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Mark Haganman, DO, against the Iowa hospital where he formerly worked, saying he was terminated as retaliation against his efforts to improve COVID-19 safety measures.

Haganman had practiced at MercyOne's Mitchell County Regional Health Center (MCRHC) in Osage, Iowa, for nearly 28 years before being fired in November. His suit lists 10 claims, including that the hospital also retaliated against him for critiquing its leadership's COVID-19 safety plans.

MCRHC's senior director of public relations Elaine Barreca that "the Board of Trustees exercised its rights under the services agreement to request Dr. Haganman no longer be assigned to Mitchell County Regional Health Center. The narrative that Shelly Russell or any individual at Mitchell County Regional Health Center demanded that Dr. Haganman's employment with MercyOne be terminated is false."

"The claims in this lawsuit are without merit, and we look forward to defending against them in court," the facility said in a .

Haganman's suit did not indicate what reasons the hospital gave for terminating him; he could not be reached for further comment. A statement from Mercy said that "because it is a confidential personnel matter, no additional details can be shared."

The suit accuses the hospital's leadership team of consistently downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic and placing unnecessary health risks on MCRHC care providers. It cites Facebook posts by MCRHC's board chair, Jon Koster, containing COVID-19 falsehoods and jokes he allegedly made about wearing his wife's underwear as a mask.

According to the complaint, MCRHC providers knew they were not equipped to handle a high volume of critically ill patients at the start of the pandemic. With that in mind, Haganman and others helped organize an off-site respiratory clinic "where individuals suspected of having contracted COVID-19 could be evaluated, tested, and ultimately referred to a medical center outside Mitchell County which would have more advanced capabilities and be better equipped to provide appropriate care," the lawsuit states.

Haganman said he offered one of his personal properties to MCRHC to be used as the off-site location -- which the complaint notes was in disrepair but that Haganman offered to remodel using his own money.

In response to this plan, Haganman alleges that MCRHC's CEO Shelly Russell and physician Benson Hargens, MD, instead implemented a plan for an on-site clinic "that would benefit Dr. Hargens financially, while violating numerous state laws and public health directives."

Haganman states that, before the decision was put to a vote, he detailed the potential dangers of an on-site facility, a view purportedly shared by his team of fellow providers. The vote count was kept secret, according to the suit.

The off-site plan was swiftly rejected, according to Haganman, and a new, on-site clinic was announced, "creating potential health risks to patients, staff, and the community, but financially benefiting MCRHC and Dr. Hargens – who would immediately take over the operation of the clinic once it was moved on-site."

Haganman also alleges that when COVID cases began to rise in Mitchell County, he continued to plead with hospital leadership to reexamine their on-site clinic strategy. Haganman's employment was terminated in early November, allegedly in response to efforts by Russell to remove him. (Russell is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.)

The complaint notes that, in the weeks following Haganman's firing, COVID-19 cases in Mitchell County were doubling every three days.

An online to reinstate Haganman has reached over 1,100 signatures so far.

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