Former physicians and nurses of New Hampshire Hospital claim their concerns about a staffing contract for the Concord-based psychiatric hospital are supported by documents released Friday to Chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party Jennifer Horn in response to a Right-to-Know request, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
The Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine opted to not renew its contract with New Hampshire Hospital in June, despite providing psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners to the hospital for years.
After the contract with Dartmouth College expired, NHH awarded a new staffing contract to Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth-Hitchcock. The contract was approved Sept. 7, but was rescinded two weeks later amid the controversy surrounding the bidding process.
The documents released Friday reportedly show direct communication between former New Hampshire Hospital CMO David Folks, MD, a Dartmouth College employee, his assistant and state officials regarding the staffing contract for NHH. The emails reportedly revealed that Dr. Folks provided significant input on Dartmouth-Hitchcock's bid to provide staff to NHH, according to the article. Dr. Folks announced his resignation from the hospital in January.
While Dartmouth College and Dartmouth-Hitchcock are separate organizations, they reportedly collaborate in a number of areas, according to the article.
The claim that Dr. Folks and other hospital employees collaborated with the state in crafting a proposal for Dartmouth-Hitchcock was widely distributed by a group physicians and nurses in a letter mailed June 11. The group left the hospital amid a labor dispute with Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
Based on the emails released Friday, Ms. Horn plans to call for an investigation into the contract in a complaint filed with the Executive Branch Ethics Committee, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock did not immediately respond to Becker's Hospital Review's request for comment.