Before its monthly public meetings, while behind closed doors, the board of directors for the John C. Fremont Healthcare District discuss pending litigation against the hospital.
The sessions are considered confidential under California’s Brown Act.
But some details are known from three lawsuits filed in the last year in Mariposa County Superior Court.
Those cases involve alleged negligent patient care, an employees termination and a payment dispute with a company that provided emergency room physicians.
In a statement, the district declined to comment on the specific allegations because the cases are currently active.
“John C. Fremont Healthcare District remains committed to providing safe, high-quality care to our patients and to operating with integrity in all our partnerships and agreements,” said the statement.
“We take any concerns raised through legal or regulatory processes seriously and will continue to cooperate fully as those processes move forward,” the statement concluded.
The care of Jeffrey Olson
Margaret Essary of Mariposa is suing the hospital for negligent care on behalf of her husband, Jeffrey Olson, who died last year four days after treatment at the hospital.
According to the lawsuit, Olson, 57, arrived at the emergency room at 7:06 a.m. on April 2, 2025, complaining of “moderate respiratory distress.”
A physical exam showed tongue and cheek swelling, stridor and labored breathing.
Dr. Michael Ali decided around 7:45 a.m. that emergent intubation was needed.
But the lawsuit says there was no documented use of a video laryngoscope or an attempt to confirm proper placement.
The lawsuit says Dr. Ali made “minor adjustments to the tube position,” but he had “misplaced the endotracheal tube in a high position in the neck.”
“Mr. Olson immediately became pulseless and entered PEA (Pulseless Electrical Activity) arrest. For the next 30 to 40 minutes, CPR was initiated and seven rounds of epinephrine were supplied,” the lawsuit claims.
At some point, the lawsuit claims, Dr. William Clark took over treatment and reviewed a chest X-ray that showed “the ET tube was in the mid neck with significant gastric distention, suggesting unrecognized esophageal intubation.”
Around 8:18 a.m., Dr. Clark “initiated a successful intubation of Mr. Olson, using video larygoscopy.”
Olson was transfered to Modesto Hospital later that morning. An EEG showed severe brain damage.
He died four days later.
A Stanislaus County death certificate for Olson is included as an exhibit in the lawsuit. It shows the manner of death to be an accident, and the pending cause as respiratory failure from obstruction of the airway due to a mis-location of the endotracheal tube.
An attorney for Dr. Ali denies any responsibility and claims any injuries were due to Olson’s own negligence or the negligence of others.
In March, both sides requested a 120 day continuance. A possible sign of settlement negotiations. A hearing is scheduled July 29.
ERx claim
ERx is a staffing company that provided physicians to the hospital’s emergency department under a three year contract from August 2022 through July 2025.
The company claims it is still owed $418,877 in payments.
Under an agreement with ERx, the company provided at least one physician to cover JCF’s Emergency Department, a hospitalist for inpatients and a physician to act as the medical director for the emergency department.
In exchange, Fremont was required to pay ERx a monthly stipend of $173,378, which totaled $2.08 million annually. There was also a monthly fee of $2,500 for medical director services and $7,000 per month to cover the cost of travel and lodging.
The hospital was also required to pay ERx a “placement fee” of $35,000 if they ended up employing one of its doctors.
But the lawsuit claims that as the three-year contract was winding down in July 2025, the hospital stopped making full payments to ERx.
On July 31, 2025, ERx sent the district a final bill of $245,000. It was their third invoice and the lawsuit claims that JCF has not made any payments.
After that, a series of late fees piled up totaling nearly $10,000.
The company included invoices in the exhibits showing an outstanding balance of $418,877.
Since August 2025, a different company, Premiere, has been providing emergency department services.
During a court hearing May 27, both sides indicated they are working on a resolution through mediation. A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 23.
HR whistle blower?
A former human resources coordinator, Leeandra Dupzyk-Dias, has filed a lawsuit against the district claiming she was retaliated against for reporting illegal financial activity involving a former CEO.
In addition, Dupzyk-Dias claims she was denied pay for missed lunch breaks and was discriminated against because of a medical condition.
She was terminated in March 2023.
Dupzyk-Dias said in January 2023 she discovered that former CEO Lynn Buskill had approved substantial raises for several executive officers.
Dupzyk-Dias believed the raises required board approval and brought it to the attention of her supervisor.
In March 2023, Dupzyk-Dias received an invoice from Mayflower for $24,105 in moving expenses for Buskill.
She believes Buskill asked Mayflower to bill the district directly, even though Buskill already received a stipend for moving expenses. She thought Buskill was essentially trying to double bill the district.
She reported the suspected activity to her supervisor.
With that as a backdrop, on March 6, 2023, Dupzyk-Dias said an inflamed lesion on her leg developed during her work shift and she went to the JCF emergency room for evaluation.
She told her supervisor she would not be returning to finish her shift.
She was diagnosed with cellulitis caused by a MRSA infection.
She was admitted to the hospital for 10 days and was discharged on March 16, 2023. She was released to work with restrictions.
For reasons not detailed in the lawsuit, she went on unpaid administrative leave from work a week later.
A week after that she was terminated.
A jury trial in the case is scheduled for Oct. 20. In the meantime, both parties are working on a second round of mediation.
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