Athens Regional Medical Center Chief Information Officer Gretchen Tegethoff resigned today in the wake of a scandal over the implementation of a new electronic medical records system.
Tegethoff’s departure follows that of CEO Jamey Thaw, who resigned last Thursday, two days after more than 200 doctors affiliated with the hospital met and held a no-confidence vote on Thaw’s leadership.
Several ARMC employees have told Flagpole that Tegethoff, who was hired by Thaw, rushed the implementation of the complex Cerner Millennium system and did not provide staff with the proper training, frustrating on-the-ground caregivers, putting patients in danger of not receiving the proper medication and otherwise endangering patient care.
Chief Medical Officer and acting CEO James Moore told the ARMC and Athens Regional Health System (which governs clinics and practices in addition to the hospital itself) boards of directors on Tuesday that protocols have been put in place to ensure patients don’t fall through the cracks, and that Cerner will be coming back to the hospital to provide additional training.
The boards met jointly on Tuesday for several hours, mostly in closed session to discuss personnel matters.
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