By Janet Richardson

It all came unraveled, like a sweater with a dangling yarn.

A Colorado man who had accepted an offer to become the new administrator at Coquille Valley Hospital (CVH) rescinded his acceptance last week, following an investigation begun by The Sentinel.

The CVH board offered the post to Richard Cormier, 50, following an executive session Oct. 24, and announced on Oct. 25 that he had accepted the position. Current Administrator Edna Cotner is set to retire next week, and Cormier was to take over then.

On the afternoon of the announcement, Sentinel Editor Janet Richardson called Cormier at his home for a brief interview to prepare an article introducing him to the community. Cormier discussed his family, education and hobbies. Something about that conversation "just didn’t feel right," so the following day, Richardson called Marsha Triplett, publisher for Valley Publishing, a newspaper group that covers Conejos County, Colo. Cormier’s last position was C.E.O. of Conejos County Hospital, where his last day was Sept. 1. He said is still working as a consultant to the hospital.

Triplett said that she was not aware of specific problems with Cormier. She said that the hospital was in financial distress, due in large part to a struggling economy. Triplett then mentioned rumors that had surfaced in past years, including some questions about his education degrees and certificates. Before working for Conejos County Hospital, Cormier did not have any experience in hospital administration.

Later that day, Triplett called the Sentinel office and said a reporter had turned up information that local officials were investigating why a $180,000 grant for the hospital had not been renewed. The grant is funded by a local mil levy, but the grant must be renewed annually by placing it on the ballot. Triplett also said her sources revealed that the hospital is in worse financial shape now than it was when Cormier took over in 1998.

At that point, Richardson called CVH board members Curtis Jack and Darlene Kelley to find out whether Cormier’s contract had already been signed. Kelley said it had not, and Richardson shared the information she had found.

Further research revealed that, while Cormier told Richardson that he had earned a master’s degree and a PhD degree in business administration from LaSalle University in Philadelphia, LaSalle does not offer a PhD in business. Furthermore, LaSalle Registrar Dominic Galante told Richardson on Oct. 29 that Cormier had never been a student there.

Richardson confronted Cormier with this information, and Cormier said that he actually attended LaSalle University in Mandeville, Louisiana, but he said that school was a branch campus of LaSalle in Louisiana. (Actually, the two schools are not affiliated. The school in Louisiana is a non-accredited "distance education" school that is no longer accepting students.)

Cormier insisted that he did have the two degrees, and faxed copies of his diplomas to The Sentinel. The diplomas showed that both the master’s degree and the doctorate were awarded in October of 1994.

Jack was doing investigating of his own at the same time; he too, had confirmed that Cormier never attended LaSalle in Philadelphia. Richardson supplied copies of Cormier’s diplomas to Jack and Kelley, and Jack confronted Cormier. Jack said Cormier insisted that he had earned the
master’s degree in 1992 and the doctorate in 1994, as his resume stated.

Jack discovered that Conejos County Hospital’s pension fund was underfunded by about $306,000. Employee contributions had been paid into the fund, but the hospital’s portion had not.  Also, an orthopedic surgeon had been hired at the struggling hospital at a cost of about $360,000 per year. The hospital is located in a town with a population of about 1,000.

On Oct. 30, Cormier sent Richardson an e-mail indicating that he planned to withdraw his acceptance of the position in Coquille. The following day, he notified CVH board members that he would not be taking the position here.

Triplett contacted Richardson later last week and requested copies of Cormier’s diplomas, transcripts and professional certificates. She said that her staff had found that a hospital secretary was being paid $25 per hour, and that insurance premiums had not been paid (although deductions for the premiums had been taken out of employees’ pay checks).

Bridgette Nicholson, who was recently appointed chief operating officer at the Conejos hospital, told Richardson that a secretary had been making $55,000 per year. Nicholson also said that designated grant funds had been used to pay operating expenses, and she confirmed that the insurance premiums had not been paid and that the pension fund was underfunded by more than $300,000. She said that she is trying to get a loan to pay back the pension fund, so that the IRS will not disqualify the entire plan and force employees to take back their portion (with associated tax penalties).

Nicholson said Cormier had left the hospital in "somewhat of a mess."

"We’ve got a lot of straightening out to do," she said. She hopes the hospital can be saved; she’s developed a strategic plan to cut back salaries, eliminate positions and operate with a "skeleton crew."

Nicholson also put some of the blame on the hospital’s board members for not providing better oversight.

"They knew something was up," she said. If so, they didn’t let Coquille board members know about it. Prior to offering Cormier the position, board members here checked his references.

"We called the six references he gave… including a member of the hospital board," Jack said. Two staff members at the Conejos hospital were also called. No red flags came up, Jack said. In fact, those called gave glowing reports about Cormier, saying they didn’t think Coquille could find
a better candidate.

Conejos District Attorney Peter Comar did not return repeated calls from The Sentinel regarding possible criminal charges in the case.

The CVH board is continuing the hiring process, bringing another candidate to Coquille this week. Sixty-two applicants applied for the administrator post.

Original source

(C) Coquille Valley Sentinel  Reprinted by permission