Saturday, December 26, 2009

Dr. Chacko In Montana's Sphere (UPDATED) With New Document Drop

UPDATE: Please also check out my new book, The Definitive Dossier on PTSD in Whistleblowers, for only $3.99, in which I dedicate chapter four entirely to the exploits of Dr. Anna Chacko. 

Crystal Cox has posted my tip to her about Dr. Anna Chacko. When Dr. Chacko arrived in Butte, Montana to work for St. James Hospital, the CEO was James Kiser. Kiser was the one responsible for hiring Dr. Chacko. In fact, a source familiar with the hiring process said that Kiser took a hands off approach. In fact, the same source told me that Kiser once admitted that he hadn't called any of Chacko's past employers or references.

In reality, it was Scott Steinfeldt that was most responsible for hiring Dr. Chacko. Scott Steinfeldt arrived at St. James Hospital about a year prior to Dr. Chacko. He and Dr. Chacko were friends and had worked together before. In fact, the two of them were princples in several companies including Moly99Montana, Chaco Corp, and Radiology Solutions LLC. Steinfeld was brought in to manage the imaging center, Intermountain Imaging. Here's a puff piece about the imaging center in which Steinfeldt is quoted.




Scott Steinfeldt, executive director of the Intermountain Imaging Center, said the new team is providing a "critical, essential component" to patient care.

Intermountain Imaging Center is an outpatient radiology center located in St. James, and was recently put under the auspices of the hospital. The two companies have a cooperative agreement and are "integrated financially and clinically," Steinfeldt said.

Both companies understand the importance of a stable, reliable radiology department."

A radiologist's value to a hospital is immeasurable," Steinfeldt said.


Within two months of this story being written, Steinfeldt was fired from the imaging center. It closed down as a joint venture in May of this year. Prior to May, it was run as a joint venture between the non profit St. James Hospital and a group of local radiologists.

Kiser "resigned" from St. James in March of 2008. Chacko herself moved on to the Pittsburgh VA in September of 2008. James Kiser has recently gotten a new gig as the interim CEO of St. Joseph's Hospital in Polsom, Montana.

The first person that Dr. Anna Chacko went after was Kristi George. What follows is a copy of George's complaint against St. James and Dr. Anna Chacko. It's important to note that this is the complaint filed by George's attorneys. So, it's obviously from the side of Kristi George. That case has since been settled and the findings have been sealed. (that's a common occurrence in legal matters involving Dr. Anna Chacko)



5[1][1].29.09 Second Amended Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial

What's most interesting in these pages are numbers 12-16. (that's the counts not the pages) This relays the period when Dr. Chacko first began being employed by St. James Hospital. According to the complaint, Dr. Chacko immediately made malicious and false statements about George. She "began criticizing and complaining about George's work performance". Why is this interesting? It's because Kristi George was still on vacation when Dr. Anna Chacko first arrived at St. James. Kristi George doesn't even arrive at the hospital from vacation until count 16. It's a nice trick to criticize someone's work performance when you haven't yet worked with them, but welcome to the world of Dr. Anna Chacko.

Of course, the complaint wasn't merely against Chacko but the hospital itself. As such, Kristi George asserted that not only did Dr. Anna Chacko create a hostile work environment, but that the hospital failed to supervise Dr. Chacko properly. James Kiser was the hospital's CEO during this period.

We'll see if the media in the area notice his dubious history. Here's the full dossier of Dr. Anna Chacko.


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