Dr. Arthur Fleming

Dr. Arthur Fleming was forced out in 2003 as chairman of the King/Drew surgery department. Later, as the county was attempting to fire him, he resigned from the hospital staff.

Even so, for the fiscal year ending last June, he was the second-highest-paid King/Drew doctor, earning $399,367, including an academic stipend.

County health officials blamed Fleming after a national accrediting group withdrew its endorsement of the surgery residency program in August 2003, forcing its closure last June.

Separately, a 2003 county health department audit raised concerns about delays in surgeries and absenteeism among surgical staff. It also said that Fleming’s department made loans to physicians from surgery accounts and that it did not track whether the money was repaid.

Overall, the audit said, the department’s leadership showed a “fundamental absence of administrative skills or competence.”

Fleming has defended the department, and last week referred a reporter to his testimony at a state Assembly hearing in September 2003. There, he said that the loss of the residency program was not his fault and that the council’s action was based on misinformation. He also said he kept his department going for years despite inadequate resources from the county.