| Complaint: | Complaint 22-22 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Kristin Kelly |
| Premises: | Animal Care Hospital of Phoenix |
The complaint was filed by veterinarian (and future AzVMA Vice President) Tara-Lyn Temple against one of her employees, veterinarian Kristin Kelly. Temple states that Kelly "walked off the job" prior to seeing her first patient of the day and left an entire month's schedule behind her; she also claims medical records were not filled out correctly. She complains that Kelly showed a total disregard for continuity of care, noting that both their technician supervisor, Amber Harings (a friend of Kelly) and Kelly quit to go to another clinic. She states that she had a conversation with the hospital manager, Ann Matherlee, about how to manage the situation and "had a brief discussion about staff perceptions" as Harings was texting her colleagues about leaving.
Temple alleges that Kelly and Harings eventually confronted Matherlee about her handling of the situation, with Kelly even using curse words! (Temple has stated that she's repeatedly had to caution Kelly about using bad words in front of clients.) The situation allegedly devolved into a shouting match, with Kelly announcing "I'm out of here!" in front of clients and Harings leaving along with her. Temple states that they collected their belongings and walked out without surrendering their keys. Temple ends by noting that "I was informed at lunch time that they were posting pictures on social media, drinking at a local restaurant."
Kelly's response notes that she had been a customer of the clinic for many years prior to eventually working there as a veterinarian. She depicts a broken institution beset by bullying and retaliation, management degrading the clients, numerous medical errors being made (including "animals being given unknown injections, wrong medications being dispensed, surgical errors, etc"). She stated that Temple's account was not factual and she was not even around for the interaction in question.
She also states that she repeatedly stayed at the job after being told that things would improve and out of concern for leaving her coworkers at a hospital said to have serious financial and staffing problems, including possible issues regarding a planned expansion of the facility and a business loan. She claims that Temple denied all these allegations at a meeting announcing her resignation. She states that Harings independently made the decision to leave, with Temple's and Matherlee's conduct becoming untenable as a result. The final confrontation was said to be less dramatic than depicted, with somewhat raised voices but nothing more, and that the final statement to Temple was a polite "Amber and I are leaving." She also notes that the photos on social media had no identifying information about the clinic; they just needed to get away and unpack what happened.
This was handled by the Investigative Division and discussed by the board. It's quite a notable story when you consider that Tara-Lyn Temple was apparently so admired by fellow veterinarians that she rose to be vice president of Arizona's veterinary association. It's also notable in that the very next complaint, 22-23, involves Temple starting a procedure on the wrong leg in part because her staff didn't understand medical terminology or abbreviations. Wacky times!
| Source: | November 11, 2021 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Kristin Kelly | Respondent |
| Proposed By: | Jessica Creager |
| Seconded By: | Jane Soloman |
| Roll Call: | |
| Craig Nausley | Aye |
| Darren Wright | Aye |
| J Greg Byrne | Aye |
| Jane Soloman | Aye |
| Jessica Creager | Aye |
| Jim Loughead | Aye |
| Nikki Frost | Absent |
| Robyn Jaynes | Absent |
| Result: | Passed |
The primary source for the above summary was obtained as a public record from the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board. You are welcome to review the original records and board meeting minutes by clicking the relevant links. While we endeavor to provide an accurate summary of the complaint, response, investigative reports and board actions, we encourage you to review the primary sources and come to your own conclusions. In some cases we have also been able to reach out to individuals with knowledge of specific complaints, and where possible that information will be included here.