The leader of Travis County’s public hospital district has fired the CEO of a partnering nonprofit clinic chain — the latest development in a monthslong conflict between two organizations that serve low-income residents.
“Central Health President & CEO Dr. Pat Lee announced today Dr. Jaeson Fournier is no longer CommUnityCare’s CEO,” a Central Health representative said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.
Lee put Fournier on leave in early September for unspecified professional misconduct. CommUnityCare board members and other leaders argued he did not have that authority.
The two organizations have a complex relationship. CommUnityCare was formed to take over operations of clinics that had been run by Austin and Travis County. It receives funding from Central Health, and many of its clinics are owned by the agency.
The two parties also share a human resources department — run by Central Health — due to a co-applicant agreement to receive federal public health center status. This status allows CommUnityCare to receive increased Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates, making it possible to offer care to low-income patients.
To qualify for federal status, a public health center must be overseen by a patient-led board of directors, which CommUnityCare has. Central Health’s board of managers is not led by patients, so a partnership was essential to secure this status.
Fournier said in September that Lee put him on leave after he pushed back on a presentation by Central Health that “felt like an attempt to consolidate control over health center operations.”
Last week, the CommUnityCare board issued a resolution backing Fournier. Members said they had hired an independent investigator who cleared him of wrongdoing. They also cited a section of their original co-applicant agreement with Central Health that says CommUnityCare “shall approve the selection or dismissal of a CEO” and is “responsible for the oversight of the CEO.”
Central Health did not elaborate on the reasons for Fournier's dismissal, but the resolution from CommUnityCare alludes to several complaints leveled by Central Health. Namely, that Fournier made comments that were “inaccurate, threatening, insubordinate, or detrimental to the [Central Health] organization" at a meeting in August. The CUC board disagreed with that characterization.
The resolution also mentioned issues Central Health had with Fournier's handling of the acquisition of two medical practices in 2019.
Nicholas Yagoda, CommUnityCare's chief medical officer and now acting CEO, said he and the board were "deeply frustrated" by Fournier’s removal.
“The purpose of the patient-led board requirement for community health centers is to ensure that the operations and health care delivery are directed by the patients we serve, and that includes direct oversight of the CommUnityCare CEO by its board," he wrote in a statement. "The CommUnityCare Board did not approve of this action.”
Fournier’s attorney, Austin Kaplan, said he was considering “all potential options,” including legal action.
“This action is outrageous,” he told KUT. “It harms the community. It harms the [public health center] model, which requires public input, it violates multiple written agreements, and it potentially puts federal health center status at risk — in other words, risking harm to the population that Central Health has been serving.”
A spokesperson for the Health Resources and Services Administration, which oversees federally qualified community health centers, acknowledged last month that the agency is aware of the conflict between Central Health and CommUnityCare and said it would “monitor the situation in Travis County to ensure compliance.”
In its statement regarding Fournier, Central Health reiterated the assertion that CommUnityCare is part of the Central Health system and that he was an employee of Central Health. It also acknowledged the importance of the ongoing partnership.
“We look forward to working closely with CommUnityCare's board and staff to strengthen our partnership and address future challenges. We cannot do this without them,” Cynthia Brinson, vice chair of Central Health’s board of managers, wrote. “The CUC board is vital to ensuring patient needs are met and patient voices are heard and supported.”
