A doctor with a history of conflict with St. James Healthcare in Butte accused the hospital's owner Tuesday of "financial malfeasance," claiming potentially tens of millions of dollars it obtained from bond issues are unaccounted for. Jesse Cole, MD, a radiologist, received a $4 million settlement last year from Kansas-based Sisters of Charity Leavenworth Health Systems, the parent of St. James, after a court battle in which Cole claimed the hospital unlawfully fired him and other radiologists and brought in new ones. At a meeting of the Montana Facilities Finance Authority, which issues bonds for Montana health care organizations, Cole charged that $50 million or more meant for projects at the Sisters of Charity-owned facilities in Montana—St. James Healthcare, St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings and Holy Rosary Healthcare in Miles City —may not be properly accounted for.
