A split Regional Medical Center board has voted to remove its two-year chairman, with trustees mixed in their assessment of what the change will mean.

Trustees voted 7-5 to elect 11-year hospital trustee Edward Furtick as chairman replacing James Amaker.

Amaker has served as chairman since 2007 when he filled out the remaining term of Willie B. Owens. Owens resigned his chairmanship to run for the Orangeburg County Council District 7 seat he presently holds.

Amaker will remain a board member.

Trustee Edward Furtick commended Amaker for his service to the hospital as chairman and said he was honored that trustees gave him a vote of confidence.

But Furtick said while much can be read into the vote, he does not think there is much there to insinuate.

“I don’t read into it any more than just a change of chairman,” Furtick said. “There have been a lot of chairmen during my time on the board.”

Furtick said it will not be his “crusade” to make any major changes, as that is not in his “leadership style.”

“I don’t see it as my job to decide on hospital management,” Furtick said. “That will be something the full board has to decide on. I am not going in with any preconceived notions.”

Amaker declined to speculate on why the vote was made and whether it was a statement about his leadership.

“The only think I know is that my main concern during the time I was chairman was to make sure all was done to make RMC better for this community,” Amaker said. “I am hoping that the leadership that was voted on yesterday has the same thing in mind.”

Amaker said as chairman he always put the hospital ahead of self.

“This is not about James Amaker, this about RMC,” Amaker said, noting regardless of leadership he hopes all trustees have as a goal to make RMC the best it can be for the patients who come through its doors.

Amaker said he chose not to vote for himself since he realized he did not have enough support to win.

The board typically votes on new board officers each year in October.

The chairman serves for one year and is eligible to serve up to four years.

The vote comes a year after Amaker came under fire from some of trustees who raised concerns about his handling of board procedures primarily related to disclosure.

Allegations were raised that Amaker failed to properly inform the entire board about matters pertaining to the hospital and held illegal meetings without notification of the entire board.

Hospital officials say the board procedures were up for interpretation.

Johnny Mallard was the only trustee to abstain from the vote, preferring to table the motion until a later date.

Prior to the vote, there was some concern the item was not on the original agenda but only on the revised agenda the board received.

“I did not know that vote was coming up yesterday,” Mallard said. “I did not see the revised agenda until the time of the meeting.”

Mallard said he did not want to speculate how or what changes may be forthcoming with the change in leadership.

Mallard’s request to table was deemed not in accordance with hospital bylaws, though, two years ago the board did vote for officers in December, citing extenuating circumstances.

Trustee Danny Covington said by a two-thirds vote the trustees could vote to overturn the bylaws in this case and postpone the vote.

Trustees eventually decided to vote.

Following the vote, Covington, who nominated Furtick, said his nomination and the resulting vote were a call for things to be done differently at the hospital.

“It is an indicator to me that I have hope that things will change at RMC,” Covington said. “Amaker is a likable person and I don’t think the vote was against him as (much as) it was a time for change.”

Covington, who along with a handful of other trustees have often expressed concerns about management and board operations, would not elaborate on what sort of changes may or may not be coming except to note that “questions will be answered.”

The chairman of the board typically serves as a liaison between the board and hospital management.

Covington has long called for hospital management transparency and accountability on a range of issues: whether hospital management has been forthcoming in the delegation of appropriations and expenditures, whether hospital management has been forthcoming with County Council about its intentions to borrow money and whether the hospital has appropriately followed its procurement policies and provided vendors fair bids.

Trustee Milton Dufford, who voted for Amaker, said he did not want to “read” the vote as some kind of dissatisfaction with Amaker or a challenge to hospital management.

“We will see what it brings,” Dufford said. “I hope it brings goodness and solidarity and those superlatives.”

Dufford said he voted for Amaker, who he says “has done a good job and earned the right to be our chairman.”

“I was disappointed that the current chairman was replaced, but I can support Ed Furtick,” Dufford said. “We want to do what is good for the hospital and we belong to a system where majority rules. I look forward to working with the new leadership.”

Beyond the election of chairman, trustees unanimously voted to rename Dr. Carl Carpenter as vice chairman.

Horace James was renamed the board’s secretary.

There were no other nominations submitted for Carpenter and James.

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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