Terminated employees present their version of Marion Manor story
Beverly's employee policy was not followed, three former employees say
Staff writer
Three former longtime employees of a Marion nursing home say an article in last week's Marion County Record about "unfounded rumors" being the cause of problems at Marion Manor compelled them to come forward and tell their story.
Paula Berg, Lisa Donahue, and Ann Carr, all said they were fired late last year shortly after new administrator Kari Vanzant took over leadership duties at Marion Manor. The three said Beverly Health Care company policy — which includes a series of written warnings and investigation — was not followed, and each was terminated without being given the opportunity to defend themselves.
The three said they had not spoken publicly about the circumstances of their terminations because they were told the company would sue them if they did.
"We had a lot of community support. People were coming up and saying 'We're so sorry about this'," Donahue said. "Then this article appears in the paper.
"We just want the whole picture to be shown," she added.
Last week, Vanzant said she would not comment on any personnel matters, but said she came to Marion to get things in order and improve the facility.
Escorted out
Paula Berg, a registered nurse and eight year employee at Marion Manor, said she was the first of the three to be terminated. Berg held several jobs at the facility: MDS coordinator, associate director of nursing, medical records, and central supply.
The week after new administrator Vanzant began work at the facility, Berg went on vacation. Upon returning, Berg said Vanzant wanted her to take on more job duties at Marion Manor.
Besides her job at Marion Manor Berg also taught Certified Nursing Aid (CNA) classes at Butler of Marion, and works part-time for a urologist at St. Luke Medical Clinic.
"Kari (Vanzant) felt my part-time activities interfered with my performance," Berg said.
Noting she felt she could not do all the job duties expected at Marion Manor, Berg told Vanzant at 3 p.m. on Oct. 18 she wanted to step down from the MDS coordinator job. Then, during a 4 p.m. meeting that day, the administrator said Berg had committed eight infractions, Berg related. They included abandoning her job, using the facility for personal use, and that her outside activities were detracting from her job performance.
Just before this Oct. 18 incident occurred, Berg said the new administrator had directed that supervisory employees had to work between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. with a one hour lunch break, instead of taking time off at various times, and working other hours. In the past working odd hours had not been an issue, Berg indicated. She often worked in the evenings catching up on medical records, and performing other duties.
Berg said her desire to quit the MDS portion of her job, along with her use of Marion Manor to teach the CNA class, along with being gone during the newly-imposed 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday to teach the class were given as the reasons for the infractions.
"I was going to teach from 2 to 6 p.m., but she (Vanzant) expected me to be at work," Berg said. She indicated her teaching of the CNA classes had resulted in several new employees for the facility. Once many students graduated they decided to work at Marion Manor, where they had received some on-the-job training.
"I was put on immediate suspension and I was escorted from the building," Berg said. "It was totally humiliating. People didn't know what was going on. I had no time to substantiate. No warnings were given. I was not allowed to come back in the building during my suspension.
"At least I got to pack up my stuff, but someone was watching while I did it," she said.
Berg said she was terminated less than a week later.
"Kari left a message on my answering machine for me to call. I did, and was fired over the phone," Berg said. "There was no paperwork. And Beverly is very into signed paperwork. I was suspended on Friday and fired on Wednesday."
"Paula never got to tell her side of the story at all," Ann Carr said. "They didn't follow their own policy."
Donahue agreed, "We were all supposed to follow policy, but they didn't."
No formal firing
Donahue was suspended the following Monday after working 11 1/2 years at Marion Manor as activity director.
"I had no problems with the administration that was there for many years, but I had some write-ups from previous past administrations," Donahue admitted. "Kari had been there three weeks and said I was doing a good job."
Donahue said when the directive came up about having set hours between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. she had talked to Vanzant and said it would be impossible for her to adhere to that schedule because her job included weekend work.
"For me to stay within the allotted hours I wouldn't be able to work weekends. I never got any type of negativity from her about that," Donahue said. "But then at noon that day (Oct. 21) she told me I was suspended for three days."
Donahue said she was able to pack her personal belongs without being watched and was able to leave the building on her own. While on suspension, she received a phone call on her answering machine.
"I didn't return the call, so officially I was never fired," Donahue said. "But a person in-house was hired for my job the afternoon I was suspended."
Twenty-two years gone
Ann Carr had made working at Marion Manor a career. She started 22 years ago in the housekeeping department before becoming the facility's social service person two years later.
Carr said the day Donahue was suspended, Vanzant told Carr a Beverly official wanted Vanzant to fire Carr that day.
"But she said she told him she'd work with me," Carr said.
On Tuesday, Carr's father was sick in Wesley Hospital in Wichita, and she took the day off to be with him. Wednesday morning, she returned to work.
"Kari and the new medical records person (Berg's successor) came in as a witness and told me the consultant said I hadn't done something," Carr said. "Kari said 'You didn't do it. I'm going to let you go'."
Carr said she tried to explain that she needed nursing staff to help her accomplish what was supposed to be done, but it fell on deaf ears.
"For me, there was no investigation, no suspension. I was just terminated," Carr said. "I lost all my benefits, and 60 hours of vacation."
All the women said they were told there were numerous citations in their respective files which none of them knew about. The women said the "progressive discipline policy" which they all signed, calls for a series of procedures which are supposed to occur prior to termination. These steps did not occur, they said.
"The purpose of suspension is to get you out of the facility while they investigate," Berg said. "There were no investigations."
"I had nothing in writing that I was doing things wrong," Donahue added. "If they had problems with me there should have been more write-ups.
"Supposedly there were a lot of things in our files," Donahue continued. "But none of us knew it."
"This all just happened since October," Berg added. "Before that, there were no problems."
For the three long-time employees, their dismissal has been traumatic. But they believe it has also affected others who currently work at the facility, as well as some who also decided to leave.
"We had a department meeting while I was still there and we were told if we talked about what was going on, there would be disciplinary action," Donahue said. "We had all worked together for years. I still have friends there. It was very upsetting."
"One other person was fired," Berg said. "The rest all quit. Many have quit."
The women said they considered legal action, but were told a corporation could fire an employee for "any reason at all."
Marion attorney Chris Costello, who accompanied the women to this interview at the Marion County Record, agreed that basically that was true.
The women said the hardest part has been leaving the residents.
"That's what hurts so much," Berg said. "Because we really do care about the residents."
The three noted that during their years at Marion Manor the facility had good state surveys. A state inspection completed on Dec. 31, and dated Jan. 6, 2003, contained 43 pages of infraction, according to last week's news article.
During a re-inspection earlier this month, it had no deficiencies, Vanzant said last week.
With the various rumors and shake-up at Marion Manor in recent weeks, Beverly Health Care officials emphasize the facility is stable and continues to offer a loving, caring environment for its residents.
"I'd like to emphasize that Marion Manor is not being sold, and it will continue to remain open," according to a written statement from Mark Longenecker, Beverly Corporations director of operations — Kansas. "We will continue to provide valuable nursing care services to all of our residents.
"I'd also like to emphasize that we have a dedicated and compassionate team of caregivers providing care at Marion Manor," his statement continued. "Taking care of the elderly is not an easy job. I'm proud of the work they do, and that they are part of the Marion Manor family."
Longenecker also stated the current administrator had resigned, and the company was in the process of hiring a new administrator.
When asked Friday if she had resigned, Vanzant said she had.
"It's time for a change," Vanzant said, but would not elaborate, noting she didn't think her personal life was "anybody's business."
Vanzant is the latest in a long line of administrators who have come and gone within the past two years. Since long-time administrator Ken Vinduska left in January 2001, Marion Manor has had five administrators.
