Vote unanimous not to renew a UAMS physician's license; complaints of verbal harassment investigated in 2016

Dr. Gareth Morgan.
Dr. Gareth Morgan.

The State Medical Board unanimously voted Thursday not to renew a foreign doctor's license to practice in Arkansas due to complaints of verbal harassment leveled against him more than two years ago.

For more than an hour during a Thursday meeting, board members scrutinized the past behavior of Dr. Gareth Morgan, a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences professor and the director of the school's Myeloma Institute.

They decided Morgan may re-apply for educational licensure after he completes a three-day course that teaches doctors how to change negative behaviors affecting their interactions with others.

Morgan was accused of creating a hostile work environment by cursing in front of colleagues, telling offensive jokes, "talking down to people," and, in one instance, placing his hands on another doctor's shoulders while giving a verbal correction, according to a 2016 human resources investigation.

State law allows foreign doctors to practice medicine at UAMS' clinical and educational programs as long as they meet certain requirements and are sponsored by a licensed in-state doctor. The educational license must be renewed every year through an application process that includes appearing before the State Medical Board.

At the meeting, board members criticized the university's human resources department, suggesting that staff downplayed the severity of the accusations and didn't provide adequate follow-up documentation when conducting their investigation.

Dr. Sylvia Simon, an at-large member of the board, then referred to an email included as part of the Morgan inquiry in which one UAMS doctor told colleagues they should keep any complaints, in general, away from human resources to avoid being sued.

"This flags to me there is an institutional problem," Simon said.

Simon added that she was concerned by a change in Morgan's sponsoring doctor. That doctor wasn't present at the meeting.

"We are seeing a lot of swapping out here for who's taking responsibility," she said. "It seems like a hot potato game."

Board members also accused UAMS physicians of filling out recommendation letters for educational licensure as if they were form letters, merely changing the name of the doctor and the department name, before submitting the document.

"I'm extremely disappointed in UAMS," said Dr. John Scribner, board treasurer. "Henceforth, we will question any recommendation letter we get at this point."

Jeff Risinger, UAMS' human resources director, said that immediate action was taken by his department after receiving the complaint about Morgan and that no complaints had been filed against him since.

There were "a lot of discrepancies" and "dramatic changes" in others' accounts during the investigation, Risinger told the board.

"We do not shut down complaints," he said. "We directed a lot of feedback to [Morgan] and haven't had any complaints of this nature for some time... The approach we took to correct is effective."

University spokesman Leslie Taylor told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the school didn't agree with the medical board's decision and would support Morgan "as he takes the necessary steps to renew his license."

UAMS followed its policies and "the normal review process" when evaluating the allegations by a committee of his peers, Taylor added.

Morgan, from Britain, is also the deputy director of UAMS' Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. He earns a salary of $878,886, records show. His research focuses on characterizing subtypes of myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells, and then developing specific therapies that target each subtype.

In his testimony before the board, Morgan said he was "very remorseful."

"I've been here for four years, I've worked long and hard," he said. "Excellent clinical care [is] to be at the heart of all things I try to achieve... I can assure you I am not an aggressive man... Some of the actions relate to my desire to have excellence in medical care.

"I thought long and hard about the whole process," he added. "I've been trying to develop so I can fit in more. I will do my best to build a more collegial environment."

Metro on 06/08/2018

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