Shipley on TBI probe into Health Department case: The story should be 'legislator does job'
Tennessee Health Department officials and some state legislators — including Tony Shipley, R-Kingsport — are being investigated for possible misconduct and false reporting by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said the agency launched an investigation June 22. It's exploring whether, "members of the Tennessee General Assembly and/or employees of the state department of health" committed criminal infractions during a process that led to the recent reversal of disciplinary action against three registered nurses accused of substandard care and contributing to two patient deaths while employed at the now-defunct Appalachian Medical Center, 3010 Bristol Highway, Johnson City.
Registered nurses Bobby Reynolds II, David Stout Jr. and Tina Killebrew were exonerated and their licenses restored in May. At that time Shipley identified himself to the Times-News as the, "rascal behind the scenes that made it happen."
On Tuesday, in reference to the TBI probe, Shipley said, "The story should be 'legislator does job,' you know, as opposed to suggesting that there was anything inappropriate."
Shipley said he is scheduled to meet with a TBI investigator next week. He said the investigator contacted him by text or e-mail on Monday and said, "'I want to talk to you about Appalachian Medical.' I said, 'I don’t know any more about it than what you all put in your reports.' He said, 'I need to reach out to you.' There was no questioning. He said, 'I want to come see you.' At that time I had no idea what was going on."
Shipley said he has no plans to retain counsel. "I intend to talk to them, and I feel extremely comfortable that everything we did was in the light of day, it was in front of a lot of people all the time. I mean, I have no concerns about it one way or the other."
Shipley said prior to learning of this investigation, he was, "pretty much done with this whole issue, you know, these people were beginning to get their lives put back together. Now they've turned to bite the hand of the legislators who forced the state to re-evaluate the facts and look at them through the lens of honesty and truth, and that's exactly what we did."
He described the health department as a "willing partner" once they realized a mistake had been made.
"We had very strong conversations, but when it was clear that there was evidence available that changed the outcome of their initial ruling, they stepped up to the plate, and they said, we need to fix this. I brought it to the table of course, but they did that on their own," he said.
With regard to the nurses, Shipley said, "They were denied due process. That is what I fixed. And I would do it again. I will do it again, when confronted with the same situation."
In May, Shipley said that as an officer of the Government Operations Committee, he "took the position of blocking the extension of the board," until they agreed to listen to their argument. He said a yearlong battle ensued before the board finally agreed to take another look at the evidence. During the last three or four months of that period of time, Shipley said he had someone from the Department of Health in his office - from the legislative coordinator "all the way up to a deputy commissioner" - engaged in "sometimes heated discussion" toward that end.
In April, Shipley advocated a House amendment to reduce the number of nursing board members and require having seven board members present before issuing a summary suspension.
But a Senate bill to extend the nursing home board’s life passed in the Legislature without the amendment.
“We decided not to do anything until the Senate and House get back together and study it,” Shipley said of the amendment.
Dale Ford, R-Jonesborough, who assisted Shipley's efforts, opined, "This is clearly a vindictive move (on the nursing board’s part) because Tony and I went after the nursing board for what I thought was overstepping their bounds. I was protecting my constituents just like I would do you or them or anybody else. I don’t have anything to be scared about. They can investigate all they want, but I did some digging and everybody who’s been written up who went down to Nashville for a hearing since 2003 has been disciplined. Everybody is not guilty."
"It all stemmed from one thing: I wrote a bill to put in an oversight panel and when they issue a major fine or major penalty of any kind to close your doors, we would look at both sides of the evidence. (The nursing board) said if I would pull that bill they would reconsider the summary suspension on Bob Reynolds, and the state of Tennessee had 38 summary suspensions," said Ford.
"They reconsidered that and I withdrew my bill. They can come after me all they want. They are welcome to investigate any aspect of my life," he said. As of Tuesday morning, Ford said he had not heard from the TBI.
The health department issued a prepared statement saying it is, "cooperating fully with the inquiry by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations. We are providing information and responding to requests as needed to assist in this matter. It is inappropriate for the department to offer further comment at this time."
Meanwhile, according to Helm, an investigation launched into Appalachian Medical Center employees in 2005 is still open, but the case file has been turned over to Tony Clark, District Attorney General of the 1st Judicial District sometime since May. Helm said they are awaiting further instruction from Clark, who could tell them to close the case, present it to a grand jury, or seek additional information.
In May, Helm confirmed the TBI raided the office in 2007, with investigators calling it a “pill mill” that contributed to 47 patient deaths in two years. No charges have been filed.
Back in May, Shipley had said he would "be around to see TBI next session," upon learning that Appalachian Medical Center's former employees were still under investigation.
Staff writer Hank Hayes contributed to this report.
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