Conversations in Church--December 2019

 

OSF-SFMC, Peoria

(Photo by John Carroll)

One week after Keith Steffen fired me from OSF, an Apostolic Christian friend of mine told me she had been approached in her church by an Apostolic Christian nurse who also attended the same church. In very definitive terms, the nurse explained to my friend some bad rumors she had heard about me that came from a “not low-level source” at OSF. (A couple of the things that this nurse stated were almost verbatim what Keith had told me or people that had approached Keith on my behalf.)

Upon hearing what the nurse said, my friend started to cry. My friend then asked the nurse if she had ever heard of Keith Steffen. The nurse stated she had never heard of Keith Steffen. This was hard to believe because the Apostolic Christian community in this area is close-knit and Keith had a prominent job as Administrator of our very large Catholic hospital.

When my friend called me about these rumors she stated that she thought “I needed a chance to defend myself.” When I heard this from her, I flashed back to everything Keith Steffen was saying to me in his office. He was setting me up all along. On multiple occasions, Steffen had smiled and said to me, “John, when this comes out about you, it won’t be good.”I had no idea what he was talking about but now I could see what he had been doing. He was attempting to smear my name in the hospital and in the community.

The next day, I went and talked to this nurse in her office. She worked for the Peoria Day Surgery Center which was also known as Peoria Urology. I was seeing her and meeting her for the first time in my life. I had my legal pad out once again and asked her why she had said the nasty stuff about me to my friend. She was extremely nervous and apologetic for what she had done and asked me not to write stuff down.

However, the nurse did not convince me that she did not know Keith Steffen. According to the Journal Star, Steffen had threatened to “bury” Peoria Day Surgery Center and was trying to run them out of business.

One month later, the nurse wrote me a letter apologizing for the errors she had made as she gossiped about me. (I still have the letter.)

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Denouement–

The day my friend called me and told me the rumors being spread by the nurse made me understand what Keith Steffen had been saying to me and others in his office before he fired me.  Actually, and this sounds odd, I was relieved when my friend called and told me the content of what the nurse had told her. I was relieved because it was all wrong. But I was angry too because of the evil intent on Steffen’s part.  (When I told Bishop Jenky what Steffen had done, the Bishop was livid.)

In the years that have passed since 2001, I have forgiven Keith Steffen, but I have not forgotten.

Next: I tell a very nervous Sister Judith Ann what her hospital administrator was saying behind her back.

 

John A. Carroll, MD

www.haitianhearts.org