When Leadership Fails: How a Clinic Became a Crisis

🩺 It Was Supposed to Be the Dream

I told you in the last video about my vision—about coming to Hampton Roads to bring neurological care to a community that needed it most.

It should have been one of the happiest chapters of my career.

But what I walked into wasn’t a clinic.

It was a crisis waiting to happen.

Phone calls weren’t being answered.

Portal messages went ignored.

And when I started seeing follow-up patients, I discovered that prescriptions, referrals, and orders hadn’t been sent out—even for people with serious neurological conditions.

I was stunned.

This wasn’t just mismanagement.

It was unsafe.

When Leadership Fails: How a Clinic Became a Crisis

⚕️ Trying to Do the Right Thing

So, I did what any responsible physician would do: I raised the issue.

I met with the Chief Medical Officer. I explained what was happening.

To his credit, he acted. Together we created a performance improvement plan, managed by two female administrators.

Every week, I submitted trackers.

Every week, I documented progress and concerns.

And for a while, I thought we were turning things around.

My office manager remained passive-aggressive, but I told myself it was tolerable—because patient care was finally moving in the right direction.

💥 The Collapse

Then, everything changed.

The interim COO left.

The oversight disappeared.

And suddenly, the two managers I’d been working under had no accountability to anyone.

That’s when my life in that clinic became hell on earth.

The systems broke down again.

The hostility ramped up.

And the place that was supposed to heal others started breaking me.

🔥 The Hardest Lesson About Leadership

True leadership isn’t about titles or authority—it’s about accountability.

When the people in charge don’t listen, patients suffer.

When retaliation replaces responsibility, clinicians burn out.

What I learned at Bon Secours Mercy Health was that leadership without integrity is just performance.

And when the performance stops, people get hurt.

✊🏾 Why I Keep Speaking

I share this not to relive it, but to document it.

Because silence is how broken systems survive.

And as painful as it is to tell these stories, I’ll keep telling them—until leadership in healthcare means something again.

#PhoenixAdvocacyNetwork #RetaliationSurvivor #LeadershipFailure #HealthcareJustice #BonSecoursMercyHealth