We don’t want to become sheep

Editor,

Since I wrote my first letter to the editor, followed by another one 2 weeks later, not one person from the CCMH board has been able to refute any data or facts that were in my letters. So, I’m going to provide the people of the county some more information.

My husband, Harold Fugate, has been on the board since August. He has asked many questions about financials and general questions about the way the board and Mr. Nichols conduct business on a day-to-day basis. The reason Harold is asking these questions is because citizens of this county deserve it and want to know the answers. After reading the glowing letters about Mr. Nichols from some hospital employees, I recognize that he has some allies who work for him.  That is normal.  Frankly, I would suspect that people who are subject to being hired and fired by Mr. Nichols might say positive things about him whether they believe it or not. But none of the letter writers addressed what he is doing financially to the hospital and to the lives of people he has mistreated or fired.  I again point you to the multiple signed letters from people who took over for Mr. Nichols after his CEO job terminated at two other hospitals, or who suffered his wrath at CCMH.

*Mr. Nichols present business model here at CCMH is the same at the other hospitals where he’s been employed as CEO.  As confirmed by his successors, he was a failure at both of those hospitals. Sadly, nothing has changed.

*By-laws are being passed right now by the Board to censor, not only Harold but the citizens of the county.

*By-laws are being passed to limit Harold’s ability to take notes in closed sessions. Ironically, some of the board members have told information out of closed session before it was released for public record.

*Why all of a sudden are these by-law changes being made since Harold got on the board? Why the urgency?

*What is the Board’s answer to the huge financial loss since Mr. Nichols has arrived? Approximately 4 million dollars has evaporated! Based on this loss, the hospital will be broke in 2 years.

*Where are all our doctors?

*There are discrimination claims being made against the hospital, with more being contemplated, based in whole or in large part on Mr. Nichols’ behavior.

*Are all of the people who signed written statements attesting to Mr. Nichols’ awful behavior and/or incompetence as CEO at other hospitals, liars?  Are those who have come to Board meetings and voiced their concerns also all liars?

*None of us are trying to destroy the hospital, even though we’ve been accused of it. Why would any of us want to see an empty hull sitting on the hill and lose the 2nd largest employer in the county? I was even called by one of the board members while on vacation, and that person screamed so loudly that everyone around me could hear her. That Board member accused, me of trying to destroy the hospital, yet I have not spoken one unkind word about the hospital or staff.

*Mr. Nichols has made it known that he will get rid of Harold and Robin Fugate, the county commissioners and now one of the largest churches in town. Is there no end to the people he is willing to destroy that get in his way?

*Mr. Nichols and the Board need to realize that there are many people in this community that feel the same way I feel, I just happen to be the primary spokesperson at this time.

It makes me sick to my stomach when I hear  from employees who state that they have been talked down to, lied about, manipulated out of pure evilness, and destroyed by Mr. Nichols.

It is a sign of desperation when Mr. Nichols called the hospital in Iron County threatening them with a lawsuit just because one of their board members voluntarily drove to El Dorado Springs to attend a CCMH board meeting in Sepember 2023. She did not speak, and I did not introduce her or call her by name. Mr. Nichols called the Iron County hospital and told them that I had introduced her to the board of CCMH and that she spoke.  I have a copy of the resolution the Iron County Hospital board passed, which was written by their board attorney, just to protect themselves from the wrath of Mr. Nichols. You can watch SunTV on Facebook to see the truth that the Iron County board member was never introduced by me or anyone else in that room. If Mr. Nichols would lie about something so petty, what makes people think he is telling the truth about other things?

As Children of God, we are his sheep because he is a good shepherd. We need a good shepherd because we don’t want to become sheep.

Robin Fugate