Dr. Boyle contract debated

by Julia Stuble

In response to claims made by attorney Elizabeth Greenwood last week regarding Dr. Judy Boyle’s contract negotiations, the Rural Health Care District (RHCD) contends that it did negotiate with Boyle concerning her contract to work for the district. Calling it “active” contract negotiations over the past year, the RHCD released a statement that, “most recently, Boyle was offered a compensation package, contract duration, and other considerations…which were rejected.”

The release, signed by district director Randy Johnson, said more than once Dr. Boyle and the district rejected each other’s offers.

However, in a release, Greenwood maintained her contention that active negotiations did not happen between Boyle and the health care board.

The district sent a contract to Boyle seven weeks after the board’s agreement to send contracts to all practicing doctors in the county, Greenwood stated.

She received the contract on April 9, and working with her and Boyle’s schedules, got their response in as soon as possible, which was May 4. Then, they heard nothing until the letter last week.

“I was stunned,” Greenwood said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “because they had publicly said we would have good faith negotiations.” The difference between these counter allegations is dates of negotiation, and entities. Johnson’s release states that Boyle and the district have negotiated on the contract, while Greenwood’s release notes that the board did not negotiate with Boyle.

Boyle did negotiate contract details with the previous board, which vacated the district after last August’s election. Since this board was seated in August, Greenwood said Boyle was left in the dark about her contract and status. At one point, a board member approached her and asked her to “hang on” longer, as they were working on it.

“Dr. Boyle could have signed a contract with the old board, but she wanted to work with this new (current) board,” Greenwood commented. In the two-month period between the district purchasing Boyle’s practice, and the board election, Boyle and the old board negotiated “quite a lot.”

She had no contact with the new board until the district’s contract arrived in April, and they submitted a counter offer. “It wasn’t really a counter offer,” Greenwood said in the interview. “It was an invitation to sit at a round table and talk.”

This was the offer the district declined to accept last week, effectively ending Boyle’s employment in the RHCD, Greenwood said. “The [RHCB] is taking the position that there have been active contract negotiations ongoing with Dr. Boyle for over a year,” Greenwood’s release stated.

“That is a complete and utter falsehood.” On Tuesday, Johnson said he was bound to referring all questions to the release.