photo by: LMH Health

Former LMH Health CFO Mike Rogers is pictured alongside the hospital's main campus at 325 Maine St. Rogers was removed from his role in late October after LMH Health officials discovered that he did not disclose that he was a convicted felon and had legally changed his name during the hiring process.

Story updated at 5:29 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023:

LMH Health’s recently hired chief financial officer is no longer in his position, after it was revealed that he was a convicted felon and legally changed his name last year — and didn’t disclose those details during his hiring process.

LMH Health hired Mike Rogers, previously the regional chief financial officer for St. Mary’s Hospital’s Texoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City, in September. But according to information provided by LMH Thursday afternoon, Rogers legally changed his name from his given name of Michael Patrick Brunton in October 2022.

According to reporting from The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City’s daily newspaper, Rogers pleaded guilty to a mail fraud case in 2005, when he admitted accepting a $3,775 check for college football tickets that did not exist via an internet ticket scheme. He was originally accused of a scheme that scammed about 40 people out of more than $80,000 using internet auction sites, according to local reporting, and was originally indicted in Oklahoma City on 15 individual counts of mail and wire fraud.

Later reporting from the same publication notes that he was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $72,000 in restitution and perform 104 hours of community service once he was released.

According to reporting from the Associated Press, in May 2007, Rogers was arrested on charges of extortion, felony theft and simple theft after allegedly using hospital credit cards illegally and trying to get money out of administrators at a hospital in Louisiana. He’d resigned as the CFO at Franklin Parish Medical Center in late April citing “personal reasons,” and was arrested days later during the first week of May.

The 2007 reporting said an investigation showed Rogers allegedly used the hospital’s credit card to buy gifts for nurses at the hospital, some of whom he may have been allegedly having an affair with. At the time, he was on probation in Oklahoma for his previous mail and wire fraud charges. Like in Lawrence, hospital leadership at Franklin Parish Medical Center also was not made aware of Rogers’ criminal history when he was hired in December 2006.

LMH Health staff became aware of inconsistencies regarding Rogers’ identity on Oct. 26, and those concerns were immediately forwarded to LMH Health CEO Russ Johnson and the hospital’s HR department. Hospital staff made the discovery of Rogers’ name change the following day.

“Rogers did not disclose these facts, nor did he accurately disclose his employment and felony records during the interviewing/onboarding process,” LMH spokesperson Autumn Bishop shared with the Journal-World Thursday afternoon.

Rogers, who was introduced as LMH’s new CFO in September, was immediately placed on administrative leave — with his laptop secured and access to all systems and facilities terminated — and relieved from his role as CFO Monday, Oct. 30, due to “personal circumstances.”

Now, Bishop’s statement says, LMH Health is currently conducting a “root cause analysis” to identify any underlying factors related to the hospital’s background checks and other hiring processes. Additionally, LMH Health is once again actively recruiting a new permanent CFO. The statement doesn’t provide a timeline for when that search process will be complete.

The statement also notes that since LMH Health has “strong financial protections and procedures” in place, its financial assets were never in jeopardy, and Rogers had no administrative access nor control over the hospital’s bank accounts. Early investigations show that no funds were lost during his time at LMH Health.

“We appreciate our staff members who reached out to administration when they learned of these inconsistencies,” Bishop said. “Their quick action allowed us to eliminate this threat before any damage occurred to our organization. For that, we are extremely grateful.”