In an email yesterday Arley G. Long told Variety that Freddy Hofschneider’s Nov. 14 memo “was purposely meant to slander my hard-earned reputation.”
The memo stated that she should not have left the center on Monday “when it was actually Dr. Steven Lebamoff that left the clinic when there were no other contracted providers to provide coverage.”
Long said she received text messages from the acting director telling her it was “OK” for her to leave the island as he would bring in a local Tinian physician assistant to provide coverage. Lebamoff was scheduled to return to Tinian later in the afternoon.
Long said she notified THC management four months ago regarding the expiration of her contract on Nov. 11. The center, she said, failed to do anything about it and as a result, she had no authority to practice at THC as of Friday last week.
“Nothing was done then to renew my contract or even provide me with a draft contract to review. Up until last Friday, my last day of contractual work, I still had not been provided any letter authorizing me to continue to work, so I had no authorization or contract allowing me to work at THC.
Therefore, I did not abandon any post or position as a provider at THC, the clinic abandoned me and failed to renew my contract” Long said.
She said she provided medical coverage without a contract in order to provide emergency coverage and care for the community while Lebamoff was off island.
According to Long, she does not understand why Hofschneider approved Lebamoff’s leave off-island when THC had no other contracted providers.
Long said she was hesitant but decided to keep helping the clinic even though she had no contract and no legal authority to work.
“I still helped the community to the fullest extent that I was requested. I was never asked to stay on Tinian beyond 9:30 a.m. on Monday because the acting director told me in writing that he had the shift covered,” she added.
When Hofscheinder heard that Lebamoff’s return flight to Tinian would be delayed, he asked Long to cover calls until 9:30 a.m., when Tinian’s other non-contracted physician assistant, Juan B. Pangelinan., was expected to cover the shift until Lebamoff’s return.
According to Long, she has this in writing from the acting director, which “staunchly refutes his claim” that she abandoned her position.
She said Hofschneider forgot “that my coverage after Friday at 4:30 p.m. through the weekend to Monday morning was all volunteer work. I had no contract, no written authorization and no legal authority to continue working at THC, yet I covered [his] management mistake….”
She wonders why the acting director chose to issue a memo instead of discussing the matter directly with the providers.
