THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 6, 1995 TAG: 9512060433
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Douglas L. Fairfax, who has been chief executive officer at Albemarle Hospital for the past five years, announced Tuesday that he will resign when his contract ends March 6.
``In recent weeks it became more apparent to me that I had lost the confidence of the board to lead the hospital in the years ahead,'' Fairfax said in a surprise note to his department heads.
``With that as background,'' Fairfax said, ``I felt that my resigning would be in the best interest of the hospital, so I did so voluntarily.''
He told the board of trustees at a meeting at the hospital Monday night of his decision.
``That's all there was to it. . . no hollering,'' said Pasquotank County Commissioner Jimmy Dixon, a trustee who attended the meeting.
Wilma Harris, director of the College of the Albemarle nursing school and chair of the hospital trustees, said Fairfax had promised to help find a successor.
``We'll seek input from various departments at the hospital as well as from the community,'' Harris said. ``But beyond that I wouldn't feel comfortable making further comment.''
Fairfax, 54, is also chairman of this year's United Way fund drive. He made the first public announcement of his resignation at a United Way luncheon in the hospital board room.
As a Pasquotank County-owned institution, Albemarle Hospital has been an immense financial success over the years, and many strong-willed citizens have served on the hospital board.
Membership on the board has attracted influential political leaders as well as wealthy county business executives, and their demands have occasionally been stressful for past and present salaried directors of the hospital.
``Annual revenues at the hospital through the end of 1994 were about $51 million,'' said Pasquotank County Manager Randy Keaton.
That kind of money has often served Pasquotank County as security for bank loans needed to finance other public improvements. And, Keaton said, the hospital has been able to spend millions on additions and technical improvement through the years.
The current hospital debt is a little over $6 million in revenue bonds, said Keaton.
Fairfax, in his brief note to hospital department directors, said he planned ``to go on to other challenges in the health-care business.''
Fairfax has had his share of administrative troubles during his tenure as the hospital's executive officer.
Last winter the chief pharmacist at the hospital was fired and the district attorney launched an investigation of the pharmacists' ``activities outside the scope of his duties at the hospital.''
The case was eventually referred to the North Carolina attorney general in Raleigh, where it is still pending.
``There are some indications that the case will end up in federal court,'' an assistant district attorney said Tuesday afternoon. by CNB