By Scott Loftis

Eureka Springs Times-Echo

Eureka Springs Hospital owed more than $200,000 to Oracle America Inc. as of Dec. 11, less than three weeks before the hospital fired its chief financial officer.

In response to an open-records request pursuant to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, the Times-Echo was provided with an unsigned copy of a “cure agreement” to resolve the outstanding debt.

The agreement, on Oracle letterhead and dated Dec. 11, calls for the hospital to make five biweekly payments of $45,258.30 each — a total of $226,291.50 — beginning Dec. 23 and ending Feb. 17.

The agreement indicates that it is intended to settle five invoices, dated from July to November 2025 and due between Aug. 30 and Jan. 1.

Oracle provides electronic medical records software to the hospital.

Sandy Martin, chair of the Eureka Springs Hospital Commission, said by text message on Monday, Jan. 12, that there was “(n)o signed document.”

Asked whether that meant the hospital had or had not entered the agreement, Martin responded: “It means the hospital is working with (O)racle to get caught up in,” not completing the sentence.

The outstanding invoices were mentioned in email communications between hospital CEO Tiffany Means, Martin and then-chief financial officer Cynthia Asbury in December.

On Dec. 8, an email from Means to Asbury and Martin said: “Cynthia, Oracle has a meeting schedule at noon today to resolve the payments(.)”

In a Dec. 11 email to Asbury and Martin, Means wrote: “We are now paying $45K+ every two weeks to Oracle as promised. Please provide:

“• Projections for these payments over the next 2-3 months.

“• Past months’ true actuals for Oracle and any missed payments.

“• What is the resolution financially?

“• How are we going to sustain these obligations without jeopardizing operations?

• “We cannot keep ‘squeezing the turnip’ of ED to keep us alive—what is the broader strategy for financial stability?” 

On Dec. 15, Asbury said in an email to Means and Martin: “We have implemented a bi-weekly payment cadence to systematically bring all outstanding invoices current. Invoices from July through November will be fully paid by February 5. The December invoice is expected around February 1 and is scheduled for payment on February 16, with January invoicing expected in March. This approach stabilizes cash flow while maintaining consistent vendor payments.”

Means replied: “Are you planning to share this information today with the commission or do you want me to with a lead into your report?”

In an email to Asbury and Martin later on Dec. 15, Means wrote: “… I want to address the missed Oracle payments. These are recurring obligations that are similar to monthly lease or utility payments and ultimately fall under your responsibility to ensure they are submitted and paid on time. I was concerned to see that this process relied solely on receipt of invoices, without proactive checks against vendor contracts or payment schedules. This created unnecessary risk for the organization, and it’s important to acknowledge that this oversight cannot occur going forward. Moving forward, I expect a system or process to ensure all recurring obligations are tracked, confirmed, and paid on time, independent of invoice timing.”

There was no mention of the cure agreement or overdue invoices at the hospital commission’s regular meeting on Dec. 15. In a Jan. 9 email to Martin, the Times-Echo asked if other commissioners had been made aware of the unpaid Oracle invoices.

As of Monday, Jan. 12, Martin had not responded. She did acknowledge in a text message that there was no mention of the unpaid invoices at the Dec. 15 meeting, but indicated there would be an update at the commission’s next meeting, scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 19.

Asbury was terminated from her position on Dec. 29. In a Dec. 30 text message to Martin, the Times-Echo asked if it was accurate that Asbury’s termination “was in connection to unpaid invoices from Cerner.”

“No not accurate,” Martin replied.

Oracle acquired Cerner in 2022.

Martin said in a Jan. 9 email to the Times-Echo that hospital officials became aware of the unpaid invoices on Dec. 1, when Means received a call from Oracle.

“Tiffany informed me that day,” Martin wrote. “Tiffany scheduled a meeting with Cynthia and Oracle on December 8th to work out a payment plan.” 

On Jan. 2 — four days after Asbury was fired — the hospital announced that Doug Hoban would serve as the facility’s interim CFO.

In her Jan. 9 email, Martin said the hospital “contracted with Doug Hoban on December 29th,” clarifying that Hoban is not a hospital employee.

Martin also confirmed that Hoban had agreed to accept the interim CFO position before Asbury was fired.

“Yes, of course we secured verbal agreement with Doug prior to Cynthia’s termination,” Martin wrote.