A day after a spokeswoman for Good Samaritan Hospital said an executive there had been disciplined in the fallout of a coronavirus vaccine scandal with a Los Gatos school district, the corporate parent company that owns the San Jose hospital said no disciplinary action had been taken.
In the subject line of an email sent Wednesday afternoon, Antonio Castelan, a member of HCA Healthcare’s public relations and crisis communications team, said the company wished to correct a “misstatement” concerning Good Samaritan.
The email included the following statement from Joe DeSchryver, Good Samaritan’s CEO: “We wish to correct a misstatement that is circulating in the news and on social media. To clarify, no disciplinary action has been taken towards any member of our team related to this incident. As a learning organization, we will use the insights from this entire process to further strengthen our commitment to our mission.”
The statement contradicts a statement Tuesday from hospital spokeswoman Sarah Sherwood, who has had a contract to speak for the hospital and is not on HCA’s staff. On Tuesday evening, Sherwood said in a text message, “A review is underway and immediately disciplinary actions were taken.” In response to a follow up question about whether the action was taken against hospital COO Gary Purushotham, Sherwood replied, “Yes.”
Purushotham was still the hospital’s COO and on the job on Wednesday, Sherwood said.
Asked about the discrepancy in a phone interview Wednesday, Castelan said, “I don’t know how that confusion came about. That was some sort of miscommunication.”
The situation, he said, was under investigation. Castelan said DeSchryver was not available for an interview.
Last week, Good Samaritan allowed teachers and staff from the Los Gatos Union School District to receive coronavirus vaccines despite the fact that Santa Clara County had asked hospitals to vaccinate health care workers and the elderly first. The move sparked immediate ire. Teachers were instructed to sign up as health care workers, which was one of a number of factors the county cited when it announced recently it would withhold vaccines from the hospital until it submits a plan showing it will move forward appropriately. That plan, according to Sherwood, is in the works.
