CLEVELAND — For the first time, we're hearing from University Hospitals' Chief Executive Officer, who claims the two pediatricians recently fired violated a handful of internal policies, but the healthcare system won't show us which ones.
Dozens came out to picket the healthcare system Friday morning:
RELATED: 2 University Hospitals pediatricians fired for sending unsolicited texts to other doctors
Doctors Lauren Beene and Valerie Fouts-Fowler were terminated from UH on June 24.
"This has been by far the most stressful point in my career," Dr. Beene told me on Thursday.
UH CEO Cliff Megerian claims Dr. Beene and Dr. Fouts-Fowler inappropriately downloaded nearly 5,000 healthcare workers' personal information for reasons other than direct patient care.
"It's a violation of at least five of our policies," Megerian said. "They denied it. We found out they did and as you can expect, that's what led to the issue."
Neither of the terminated doctors knew what policies they'd broken when we asked for a response.
"I don't know what he's talking about. We have not been informed of that ourselves. I think the important thing really is that we're organizing a union to better patient care. That is all federally protected under the National Labor Relations Act. We are very careful, thoughtful people and since we started doing this over a year ago, we've been very careful to make sure that we're doing this right," Dr. Beene explained.
Both physicians don't deny sending unsolicited texts to their colleagues, but they say they are confused how the same internal directory can be used for planning baby showers and fundraisers — that a line is drawn in the sand when trying to unionize.
I emailed UH Vice President of Communications, Michael Tobin, for clarity in the form of an employee policy that prohibits the use of staff data in the way Dr. Beene and Dr. Fouts-Fowler did.
"We don't typically share internal policies," Tobin responded.
"We're looking for clarity because right now it's a they said/they said situation. We're looking to better understand the policy UH says those two pediatricians broke as well as the procedure that follows (I.e. warning, suspension, termination). Not only does it help us better understand, but also, it helps the community better understand the situation," I responded to Tobin.
Tobin replied, "And, by your own reporting, they intend to sue. I don’t know that sharing internal policy documents adds clarity beyond what we’ve already said. UH began an investigation because of complaints from UH physicians about being sent unsolicited text messages. The investigation determined these two physicians went into a care coordination app, accessed the personal data of 4,000 colleagues, and repeatedly sent them unsolicited text messages that had nothing to do with care coordination."
Previously, Dr. Beene and Dr. Fouts-Fowler's union, Concerned UH Physicians, told me multiple legal actions were developing, but didn't go into detail as to what those developments were.
I asked Tobin once more for a copy of employee guidelines just before 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, but never heard back.
News 5 asked Megerian if he supports doctors' unions.
He told us, "I don't know at this time. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, but there really is not a big experience in the state of Ohio as it relates to doctors' unionization. There's not a tremendous amount of data as it relates to how effective and how beneficial it is, so I'm just not in a position to answer."
We also asked Megerian if there are areas in which UH can improve in since Dr. Beene and Dr. Fouts-Fowler claim they were trying to unionize in an effort to better patient care.
"I think we work every day to try to improve things. No hospital is perfect. This appears to be a limited group, so I can't speak for them as to what is the exact reason, but we're not against the concept of unionization. This was an issue that was related to policy and professional behavior," Megerian said.
Roughly 6,000 people disagree with UH's decision to fire, signing a petition that demands their reinstatement while also supporting unionization.
In less than 24 hours, Dr. Beene and Dr. Fouts-Fowler will also lead a picket in front of the UH Manager Services Center at 3605 Warrensville Center Road in Shaker Heights.
The pair informed UH 10 days ago of the picket.
"We're gonna speak. We have some patients' parents speaking. We have a rabbi speaking. We have a lot of people coming out, which is wonderful," Dr. Fouts-Fowler said.
Dr. Beene added, "It's been really empowering to plan this picket. This has become much more of a community issue since our patients found themselves involved when we were terminated. It's been really awesome to just see how many people want to help."
She explained the picket has been a group effort, as other labor unions, patients' parents, and other community organizations have helped.
"It's been so moving. I'm really looking forward to it," Dr. Beene said.
Dr. Fouts-Fowler said it's clear they want their jobs back, but the message of this picket is patient care.
"We just want things to be better for the patients, for their families, for the doctors working with them, for everyone," Dr. Fouts-Fowler said.
Both doctors said what has kept them fighting is the tidal wave of support they've received since their termination.
"The support's been the real kind of fire to keep me going. I'm always doing this for my patients, so hearing them say we're here with you is huge," Dr. Fouts-Fowler said.
The picket will begin at 7 a.m. and last until 8:30 a.m.
If you plan to participate, you can arrive earlier than that, but the doctors are asking that everyone remain across the street from the UH Management Service Center until 7 a.m.
"We're not going to cross over into the picket area until 7 a.m. because that's when we're permitted to do so," Dr. Beene said.
Street parking is also encouraged.
Signs will be provided at the event.
"Just bring yourselves," Dr. Fouts-Fowler said.
A News 5 crew will be present at the picket.
RELATED: Why are dozens of state leaders calling for an investigation into the firing of 2 UH pediatricians?
