Hospital Official Charged With Assaulting Colleague Report Says Incident Began During Discussion Of Benefits

The human resource manager at Shoshone Medical Center has been charged with assaulting the Kellogg hospital’s business office manager.

Gary Ackerman could spend three months in jail, pay a $300 fine or both if convicted of the misdemeanor, Shoshone County Prosecutor John Cossel said Monday.

Ackerman, 46, has denied becoming abusive during a Feb. 27 discussion with Patricia Wolfe.

According to Wolfe, the two were disagreeing about employees’ medical benefits when the conversation became heated.

According to the criminal complaint, Ackerson “did unlawfully and with apparent ability, attempt to commit a violent injury” upon Wolfe by shoving her and closing his office door to prevent her from leaving.

Wolfe said in an interview last week that Ackerman also chased her out to her car.

There was a witness to the incident, Cossel said.

Ackerman remains on the job, according to hospital administrator Bob Morasko. He said SMC is following its own policy in order to resolve the conflict.

“People can make allegations … but we’ve got to be fair to both parties,” Morasko said.

A pretrial hearing for Ackerman has been set for April 7.

, DataTimes