County commissioner questions turnover at Heartland health center; former COO discloses discrimination complaint

photo by: Ashley Golledge/Journal-World File Photo

The entrance to Heartland Community Health Center is shown Friday, Jan. 26, 2018.

Questions emerged Wednesday about the departure of two top executives at Heartland Community Health Center after one disclosed she has hired an attorney regarding a previous racial discrimination complaint against Heartland.

New information about turnover in the top ranks of Heartland — which is a safety-net health care provider in Lawrence — came out at Wednesday’s Douglas County Commission meeting.

Douglas County Commissioner Patrick Kelly asked current Heartland executives to answer questions about the turnover as part of a budget hearing where Heartland was seeking county funding.

Julie Boden Schmidt, interim CEO at Heartland, told commissioners that former CEO Robyn Coventon had been asked to leave the organization.

“There certainly were problems with the last CEO, and she finally was asked to leave by the board,” Schmidt said.

When reached by the Journal-World on Wednesday, Coventon said she resigned her position with Heartland. “I would say it was the right time for us to part ways, mutually,” she said. Coventon said she had no other comment about the Heartland organization.

Kelly, who had unsuccessfully sought answers from the Heartland board previously, said he had heard of another top executive who had been fired from the organization. In her comments to the commission, Schmidt didn’t address a second position that had been dismissed. However, in an interview with the Journal-World after the meeting, Schmidt said the organization’s chief operating officer position also was vacant.

That position, until late May, had been held by Tiffany Lewis. When reached by the Journal-World on Wednesday, Lewis said she was pursuing legal action against Heartland.

“What I can tell you now is that I have retained an attorney,” Lewis said. “It was not my decision to leave. It came about 45 days after I had filed a hostile work environment and racial discrimination complaint.”

Lewis, who is Black, declined to provide details about the situation that led her to file the discrimination complaint against Heartland. She referred other questions to her attorney, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

An attempt to reach Schmidt, following Lewis’ comments, was not successful.

Lewis — who is married to Lawrence schools Superintendent Anthony Lewis — said her dismissal came after Coventon had left in mid-April.

On Wednesday, interim CEO Schmidt told county commissioners that Heartland was receiving guidance on issues related to equity.

“We are trying to address some of the issues that have come up over recent events, including the issue of equity and diversity,” Schmidt said. She told commissioners that she has people on staff, on the board and in the community who are advising her on how to improve diversity on the organization’s staff and operating board and on how to conduct outreach in the community.

Schmidt did not provide any information on a specific incident or event that led to concerns about equity or diversity at the center.

Schmidt did reaffirm past statements made by the organization that none of the challenges that confronted the organization involved malfeasance or financial improprieties. Until Wednesday, however, Heartland had said very little about the change in leadership.

After the Journal-World in April, on multiple occasions, asked Heartland about the status of its CEO, the organization on April 20 sent out a press release stating that Coventon had resigned to “pursue new professional opportunities.”

On Wednesday, interim CEO Schmidt told commissioners that there had been difficulties related to an acquisition Heartland made of Lawrence-based Panda Pediatrics in January. Panda was a longtime, for-profit, physician-owned pediatric practice, while Heartland is a nonprofit organization governed by a board of directors. Compared to other mergers, like Heartland’s merger with the Douglas County Dental Clinic, the Panda deal was more difficult.

“That has not been as smooth,” Schmidt said of the Panda acquisition. She said some difficulties were expected due to the different structures of the two organizations. The acquisition also was happening at a time when Heartland was preparing to move into a new multimillion-dollar facility near Sixth and Michigan streets in central Lawrence.

Schmidt said the organization’s merger with Panda has gotten smoother, and that she was pleased with the direction the organization was headed.

“We continue to make progress,” she said. “We continue to provide great care … and we have an incredible team that is working to not just stabilize but to really grow and flourish.”

Leaders also said the organization’s plans to move into a new 17,000-square-foot state-of-the-art health care facility at 1312 W. Sixth Street remain on track. The organization hopes to open in the new facility by early October.

Schmidt said no timeline had been set to fill the CEO position or the COO position in the organization.

County commissioners did not act on any funding request for Heartland or any other organization that presented at Wednesday’s hearings. Commissioners aren’t expected to start making decisions about the 2022 budget until next week.

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