Maine hospital under fire for threatening to sue family of teenager who shared patient safety concerns online

A not-for-profit health system in Maine has threatened legal action against a 15-year-old boy for shedding light on alleged patient safety issues in the paediatric ward of one of its hospitals.

Samson Cournane, a student at the University of Maine, started a petition (Patient Safety in Maine Matters) advocating for an investigation into Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center last year, claiming conditions at the hospital were unsafe.

Mr Cournane’s mother, Dr Anne Yered, had previously been fired from the hospital after reportedly voicing safety concerns to the hospital’s CEO and president in 2020.

In the petition, Mr Cournane said his mother was threatened by hospital staff after raising concerns, with one hospital manager going so far as to show up in her backyard to confront her. Dr Yered subsequently claimed she was wrongfully terminated.

Mr Cournane then began pushing for an investigation into the hospital, outlining problems in the petition, which was addressed to US Representative Jared Golden. He alleged that the medical director of the paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) — a former colleague of his mother’s — finished just one year of a three-year critical care fellowship, and implied other hospital employees may be scared to come forward with safety concerns.

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Source: The Independent, 4 September 2023