PORTLAND (AP) – The top three officials responsible for overseeing six veterans homes from Scarborough to Caribou have been ousted by the homes’ trustees, who concluded they were not working well together.
Maj. Gen. Stephen Nichols, board chairman, said the three submitted resignations after Friday’s vote.
“They’re all really talented people, smart, energetic,” he said. “But they were going in different directions.”
The veterans homes in Scarborough, Augusta, Bangor, Caribou, Machias and South Paris provide long-term health care to military veterans, their spouses and widows, and Gold Star parents. Together, they have about 580 beds.
The three were Timothy Politis, chief executive officer; Philip Jean, chief operating officer; and Tammy Rolfe, corporate compliance officer.
Politis, who took over as CEO in January 2002, is a former chairman of the Board of Trustees. Jean is a former administrator at the veterans home in Scarborough. Rolfe was responsible for making sure that regulations were followed.
The Board of Trustees met for seven hours Friday to discuss the leadership issue, and members eventually reached the conclusion that all three needed to go. Nichols said the board took its time before reaching its conclusion.
“It was an accumulation of lots of issues where we just couldn’t get them in step with each other,” Nichols said. “So we took a long time to convince ourselves that the team was just not functioning well together.”
The search for a new CEO and COO has already begun, and a decision has not yet been made about whether the third position will be filled, Nichols said.
Lynn Kippax, spokesman for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, which licenses nursing homes statewide, said the six homes are in compliance with licensing regulations.
“There are no apparent issues,” he said.
Ten of the 11 trustees are appointed by the governor. Nichols said he’ll serve as acting CEO while a national search is launched to fill the jobs.
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Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com
AP-ES-03-15-06 0832EST
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