Rhode Island hospital execs get no-confidence vote from nurses

Ayla Ellison -

Four top executives at Eleanor Slater Hospital, a state-run psychiatric hospital in Cranston, R.I., have received a no-confidence vote from members of the local unit of United Nurses and Allied Professionals, according to NBC 10 News

The vote of no confidence applied to the hospital's interim CEO, chief of medical services, chief medical officer and chief nursing officer.

"It's really reached a boiling point," Cynthia Lussier, RN, president of United Nurses and Allied Professionals, Local 5019, told NBC 10 News. "The staff doesn't trust the leadership to make sound decisions, they don't trust what they tell them to be the truth and you can't operate that way. You just can't."

The vote comes as two state lawmakers are calling for the "immediate dismissal" of Andrew Stone, MD, chief of medical services at Eleanor Slater Hospital, according to The Providence Journal. The lawmakers are concerned with actions taken by Dr. Stone and other hospital leaders. 

"Hospital administrators began planning the closure last year under the guise that services were not needed and then began pressuring physicians to improperly discharge patients," according to a statement from state Sen. Jessica de la Cruz and state Rep. David Place.

The lawmakers claim several physicians have resigned from the hospital rather than comply with Dr. Stone's directives, according to The Providence JournalThe Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, which oversees Eleanor Slater Hospital, did not respond to NBC 10 News' questions regarding staffing. 

Read the full article from NBC 10 News here

Read the full article from The Providence Journal here

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