannot go on, despite my honest intentions.

      thanks...Holly
      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      From: (______@msn.com)

      To: fac_p@hotmail.com
      Subject: NO MORE
      Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:29:51 -0500


      I got a phone call from my husband and he just got off a call with his bosses. You cannot print/post anything more about me or my huband on your blog, or he will loose his job. Salerno accused me (to my husbands bosses) of posting on the blog this am and I did not, nor do I know how he would even know such a thing.

      My husband said this has to stop now. So please do not use my name or any emails in your blog again, as it has already had dire consequences for me and my family. I am not sure what I said at any time, that would explain this fiasco other than it's appearance on you site.


      Thanks
      Holly

      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      From: Frank Pasquale
      To: HOLLY PETERS (______@msn.com)
      Subject: RE: NO MORE
      Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:43:29 -0500

      No more posts, no email clips. Seriously.

      It is a shame that they can generate so much fear in someone that wants to do the right thing.... But, we don't live in a vacuum, and every one counts on hubby's check.

      Just remember that what you tried to do was noble: you were trying to help him, the hospital, and the community. He's the one who rejected the help and tried to hurt your family. I inadvertently did so, but also tried to make up for it in the only way I could.

      I'm glad your husband's company stood behind him. Hopefully there won't be any future repercussions.

      frank
      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      I actually pulled the first part of this post. Her husband was still let go. Supposedly in a reduction in salesforce for the area, but they re-defined the areas and actually put in another salesperson. I guess they caved to the buying group.

      I asked what her husband was interested in pursuing. Right about this time I put in the Cluster maps, a Holly suggestion:

      RE: I love the DOTS
      From: Holly Peters (______@msn.com)
      Add contact
      Sent:Sun 4/22/07 5:49 PM
      To: Frank Pasquale (fac_p@hotmail.com)

      oh...he is really looking at anything. he wants to stay in sales and loves interventional cardiology/radiology, but has not ruled out pharm or capital equipt. He started in special procedures and then helped a nephrologist perfect the procedure to clean out dialysis grafts and started a business doing that and then went on to cardiovascular work. He still wants to do cases when he can, his true love.

      Kinda scary, but he has seperation pay and insurance thru the end of may. I am a momma of three and in school myself, but I did just pass the registry. So i can earn $ 11.00 an hour as a paramedic.....

      Thanks
      Holly





      The Short Version:

      So, what happened: A young mother, just finishing paramedic training wants to help the community she lives in. She sees a problem in the hospital perception and recognizes a name of the interm CEO. She emails him, offering help. He verifies that she has no 'connections' in the community and gives her the brush. Had he done so with tact, this probably would have resolved itself, but he steps on her. She finds the blog.

      Still wanting to help, but with a changed direction, she emails me the sum of the emails. I put together a post, sending a copy to her and misinterpreted a response, publishing it.

      She gets grilled by Salerno, accused of knowing 'the blogger', he threatened that hud would go after her husband's company(Foxhollow) if she did not give him my info and that if she did not appologize to him (Salerno) on the blog her husband would not be allowed into the hospital to do cases. (Blackmail or intimidation?) He is then let go from his company.

      All this, from wanting to help. Is there any wonder that good people turn a blind eye to problems in the community? "I don't want to get involved" might have been wisest, but how do you tolerate conditions which could be changed?

      Now, Suddenlink is being asked to turn over the addresses and names of IP addresses...one of which may be the blogger. The lever being used is HIPAA violations, of which several sources have said there are none.


      We are creating a population that is uninvolved, because compassion and caring are costly traits.

      17 comments:

      Anonymous said...

      Thanks for posting the story of what Essent did to Holly and her family. I found your blog several months ago and was about to email you myself for details of Holly's Story...

      When the North Campus became PRMC, they launched this big advertising campaign about their new "Minor Emergency Clinic" located at the north campus, PRMC claimed the cost of a minor emergency visit would be comparable to a Doctor's office visit...

      One weekend, after suffering for days with tonsilitis, I decided to visit the PRMC north-campus "Minor Emergency". Before visiting, I called to confirm that the cost of the visit would be comparable to a visit at "Salas Minor Emergency Center", I explained that if the cost was not going to be comparable then I would just visit the Salas Clinic. I was assured that yes, the cost would be comparable...

      Upon arrival at PRMC Minor Emergency, I was treated by a wonderful Doctor (I think his name was Doolittle)...I received a shot, throat culture, perscription AND A BILL THAT WAS 2-3 TIMES MORE THAN I WOULD HAVE PAID AT THE SALAS CLINIC!!

      I eventually called PRMC about the bill and was told that I was not the only person mislead by their advertising campaign...I resent their false and misleading business tactics.

      What happened to Holly and her family is totally unacceptable. What happened to me personally is totally unacceptable.

      I am a Paris business owner that is appalled by the way PRMC has conducted themselves.

      Anonymous said...

      Is not what happened to Holly's husband something that can be investigated?

      To be told that "your wife can't participate in a blog site or you'll lose your job" is pretty much out there...!

      Anonymous said...

      it ought to be investigated they went after her husband and basically bribed him with his job and threatened to go after his company.. then he did loose his job...

      Sounds criminal to me..did not see anything in any of those emails that warrented this type of response..

      Somebody sure is scared to let Holly speak her mind and why?

      Dick couldn't get the information he wanted from Holly and so he went back to nashvegas to trump up something that he could sue for...

      Valuable use of ones time and money...DUMBA$$

      Anonymous said...

      Therein lies the problem from the get go............with smiling faces and offers of "We can't do this without your help" E$$ent managed to net truly caring concerned folks into the trap. And, much to their dismay they were slapped about like cur dogs. Some even pressure into leaving their community to escape their oppressive, heavy handed ways. NOW they want continue that same venue, only through legal channels............as much as we fume, shake our heads in amazement, etc, it is their last leg to stand on, prior to vacating and leaving a community bereft of healthcare. Practiced tactics prior to throwing in the towel and blaming the community as a whole for their failure(s). Well, from reading this blog, it could've been prevented had there been an earnest interest in making the Paris location a thriving, prosperous one and not something to line someone's pockets. Profit is a good goal, it's only bad when that is the ONLY goal and one that is reached for without giving thought to the mechanisms that MAKE a company........the people and those that are served! Pretty basic logic........apparently and abviously NOT within E$$ent's capabilities!

      Anonymous said...

      Where is the ACLU and why arn't they helping Holly? It sounds like there are many things here for the them to help her with. Maybe get her husbands wages back, harrassment or something!

      Anonymous said...

      Texas is an "at will" state. That means that any employee, in the absence of a contract, can be terminated any employee at any time for any reason. There are, however, a few categories protected by the Federal government; race, sex, religion, age, etc.

      Anonymous said...

      Very true, and until the folks that work in Texas, decide to take a stand and CHANGE that...........examples like E$$ent will abound here. Why do you think employers gravitate to Texas in the first place? Sunny days..........not!

      Anonymous said...

      it is not prmc doing this to TJ, his wife started this and his company finished it. holly just did not do things in the right way. to post things on this blog, then ask to not be reported is insane. she made the bed, lay in it

      Personally, I don't know where you're from, but where ever it was, you ought to go back. We don't like people that threaten women and their families.

      She made an attempt to help when she had heard rumors about the hospital administration. Then she found out they were true. She still tried to help her community by making them aware of exactly what we deal with.

      If she had been an employee, she would have lost her job. So, what, you take it out on her family??? For publishing emails that Salerno sent???

      It's about time a breath of fresh air blew through administration. What's there leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth....frank

      Anonymous said...

      I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone.
      -Edmund Burke

      Anonymous said...

      9:44 pm
      What does what Holly's says have to do wither husband's job any way? why did prmc involve him at all? She is an individual entitled to her opinion and to try to help when she sees fit.

      Going after her husband for making what bed? Offering to help? String her up! She wanted to help! What a horrible reprenhesible thing to do! That is rediculous! and to go after her husband, speaks volumes about Dick and Hud... No morals no scruples...

      String them up!

      Anonymous said...

      So how should she have handled it? She wrote the interm CEO a letter and he cam at her with accusations she was up to something.
      He brushed her off and she found the blog.. PRMC should learn how to handle things and people appropriately not ignore them and try to get peoplr fired..
      Talk about ill will and ruining their reputation they have done that all on their own!

      JERKS

      Anonymous said...

      The 9:44 comment was truely Essent. Be "reported"???? She didn't work for the hospital! Her husband didn't work for the hospital!

      The only thing Essent was trying to do was go for revenge.

      Should they also kill the entire family so that they don't seek retribution for how they were wronged????

      Sounds more like a Russian mob, rather than a healthcare organization.

      Anonymous said...

      9:44,

      Which one of the Essent tail-kissers would you happen to be? What makes you so sure that the hand that scratches you behind your ears now won't close around your throat later?

      Anonymous said...

      REPORTED... For what being honest and trying to help her community?

      REPORTED to whom? Her husbands company for trying to be a productive member of the community?

      WHAT THE HELL is E$$ent trying to prove anyway? That they truly are the bullys on the playground?

      So her husband should loose his job because she had the BALLS to try to make a difference and when she could not get anywhere with the know it alls at the hospital she put stuff on this blog?

      You punks have a lot of class and obviously no concern for the members of this community, going after innocent people is no way to run a business...unless you are the mafia

      Anonymous said...

      The treatment of this employee and her husband by Essent, if anything like reported on this blog, just illustrates what a crappy employer and hospital that PMRC is running in our town. I personally don't know anyone who will use our hospital now because they have either had a bad experience or talked to someone who has - and quite often, they are not talking about the attitude of the employees, but of the lack of employees and cleanliness, etc. The blog, until written about in the paper, has had little impact on the impression left by the hospital on the community and is just a symtom of the problem - extremely bad management.

      Anonymous said...

      Holly wasn't an employee that's what is so outrageous by the way she was treated! Employees are used to being stepped on.

      Anonymous said...

      Wow!!! I have read the blog for a while now, but it all got kinda fuzzy about the whole Holly thing for a while. I think that you had posted some stuff then taken it off.. but this is the first time that I've seen the WHOLE thing like this... Really shows what weasles Salerno and E$$ent are. This is amazing... Russian Mafia to say the least. I was wondering what Holly and her husband are up to these days... they've probably moved to Dallas so that he can work.. but that's OK.. he'll still get to take care of LOTS of PARIS people there. Jeesh.