Last week, Albany Med Health System employees received an email from the chair of the health care system's board saying the company has retained Kroll, a leading financial and risk advisory firm headquartered in New York City, to conduct an "independent, outside review of recent events involving President and CEO Daniel T. Pickett III and potential impacts on the system."
In the wake of sexual assault allegations by his ex-girlfriend, Pickett is on paid leave from his role.
WAMC's Sam Dingman spoke to Sara Dragula, an emergency room nurse at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson, which is part of the Albany Med Health System, about what happened shortly after she read this email. Dragula got a text from a friend expressing outrage that Albany Med is working with Kroll to conduct this review.
"Are you aware that they were named as a company hired by Harvey Weinstein, like a serial rapist, to investigate the victims who were speaking out," the text read.
Kroll worked with Weinstein in the past, according to reporting by Ronan Farrow in the New Yorker.
One of Weinstein's accusers, a model named Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, reached a settlement with Weinstein that required her to surrender all of her personal devices to Kroll, so that Kroll could then go through and wipe those devices, which contained evidence of a conversation in which Weinstein admitted to groping her.
There are also emails which show Dan Karson, who, at the time, was the chairman of Kroll's investigations and disputes practice, wrote an email to Weinstein and said that he had pictures of Rose McGowan, another one of Weinstein's accusers, with Weinstein. They had been photographed together at events after the alleged assault had taken place, and the idea was to use these photographs to attempt to discredit McGowan's account.
Upon reading Farrow's coverage, Dragula expressed her concerns.
"I'm horrified, literally horrified, that my company has hired a company that was originally hired by Harvey Weinstein to basically intimidate and suppress sexual assault victims," Dragula said. "They're supposedly investigating the sexual assault allegations facing my CEO. So my question is: Are we actually here to find out the truth, or are you here to intimidate and suppress this victim's story?"
Dragula also noted concerns that Kroll's investigation may impact patients who are survivors of sexual assault.
Albany Med provides a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) exam. These are exams that assault survivors come in for after they've been assaulted, and they are done in a way that is designed to capture evidence that can subsequently be used in a legal proceeding. Dragula is currently in the process of getting certified to provide this type of care.
"They are trusting us with their bodies that have been violated, and we're taking what insurance pays for those, and then we are paying a company that was hired by Harvey Weinstein to investigate a sexual assault lawsuit facing our CEO," Dragula said. "This is healthcare. People should be able to trust their healthcare providers.
Dragula has emailed the board at Albany Med and the CEO of Columbia Memorial Hospital expressing her concerns. She has not gotten a reply.
WAMC has reached out to Albany Med and Kroll for comment.
Editor's note: Albany Med has been an underwriter for WAMC.
