Editor’s note: This story by Nora Doyle-Burr was first published by the Valley News on Friday, Feb. 16.
[T]he administrator of The Woodlands, an independent living community that shares a campus with Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, has been fired.
A letter distributed to residents on Thursday cited “a pattern of unprofessional behavior” as the reason for the termination of Timothy Martin, a Quechee resident who had managed the 63-unit independent living facility in Lebanon since August 2014.
In an email on Friday, Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital spokesman Peter Glenshaw confirmed that Martin’s time with the organization ended on Thursday, but he declined to explain why.
“Per our policy, we will not comment any further about a personnel matter,” Glenshaw said.
A phone message left for Martin at a Quechee number was not returned by deadline on Friday.
Martin came to APD after serving as CEO of the 400-resident Taylor Community in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region, according to a news release sent out at the time of his hiring at The Woodlands. He previously served as executive director for the Milton Residences for the Elderly in Milton, Mass.
Two residents, who declined to be named, said in interviews on Friday that they had made complaints to administrators about Martin.
Several other residents, however, said they were not aware of Martin acting in an unprofessional manner and they were surprised to learn of his termination.
Resident Jack Barrett, 83, said that he had no sense that Martin might have engaged in unprofessional conduct. “I cannot fathom what went on,” Barrett said. But, he said, Martin “could have a very offhand way at times.”
Others also were surprised about the leadership change.
“We don’t know why it might have happened,” said Rogers Elliott, an 86-year-old resident who has lived at The Woodlands since it opened in 2010. “I thought he was a very good manager.”
Elliott credited Martin with successfully marketing the facility.
“In the first years we were here, the place never filled up, after he came — among other things — it did,” Elliott said.
Resident Joanne Scobie said she was “shocked” to learn of Martin’s dismissal.
“It came out of the blue to residents,” Scobie said. “I have only thought highly of Tim.”
Scobie also said she disliked the way the news of Martin’s termination was shared with residents.
“I think as a group, as a community, we feel disrespected because it was launched at us very quickly,” she said. “We wonder what that means for the future of the retirement communities here … If this is the way things are handled.”
Scobie otherwise has been very happy with The Woodlands. She said she likes the other residents, the food and the staff. But, she said she worries that this form of decision-making may now be the norm. “We’ve joined with (Dartmouth-Hitchcock) now,” she said. “We don’t know if this is part of the relationship. We just don’t know.”
Thursday’s letter, from Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital CEO Sue Mooney, also informed residents that appointed Joseph Xanthopoulos has been appointed to serve as interim executive director of APD Lifecare, which in addition to The Woodlands also includes the 76-unit Harvest Hill assisted living community. Xanthopoulos will oversee day-to-day operations at The Woodlands.
Amy Thornton became administrator of Harvest Hill last year.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
