Teresa Mueller last week resigned her position on the Estes Park Health Foundation board of directors. Mueller had served on the EPHF board since 2018 and has been the organization’s chair since early 2023.
The EPHF was founded in 1986 to support the needs and mission of Estes Park Health, a rural, tax-district medical center serving the Estes Valley, by providing funding for equipment and services not otherwise covered by insurance and other revenue streams.
In an email shared with the Estes Valley Voice, Mueller wrote that she “wanted to share some significant personal news and provide context for my recent decision to resign from EPHF on Tuesday, Oct. 8.”
Mueller cited a specific incident which fueled her decision to resign. According to Mueller, an email was sent from an EPHF board member to an external party which stated, “Over the past year, as my concerns have increased, others have joined me in opposition to the Foundation Leadership (Kevin Mullin, Teresa Mueller (Board Chair) and Dennis Hoshiko (recently resigned Board Vice Chair). Additionally, the EPH Board and EPH Management have formally expressed their lack of confidence in the Foundation Leadership.”
In a phone interview Monday, Mueller said the communication deeply unsettled her and confirmed her concerns about the current environment within the foundation and hospital.
In August, the hospital’s CEO, Vern Carda, sent a document by email to Mullin, president of the foundation, telling him that he was no longer permitted on the hospital’s property unless he needed medical care. Mullin’s access to his computer and office were revoked and he was escorted from the building.
The letter sent by Carda to Mullin was authored by EPH board chair David Batey, according to the meta data on the document attached to the email, which was also sent to members of the EPH board and EPHF board.
Carda’s message to Mullin identified problems with Mullin not respecting Carda. Mullin responded by email to the EPH board stating that he was filing a grievance with the board over how he had been treated by Carda, noting discrimination and a hostile work environment created by Carda.
Mullin’s concerns echoed complaints by current and former EPH employees who have contacted the Estes Valley Voice, spoken out at EPH board meetings, and written on local social media platforms about their experiences being bullied by EPH supervisors and administration.
Since Carda barred Mullin from EPH property, the foundation and Mullin came to a separation agreement so the foundation could attempt to move on.
At the September EPH Board meeting, Hoshiko stepped forward during public comment to resign from the foundation board. He stated that he could no longer abide by the way the EPH board was dealing with the foundation, and he needed to sever his involvement.
In addition to Mueller and Hoshiko, Debby Hughes also resigned in August due to turmoil with the EPH board of directors.
Hughes, who rejoined the foundation board in November 2023, has a long-standing family connection to EPH. Her grandparents, Elizabeth and Roger Knutsson, vacationed in Estes often, and after Elizabeth died in May 1955, her husband donated $100,000 in her memory to build the hospital. Opened in 1975 and originally named the Elizabeth Knutsson Memorial Hospital, the 23-bed facility is supported, in part, by a 7.505 mill levy paid by property owners in the Estes Valley.
Theories about EPH’s interest in shaking up the foundation’s leadership concern $5 million in assets held by the foundation. During the first two quarters of 2024, EPH reported more than $3 million in operating losses.
While the foundation, a separate 501(c)3 organization, cannot directly bail the hospital out of its financial woes, if the foundation came under the direction of the hospital, it might be possible for
EPH to use the foundation and its assets as a negotiating chip in its efforts to find a healthcare organization willing to acquire or affiliate with the EPH. In addition to operating losses during the first half of 2024, EPH has not fully retired the $25 million in bonds it secured to create a new front wing, surgical services department, inpatient area, birth center, outpatient clinic, lobby, and front entrance.
Over the past five years, EPH has closed its nursing home, and it has stopped providing in patient pediatric and obstetric care. In December 2023, EPH also stopped providing in-home healthcare and in-home hospice care.
In July, EPH told the Estes Valley Voice that the average daily in-patient census was 4.1 patients for the 23-bed hospital.
In May 2023, the voters of the Park Hospital District gave the board approval to negotiate an arrangement with a healthcare organization that would take over management of EPH.
However, over the past 17 months, the EPH board has not provided the voters of the district with any information about the status of such negotiations other than to say they have a non- disclosure agreement in place that prohibits them from saying anything.
Financial information about how the hospital has fared during Q3 has not yet been released to the public. It is anticipated that a financial statement will be provided at the October board meeting on Oct. 23. The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the boardroom at Town Hall.
The EPH board has met in closed door executive session more than 100 times over the past two years; 17 of those meetings have been held in just the past 90 days.
Mueller retired as the chief operating officer for an accounting firm, Mueller Pye & Associates CPA LLC in 2021. She has a long professional career in business, finance, strategy, and nonprofit leadership.
Mueller said she thought it was important to share the reasons for her resignation with the community, “I felt it was important to bring this matter to light, as it has serious implications for the integrity of EPHF.”