BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — The Blount County Commission voted to appoint Susanne Davis to the Blount Memorial Hospital board of directors Thursday, 15-3 with one person abstaining from the vote.
Davis will serve until December 2024, according to the resolution. She is filling Clarence Williams' seat, who was previously appointed by the Alcoa City Commission.
"Ms. Davis has an excellent resume and has substantial expertise in the field of accounting," said a letter from Blount Memorial Hospital's nominating committee. "The nominating committee members felt her skills and knowledge would be valuable on the hospital board."
She is a certified public accountant who was previously working with Maryville and Seymour. She graduated from Carson Newman College in 1993, according to her résumé.
Later, the Blount County Commission rejected a postponement on a resolution that changes the way BMH's Nominating Committee is structured. It implements new requirements for the committee and expands it to ten members with one non-voting member.
The new requirements for the committee are listed below.
- One member would need to be appointed annually by the Blount County Board of Commissioners, who would serve as the permanent chairman
- One member would need to be appointed annually by the Maryville City Council.
- One member would need to be appointed annually by the Alcoa City Commission.
- One member would need to come from each of the following organizations, selected by the President or CEO of each organization
- Blount County Medical Society
- The largest industrial employer of Blount County
- The largest labor union in Blount County
- The Blount County Farm Bureau
- The Blount County Chamber of Commerce
- One of the following financial institutions: First Horizon Bank, Maryville, First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Maryville, Blount National Bank of Maryville, Citizens Bank of Blount County, and American Fidelity Bank, or the successor of any said financial institutions herein named, who shall serve a term of one (1) year on a rotating basis in the order named.
- One member would need to be an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Board of Directors of Blount Memorial Hospital
The resolution passed 15-3, with one person abstaining. Steve Mikels, Tom Stinnett and Ron French voted against the proposal.
"We're dealing with something very serious. We're dealing with the health of our citizens," said Mayor of Blount County Ed Mitchell. "It is an entity of Blount County government and as such, I worry about the financial stability and financial health because that is my responsibility as mayor."
In June, Blount County leaders wrote a letter to the hospital's board of directors explaining their concerns over how the board was choosing its CEO. Mitchell was one of the leaders who signed the letter. It said that the mayors felt the process to find a new CEO did not strictly follow state law and hospital policies.
Then in November, Mitchell sent another letter to the hospital saying he had "grave concerns" about how BMH is operated. In it, he said that BMH was appointed to operate the hospital on behalf of the county, but it never became the owner of any hospital assets.
So, he said BMH needs to follow the county's direction. Mitchell said he was concerned about them selling a healthcare facility in the Springbrook neighborhood. He also said that he thought the board of directors needed to quickly restructure in order to better serve the county.
He asked the hospital to eliminate its nominating process, and also asked three board members to immediately resign — Ms. Redwine, Mr. Mayes and Mr. Powell.
"The decisions made by the existing board of directors were not in the best interest of the community," said Kevin McNeill, a resident of Blount County who attended Thursday's meeting. "Return it to profitability status so it can be vibrant for the next 75 years."
WBIR reached out to BMH. The hospital's lawyer declined an interview after speaking at the commission meeting.