[T]he former chief executive officer of the Community Health Centers of Burlington is taking legal action after being fired in October.
Greg Robinson, who served as CEO from June to October, said he was fired while he was on vacation. He said it was “wrongful” and doesn’t know why he was fired. Robinson called the situation “just bizarre.”
The chair of the board of the Community Health Centers cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the termination.
Robinson said his three-year contract was terminated with “no cause” and his lawyer has requested monetary damages. The parties will go to mediation on Jan. 6, he said.
Kim Anderson, the spokesperson for the Community Health Centers of Burlington, declined to comment on specifics of the case because it is a “legal personnel matter.” She said that sometimes CEOs “just don’t work out.”
Anderson added: “I hope that folks would also just recognize the importance of our organization and the impact we have in the community and we are holding so so strong to our mission and values.”
The Community Health Centers of Burlington is the third largest community health center in Vermont.
Robinson said he spent his four months on the job entering into partnerships with schools and other public officials in the area to transform its mission from taking care of people when they’re sick to keeping people healthy.
Among the changes, the community health center took over a homeless shelter from the Committee on Temporary Shelter, or COTS, and entered into an agreement to streamline patient referrals between the two organizations, Robinson said.
Robinson said he either completed or was planning arrangements with HealthFirst, the YMCA, the Winooski School District, the Burlington School District, the Burlington Police Department, the University of Vermont Medical Center, and the Department of Children and Families.
Additionally, he said he hired a “seasoned and top notch CFO” and a vice president of operations who “was doing a brilliant job in transforming internal operations to be efficient and have project management capabilities.”
But Chris Perrera, the president of the board, wrote in a letter in late October that the board of directors and Robinson had “encountered irreconcilable differences.”
“You can be assured that the CHCB vision and mission remain intact, our organization is strong, and our patients will receive the same great care,” Perrera wrote.
Anderson confirmed that three people in upper management who worked for Robinson are no longer with the organization. Robinson said those included the new CFO and the new vice president of operations.
Robinson is contesting the claim that he had “irreconcilable differences” with the board. “There were literally no differences,” he said. “The board had voted in full support of every initiative unanimously.”
He provided a batch of documents that he is citing in his case, in which he emails with Perrera about his plans. At one point, Perrera calls Robinson’s plans “exciting stuff.”
Robinson, who is African-American, said he has not ruled out racial discrimination. “This is definitely not the way they treated or acted or worked with the previous actors, both of whom were not minorities,” he said.
In the package of documents, he writes that another board member “treated me very differently than my non-minority predecessor” and “publicly derided me for my strategic plans.”
