THE TURNERING OF THE SCREWS
This article was published in the October 18, 2025 edition.
On the eve of another round of No Kings protests nationwide, Queen Jean [Turner], Chair of the Northern Inyo Hospital board, has shown that autocratic political power plays are not merely the domain of Washington, D.C.
Turner, who continues to reign over a fiefdom of disgruntled serfs and sparse coffers, borrowed a few pages from the Trump playbook this week, as the full range of NIHD dysfunction was on display during the Board’s five-hour regular meeting on Wednesday.
The regular meeting began at 5:20 p.m. after a 4 p.m. special (closed session) meeting devoted to the discussion of “trade secrets” –- defined as potential development of new hospital services.
The board then heard 30 minutes of disgruntled public comment over stalled labor negotiations.
Union rep Sami Bumgarner said the CPI (consumer price index) is rising 3.5% annually in the Bishop area and “we need to get at least that.”
Nurse Timothy McMullen said the district’s pay proposals are not competitive. Staff feels they’re being asked to be cut, he said, to save them from making cuts elsewhere. “We’re being taken for granted.”
The board then headed into closed session for about an hour.
Upon resumption of the meeting, the Board approved a three-year contract with new CEO Christian Wallis.
Wallis has most recently served as CEO of the Grossmont Healthcare District, located in East County (which includes La Mesa) near San Diego.
After a four-year stint, his contract was not renewed in March.
He had been making $247,424 annually.
NIHD enticed him north with a nice raise. He’ll be making $460,000/year at NIHD.
Turner shared that she had learned of Wallis at an ACHD (Association of California Healthcare Districts) conference, and as she described it, Wallis may as well be E.F. Hutton. When he spoke, everyone around him got quiet.
She also said ever since Wallis was hired as the interim CEO this spring, employees would spontaneously walk up to her and tell her what a great leader Wallis is and would thank her for bringing him in.
“I’d like you to join me in thanking him for saying ‘yes’,” she announced to the public.
The vote to hire him was 3-1. Board member Laura Smith voted no because she felt the hiring process was flawed. She also disagreed with the salary.
David Barrett (Zone 1) didn’t vote because he resigned on September 29.
Which led to the next agenda item –- determining how he would be replaced.
Turner said there were two options: Holding a special election or appointing an ad hoc committee to select a replacement.
Barrett was elected in November, 2024. According to hospital bylaws, “the person appointed to the vacancy shall fill the balance of the unexpired term.”
Turner deemed a special election too expensive, so the Board opted to appoint a committee. Then, Turner suggested the hospital’s governance committee be appointed as the ad hoc committee.
The three-person governance committee consists of … Turner, fellow Board Member David Lent and new CEO Wallis.
Laura Smith objected, saying she wanted to be on the committee, but was summarily ignored.
So Turner, her handpicked CEO and Lent will choose the next Zone 1 board member, voters and democratic process be damned.
Then came even more fun stuff: the new CEO spreading his wings a bit, and talking about master planning and bringing on a consulting firm (for $230,000) to help strategize.
The consultant said he’d be sure to conduct some financial analysis before the district went forward with anything. “We don’t want to see you get in over your heads,” he said.
‘Course, he could’ve just looked at the finance report in the agenda packet and saved everyone a bunch of time, but … we’ll get to that.
This was followed by more strategery and discussion of performing a community health needs assessment.
Sometime just before 10 p.m., Chief Financial Officer Andrea Mossman gave her report.
Oh shoot, NIHD suffered a $2 million net loss. That’s just August.
Year-to-date net income is down $3 million from last year.
Net revenue is 12% under budget.
Orthopedic activity (thanks to the Bo Loy fiasco and the defections of Mark Robinson and Jeb Reid) is down more than 50%.
The disconnect between the first 4 hours and 50 minutes of the meeting and the last ten minutes was staggering.
The board had no comment on the financial report.
No Nukes
What a difference a week makes.
Last week, we reported Southern Inyo Hospital District on the brink of insolvency.
But board members were far more optimistic after their regular meeting on Tuesday.
To the point where Rosanne Lampariello Cameron said the Board considered nullifying its previous resolution giving CEO Kevin Flanigan the authority to declare bankruptcy if necessary.
“We’ve gone from worrying about making payroll to figuring out how to pay creditors,” she said. “Based upon our meeting … we’re not going to have to use the nuclear option,” added Board member Carma Roper.
Flanigan told The Sheet vendors have been helpful and cooperative, working out 10-month interest free payment schedules versus issuing demand letters.
Between voluntary furloughs and nine layoffs (about 7% of the staff), Flanagan said the hospital had reduced its payroll $200,000 in this cycle.
He also said SIHD received an unexpected supplemental payment from the State for its skilled nursing facility.
“In my career, I’ve never seen the degree of sacrifice this team has made,” Flanigan said.
