Former Syringa boss calls for full examination of suicide death

Dec. 20—GRANGEVILLE — The former head of Syringa General Hospital here is requesting a professional, outside assessment into the circumstances of a suicide death that occurred at the hospital.

An employee of Syringa Hospital and Clinics died by suicide Dec. 1 at the hospital. The Lewiston Tribune doesn't generally name people who die by suicide.

Joe Cladouhos, the former chief executive officer of the hospital, met with the board of trustees Tuesday morning to urge them to take action to investigate the contributing factors of the death and take steps to ensure such things don't happen again.

"What happened ... on 12/1/2023 is likely the most egregious, completely unexpected tragedy since the hospital was first opened in 1939," Cladouhos said in a prepared statement. "History will be determined by your action or inaction."

Cladouhos said the hospital has no formal guidelines on how to react to situations like the employee's suicide, which Cladouhos described as a "sentinel event."

And he recounted how the rumor mill in town distorted many of the facts surrounding the death.

"I stopped by a local morning coffee klatch and was astounded to hear three different versions regarding timing and manner of death, plus assorted rumors of emails and delayed delivery text messages," Cladouhos said.

Cladouhos said he had recruited the employee for the job years ago and described him as "smart as a whip."

"It couldn't be true, but it was," Cladouhos said.

The hospital board listened without comment to Cladouhos's remarks.

Cladouhos pointed out several steps the board should take to formally address "sentinel events" and to decrease the likelihood of them happening.

"The risk of inaction is enormous," he said. Syringa "will lose credibility and you will miss the ability to learn from contributing factors in order to propose specific reforms to prevent similar events from occurring. Family, friends, current and former co-workers, ... patients and many stakeholders of Syringa Hospital District are personally moving in various stages of grief. This board can do a great service for people to achieve the final stage of grief by authorizing and managing a professional sentinel event analysis, as soon as possible."

Abner King, the current chief of the hospital, said services at the clinic have not been disrupted because of the employee's death. There are qualified local people currently filling in and the hospital is advertising to hire for the position permanently.

In other business, the board discussed its recent decision to terminate the management agreement with Kootenai Health in Coeur d'Alene. The board made the move in November after the Idaho Attorney General's Office and the Federal Trade Commission questioned the possibility of noncompetitive trade practices between Syringa and St. Mary's Health in Cottonwood.

A few board members said they were open to a modified affiliation with Kootenai or another major hospital.

"I don't know that I want to completely sever," the ties with Kootenai, said Leta Strauss. "A loose agreement would be a smart thing to do."

Syringa benefited from the affiliation in group purchasing agreements, as well as training and educational opportunities, she added.

Joel Cleary said he thinks it would be "not unreasonable to abandon Kootenai Health if we could find an alternative."

King said, for the time being, Syringa can still participate in Kootenai's group purchasing plan until an alternative can be found. Such group purchasing saved Syringa $200,000 to $300,000 a year when it was buying medical supplies on its own.

The board also discussed the dearth of elder care in the community, especially for people with dementia. Michael Matthews, a physician at the hospital, said there are few providers with specialized geriatric care outside of Seattle. Most of the time, Matthews said, primary physicians are the ones who deal with aging and dementia issues and the few resources available are aimed at educating families and caregivers.

"And the lack of treatment medications don't change the course of the disease," Matthews said.

Hedberg may be contacted at khedberg@lmtribune.com.