Seleem Choudhury, the president and chief operating officer of Porter Medical Center in Middlebury, has resigned following allegations that his weekly emails to staff regularly plagiarized other writers.
“I realize my actions surrounding my weekly e-mails were wrong and I apologize,” Choudhury wrote in a message to the Porter community, according to a statement provided by the UVM Health Network. “I know I am no longer the right person to lead Porter and have made the decision to resign.”
Choudhury was appointed to the position in March this year. Former President Fred Kniffin, whom he replaced, will return in an interim role to run the hospital.
John Brumsted, CEO of the UVM Health Network, which includes Porter and five other hospitals, indicated that Choudhury may land elsewhere within the company.
“Some may view this as a drastic step given the circumstances, but when a leader believes he can no longer be effective in his role, it is right to step aside,” Brumsted said in a statement.
“I believe Seleem deserves a second chance and we will be working with him to see if there is an opportunity elsewhere in the UVM Health Network where his skills and talents can be applied.”
Choudhury began his medical career as a nurse in England. He holds a nursing doctorate from UVM and a master’s in business administration from the University of Phoenix.
Porter’s board of directors opened an investigation into the plagiarized emails after being made aware of the allegations. VTDigger also reported on the emails, which were provided by an anonymous tipster, in an article published on Sept. 23.
Sivan Cotel, chair of Porter’s board, thanked Choudhury for his time at the hospital.
“The members of the Porter board are saddened by the situation, and believe this is the right decision for the Porter community to move forward,” Cotel said in a statement. “Seleem worked hard for the organization and we appreciate his service. It is now time for us to look to the future.”
Angelo Lynn, editor of the Addison Independent, said in an editorial last month that the news organization received the emails with plagiarized material, but decided not to write about them, instead privately emailing the hospital administration.
Lynn went on to criticize VTDigger for reporting on the plagiarism, accusing the organization of pursuing clicks instead of issues in the public interest. (The Independent, he said, felt compelled to write about the plagiarism after VTDigger did.)
“We have little doubt Digger received the same email we did from the same person. They, however, reported the story as if it were a major infraction by a hospital president,” Lynn wrote.
“VTDigger, not the hospital, is making this a statewide concern,” he added.
