Pender Health Director claims independent assessment lied

By Jefferson Weaver
Post Staff Writer

An independent assessment of the Pender County Health Department was criticized Tuesday for presenting a skewed picture of the agency and its director – reports the Pender Post.

Dr. Jack Griffith said Tuesday that the report by Wanda Sandele was a “hatchet job”. Sandele, a retired health department director, said individuals she interviewed cited a lack of conflict resolution, micromanagement of complaints and concerns, and intimidation by Griffith’s administrative officer, Gwen Smith. The report says that “staff sees her as the person who ‘runs’ the health department but generally they do not respect her supervisory skills or decision making.”

In a rebuttal released Tuesday—some of which had been redacted due to concerns over personnel issues—Griffith calls Sandele’s report to task for using hearsay and untrue statements, as well as not interviewing enough employees to obtain a true picture of the Health Department. Griffith also provides documentation to show that, contrary to Sandele’s report, patient visits have not been negatively affected by media coverage of the agency’s problems.

“Unfortunately, Ms. Sandele makes some critical judgments in this section that are not supported by the facts,” Griffith’s response said, “which by the way she does throughout the entire document….However, she offers no supporting documentation.” “Unfortunately,” Griffith’s rebuttal continues, “none of the comments that are in support of the health department or administration are reflected in this report. This obvious exclusion of any staff person with a perspective not supported by the complaining group leads to the inescapable conclusion that the report was very biased, despite the contention by Ms. Sandele that she was writing an unbiased report.”

Griffith also pointed out that none of the letters, emails, or other complaints were ever made available to his office. Griffith has encouraged the department to hire bilingual employees, rather than hiring or contracting interpreters. Sandele’s report notes this as a positive practice, but cites anonymous claims of racially-insensitive remarks that Sandele admitted could not be independently confirmed. Sandele said the remarks, which were made on numerous occasions, have prompted an investigation by the Civil Rights Division of the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings.

Griffith criticized Sandele for interviewing only 15 employees during 12 hours in two days, while implying that she conducted full interviews with the entire staff in three days. “This has now turned into a witch hunt,” Griffith said in his response.

A gleeful ‘dance’

The report also quotes unnamed employees who accuse Smith of “taunting employees,” and striking out against employees who spoke to the media. Referring to a temporary employee, Sandele says in the report that Smith presented the employee with a termination letter at her workstation, in front of co-workers, and “publicly” taunted the worker that she could not get unemployment or appeal the action. The report also says that the news was “accompanied by a bit of a gleeful ‘dance’” and called the alleged behavior malicious and unprofessional.

The report also claims that management personnel try to divide employees by “cautioning people about who they talk to during the day.” Griffith categorically denied the accusation.

Drug use allegations

Sandele’s report briefly mentions the allegations of widespread drug use in the department. The Board of Health determined after an investigation that the reports were unfounded, although some of the allegations involved prior employees no longer associated with the department.

The allegations were made to the media outlets prior to being reported to the Board of Health, and even though the allegations were determined to be unfounded, Sandele said, the incident “was another example of management not adequately addressing concerns of supervisory staff.”

Changes

In the summary of her report, Sandele made a number of recommendations to the board.

She called for a “drastic change” in the leadership of the department, suggesting a management team be developed to encourage cooperation. She also suggests physicians be required to perform some administrative duties, including the “maintenance of harmonious working relationships with all staff.” The role of the health director should be completely changed, Sandele said, and improvements should be made in the areas of determining qualifications of individuals and defining job descriptions.

Two additional evaluations of the department are scheduled to be completed within the next week. A conflict resolution consultant from the N.C. School of Governments is reviewing management tactics within the department, and a broader study by the Gillings School of Global Health at UNC Chapel Hill will be released next week, according to Board of Health Chair Roberta Bost.

Sandele’s report was the announced topic of a Board of Health meeting Monday, but the public meeting quickly gave way to a marathon private session between the Board of Health, Griffith, Smith, and Sandele.

Floor seats and fire code

Around 30 people packed into the Health Department conference room for the 7 p.m. meeting. Some even sat on floors and bookcases around the room. At 7:10 p.m., the meeting had not started, but more people were standing outside in the hallway.

When County Commission Chair Jimmy Tate saw the crowd, he said the board was “about to violate the fire code,” and suggested the meeting be moved to the county commissioner’s chambers. Bost opened the meeting by asking county manager Rick Benton to introduce Sandele, who briefly described the study. Four times, Sandele emphasized that the quality of care through the Health Department “was never a question.”

“You have a good Health Department,” Sandele said, receiving a round of applause. “There was never a question about the quality or value of the care….problems get twisted and turned around until they incorrectly reflect on the quality of care.” At 7:34, Bost announced that the board would be going into an executive session to review the report. County Attorney Trey Thurman said the meeting was to discuss personnel. When questioned by a reporter, Thurman said the session did not have to be announced beforehand.

Griffith, Sandele, and Gwen Smith of the Health Department met with the board, Benson and Thurman until around 9:15 p.m., when Tate was observed to throw up his hands. After apparently speaking with Bost for a moment, Tate sat back down, only to get up several minutes later and quickly leave the building. Outside, Tate refused comment. “I’m just tired of it,” he said. “I’m tired of all of it.”

Sandele left at 10 p.m., and also refused comment. She came out of the meeting with several board members. None responded to questions. Griffith came outside after speaking with Thurman for several minutes.

Valid points

“They have got some valid points,” Griffith said about the report, but didn’t get more specific.

Speaking more to the staff members in the hallway than to the media, Griffith expressed his appreciation for their support. His voice was hoarse. “My main concern is to take care of the primary care providers, the pediatric workers, and the dental program,” he said. “After that, we’ll see.”

Griffith said the “future of the Health Department” was being discussed by the board. He said he did not know “what part I’ll play in that.” “I’m sure the board will have something for you in a few minutes,” he said, although the board continued to meet until nearly midnight, and did not take any action in public session.

On Tuesday, Griffith echoed statements made by Health Department employees regarding the objectivity of the report. “I think the (Gillings School) report will how a much different picture,” he said.

Was report biased?

Since the report’s release, several workers expressed concerns that the initial assessment was not complete, and that some employees were either not interviewed or their comments disregarded. They cited intimidation by some of the same employees interviewed by media and Sandele, as well as implied physical threats.

“It’s about a group of people who want power,” one worker said. “They will do whatever they have to so they can get what they want. It’s a hatchet job on Dr. Griffith, and makes the department look bad.” Work has started on the Gillings School report, which is anticipated to be completed later this month.

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