Unresolved, Hospital board members address concerns about Allard

Weston County Hospital District trustee Nathan Ballard said in a meeting on July 11 that he has not yet heard “the assertions of facts about what happened” regarding Piper Allard, Weston County Health Services’ chief operating officer, whom former CEO Randy Lindauer put on administrative leave in April.

Hospital leaders hope the situation will become more clear at the conclusion of an investigation being conducted by Hippo MT, an outside agency that Darren Speed founded. Speed was radiology and diagnostic imaging services company Akumin’s chief compliance and privacy officer from September 2016 through May 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile. Current WCHS CEO Cathy Harshbarger confirmed in a July 22 phone call that he is investigating Allard, and that the investigation relates to her job at the hospital. According to a July 10 letter that Allard sent Harshbarger, the investigation began about three months ago.

It was not clear, however, that an investigation was taking place when a letter was read at the board’s May 2 meeting with Allard’s permission in which Lindauer asked Allard for her resignation after placing her on administrative leave. As the News Letter Journal previously reported, Lindauer said that he asked for her resignation because his “assessment for Weston County Health Services needs to be for its future.”

Lindauer later resigned from his position, and his last day with the hospital was in late June. Harshbarger’s first day on the job was June 24, and she said she believes there will be an update in the investigation soon.

“There is some information that’s come back, and then it’s a matter of deliberations between the board members,” she said. “I know that there’s a little conversation going on about whether or not additional resources are needed or something. I can’t say too much about that.”

She said she hopes that the investigation can reach a resolution in the next couple of weeks that’s “fair for everybody.”

Harshbarger said that Allard is the only hospital employee currently under investigation and that Speed has previously conducted investigations at the hospital.

“I’ll be very interested for someone finally to make an assertion of the facts of the matter so that I can look at those and see if they really make sense,” Ballard said. “If they’re really facts.”

His comments followed those of community member Carol Jones, who said she wants Allard to be allowed to return and would obtain health care services at other hospitals if hospital staff are being “fired for no reason.”

“People will vote with their feet if you don’t care for the people that live here and we’re bringing people in to cause division, we’re all going to leave,” she said. “We won’t want to be here. I come here because I love the people here.”

Harshbarger said investigations can take some time, and the board members aren’t allowed to have any conversations about it because it’s a human resources matter. Allard’s privacy needs to be respected during the investigation, she said.

“It wouldn’t be fair to any of us if all of our alleged flaws was out for everybody to be displayed,” Harshbarger said, noting that she understands that it’s taking a long time.

Trustee Karine Wright West, whose term began in May, said it’s hard for new board members to know what they can and can’t say. Trustee Ted Ertman said it’s hard for the board members themselves to not discuss it, considering they’re receiving phone calls and emails from people asking for answers that they can’t provide.

Allard said in a Facebook message on July 22 that she is still on leave. According to her LinkedIn profile, she has been COO since November 2021.

The July 11 board agenda also listed as a discussion item “Discuss Compliance Training Contract with Darren Speed,” but that was not discussed.

Trustee Kari Drost said in a text on July 22 that she made a motion after executive session to remove it from the agenda.

“The board wasn’t ready to discuss as we only had one bid,” Drost said. “The board wanted at least one (hopefully two) more bids for same services before voting to retain any services.”

Drost also said there is another board meeting at 5:30 p.m. on July 25.