A state official plagued by complaints, staff exodus and patient deaths during his tenure as the administrator of the Montana State Hospital has been transferred to a new role as the administrator of the Intensive Behavior Center in Boulder.
Kyle Fouts is leaving his role as the head of the hospital in Warm Springs and will begin a new job running the IBC on May 9, according to the state Department of Public Health and Human Services, which oversees both facilities and announced the move on April 21. The IBC—the last remnant of the former Montana Developmental Center—houses up to 12 people with profound mental disabilities.
The Montana State News Bureau reported Fouts’ move to Boulder on April 21, noting that “Fouts, who has been the hospital administrator since 2019, had been identified by current and former staff as a significant driver of the employee exodus that forced the facility to rely more heavily on contracted staff, exacerbating other issues at the hospital in Warm Springs.” The bureau stated that NBC Montana was first to report on the move.
The hospital lost federal reimbursement earlier this year, under Fouts’ leadership, after repeatedly failing to meet health and safety standards set forth by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services—shortcomings that, according to a report from the centers, resulted in a slew of preventable deaths and injuries among patients.
The Montana State News Bureau reported last fall that 40% of staff positions at the hospital were vacant, and that staff departures were often attributed to Fouts’ cold and retaliatory leadership, as well as poor conditions created by staff shortages, lack of training, and unqualified staff and administration.
“Every additional day I work there I am 100% gambling with the loss of my RN license,” one traveling nurse told hospital administration, according to communications shared with the bureau, which stated that the nurse resigned from the hospital.
The news organization stated that “staff who spoke with the Montana State News Bureau said part of what’s pushing employees out are the issues that come with the management style of Fouts, the hospital administrator. Fouts holds no medical degrees or previous hospital experience. His background includes work in the Arizona prison system and he worked as the administrator of the state-run Montana Chemical Dependency Center in Butte for four years before he took over at Warm Springs.”
Jon Ebelt, the department’s public information officer, wrote in an email on Tuesday that the department has contracted with an outside firm, Alvarez and Marsal Public Sector Services LLC, “to conduct a comprehensive assessment of all DPHHS-operated facilities and develop a strategic plan to enhance quality of care and improve operations.” Ebelt also pointed out that, as part of Gov. Greg Gianforte’s reorganization of the department, a new facilities division will serve as an umbrella over all of the department’s facilities, and the division’s leaders will work in concert with those from Alvarez and Marsal.
Ebelt wrote that “Fouts has worked in public service for 37 years—including spending 32 years in a supervisory role—and has headed MSH since 2019. He was previously administrator of the Montana Chemical Dependency Center (MCDC) in Butte from 2015 to 2018. DPHHS is grateful for Kyle’s service at MSH and MCDC, and looks forward to the experience that he will bring to IBC.”
In response to a question from The Monitor asking for the reason why Fouts was transferred from the hospital to the IBC, and who made that decision, Ebelt wrote, “we do not discuss personnel matters.” He gave the same reply in response to questions asking why Fouts was made the administrator of the IBC given the issues plaguing the hospital; how the department would monitor the IBC to prevent the same issues from occurring there; and if the department had consulted IBC staff before transferring Fouts.
Fouts did not reply to an email seeking comment for this story. An automated email reply last week stated he was on vacation until May 3. A voicemail greeting at a number listed for Fouts on the DPHHS website indicated the number had been transferred to incoming State Hospital Interim Administrator Carter Anderson, who is the department’s inspector general. A voicemail at Fout’s office at the hospital was not returned.
Adam Meier, the director of DPHHS; Rebecca de Camara, the outgoing acting administrator of the IBC; and Michelle Boone, the IBC’s director of staffing operations, all did not respond to requests for comment.
