On Friday, July 1st, Psychiatrists at Alameda Health Services overwhelmingly expressed their desire to remove Dr. Joe Walker as Chair of their Department. Over the past two months, Dr. Walker has misused his position to make a deal with Traditions Behavioral Health (TBH) to contract out psychiatrists’ positions in a questionable deal. The doctors’ petition to remove Dr. Walker revolves around their belief that he has not fulfilled his obligations as Chair in the following areas:
1. Dr. Walker made a deal with TBH while serving as interim Chief Medical Officer – a clear conflict of interest!
2. He is an absentee Chair who is never seen in PES except to announce to the doctors that they will be fired from their jobs and replaced by TBH.
3. He has personally intimidated countless employee psychiatrists in the past weeks and has a history of threatening physicians during one-on-one meetings.
4. He fails to respond to doctors’ emails, even when it involves urgent clinical matters.
5. There is an active MEC investigation against Dr. Walker.
On Monday, July 11th, UAPD Doctors and SEIU Nurses attended the Alameda County Board of Supervisors’ Health Sub-committee to voice our concerns about patient care at JGPP.
