NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The group that fought to stop the sale of Alive Hospice to a for-profit company is now calling for a change in leadership.
Last week, the CEO of Alive Hospice announced she was stepping down, just a week after the Board of Alive announced it had decided not to sell the longtime non-profit to a for-profit company.
The rumored sale had been bitterly opposed by a group calling itself Keep Alive Alive.
That group, which rallied the community to stop the sale, had also pushed for the CEO to resign.
Now that that's happened, they want others gone too.
Members of Keep Alive Alive were back out in front of Alive Hospice Monday morning.
Frances Edwards told the reporters gathered there for the news conference called by Keep Alive Alive: "When you mess up, you pack up."
And Liz Schatzlein, another Keep Alive Alive member, went on to explain, "We are asking for the resignation of three members of the executive committee."
This is the same group that paid for billboards and started an online petition and letter-writing campaign to stop the sale of Alive Hospice to a for-profit company. They say only as a non-profit can Alive provide the kind of care it's given dying patients in middle Tennessee for nearly 50 years.
Now, with even more people behind their effort, Keep Alive Alive wants the board chairwoman Vicki Estrin, past board chair Beth Workman, and Treasurer Jeff Landman out.
"These executive committee members made their choice. They backed in the ill-advised sale of this community treasure," Edwards said.
The problem with the board leadership pertaining to the sale, Alive co-founder Lynn Barton said was everything "has been done in secret."
And Keep Alive Alive members say they are not convinced the current board leadership won't try to sell Alive again.
But in a statement released as the news conference was happening, the board said:
"The continued insistence of a small few to assign blame for what has occurred and to harangue members of our volunteer board to resign does nothing to help Alive and, in fact, distracts from its focus on caring for patients. We ask again that everyone who loves and wants the best for Alive take a breath and move forward together to improve and strengthen this treasured community resource."
But the Keep Alive Alive group is determined.
"Until leadership is installed that donors and the community can trust and rely on, Alive will be hampered by the mistakes of the past," Edwards, a former Alive board chair, suggested,
The group has already picked replacements for the people they want out.
They'd like former Alive board chair Susan Simons to return as chair, Alive Founder Lynn Barton as secretary, and her husband David Barton, another founder of Alive, to join the board.
And their campaign is gaining support.
Longtime Music Row exec Joe Galante sent a letter to the board "calling for meaningful board turnover so that the public trust can begin to be rebuilt."
Change, the group said, will also help donors once again feel comfortable giving their money.
"We want to get this straightened out so Alive can prosper and continue on a path forward," Liz Schatzlein said.
The Alive Hospice Board also said in its statement that it is now working on a plan to "engage the entire community in ensuring that Alive has the financial resources to continue operations well into the future." They said they will announce details of that plan soon.
PREVIOUS RELATED REPORTING ON ALIVE HOSPICE:
Alive Hospice CEO to step down
After rumors of sale, Alive Hospice to remain a nonprofit
We've got to stop it now. Advocates are running out of time to stop the sale of Alive Hospice
New coalition want to "Keep Alive Alive" and stop the sale of longtime nonprofit
Rumors swirl about the potential sale of Alive Hospice
