South Big Horn County CEO resigns

WORLAND – In the midst of the turmoil surrounding South Big Horn County Hospital (SBHCH), its board of trustees and community uproar South Big Horn County Hospital CEO John Adlesich has tendered his resignation.

SBHCH Board member Margie Triplett stated that she received an email on Friday, Feb. 23, confirming that Adlesich gave the board his 60-day notice of resignation with no explanation as to why. She also stated that she is unsure about what is going to happen since his resignation has not been officially accepted by the board or been discussed.

The board will have its regular meeting tonight at 5:30 p.m.

Adlesich stated that he resigned because he has been in the area for almost two years and that it was time to move back home to Oregon to be closer to family. "I've been thinking about it for, I was pretty transparent when I was hired on. Initially I planned on being here for three years but I was transparent during my interviews about an eventual desire to return back to Oregon," Adlesich stated. He also added that he did not resign for another job.

Much of the turmoil surrounding the hospital and its board is the community's dissatisfaction with three board members and Adlesich himself. The dissatisfaction caused community members to create a petition asking for the resignation of three board members. Copies of the signed petition were given to the board during the January meeting. The petition stated, "We, the undersigned, being electors of the board of Directors of the South Big Horn County Hospital District Board hereby petition that the following board members resign from their board position(s) due to no confidence in their ability to govern in the best interests of the special hospital district and the community. We ask that Jeff Grant, Sue Antley and Mitch Shellhammer (sic) resign immediately from their term(s) of office in the best interest of the community. Should they refuse to voluntarily resign, we ask that the State Attorney General remove them from their positions due to lack of moral turpitude."

Also during the January meeting Triplett stated in a prepared statement that while she had nothing to do with the petition, she was in support of it due to a belief that there has been activity behind the scenes involving the three board members who were the subject of the petition and Adlesich. "Our board chairman and the CEO have, independently from the board, made decisions that they have then cultivated the agreement of the other two board members, so that when we actually have a meeting, the decision has been previously made. Accordingly, I hear of things through the grapevine, rather than at meetings," Triplett said. "Additionally, I was told that our CEO John Adlesich, is resigning by March 1, 2018," she added.

Grant stated at that time that he had heard nothing from Adlesich about resigning.

Adlesich said nothing about resigning one way or the other during the January meeting.

Community member Tim Mills stated during the January meeting that he felt that Adlesich led by intimidation and that some of the staff at the hospital were in fear of losing their jobs at the whim of an "egomaniac."

"My leadership style is autonomy, trust but also accountability. A desire to see everyone succeed, everyone do their best but also a desire to ensure that we are providing our patients with the best care and level of service possible," Adlesich said Tuesday. He added that individuals have been asking him to resign for over a year, but that had no effect on his decision to resign now.