The Cass County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees announced today (Monday), it has terminated the contract of Chief Executive Officer Todd Hudspeth, effective immediately. Ned Brown, Board Chairman, said in a statement, “After thorough consideration of Mr. Hudspeth’s actions and his judgment in several recent situations, we are concerned about his ongoing ability to be an effective leader for our organization.”

Brown said also, “We will begin the search for a new CEO immediately.  In the interim, we have complete confidence in our current Administrative Team, medical providers and staff to continue providing outstanding care for our communities during this time of transition.”

CCHS CEO Todd Hudspeth

Over the weekend, it was learned that Hudspeth’s attorney, last Thursday, entered a written Alford Plea for Hudspeth, with regard to Hudspeth’s felony Forgery charge in Buena Vista County. An Alford Plea is a guilty plea by a defendant who proclaims he is innocent of the crime, and admits that the prosecution has enough evidence to prove that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It is entered when the accused, together with his attorney, has made the calculated decision to plead guilty because the evidence against him is so strong that it will likely lead to conviction. Typically, it results in a guilty plea of a lesser crime

Last month, Hudspeth had entered a written plea of Not Guilty to the Forgery charge filed against him in Buena Vista County Court. Storm Lake Police had earlier arrested Hudspeth after he allegedly presented a $10,000 check with a forged signature at Storm Lake MetaBank. Hudspeth has said the check was deposited into a checking account to pay for his son’s college expenses. Hudspeth later acknowledged he had made a poor decision in endorsing a disbursement check that included his name, and that of his ex-wife. Hudspeth admitted that he took “A foolish shortcut to expedite” the process of transferring funds for his son’s expenses. He faces a similar felony charge in Cass County, filed in May.

A jury trial was set to begin in Hudspeth’s Buena Vista Coutny case on July 12th, but with his plea, a pre-sentence investigation (PSI) will now take place August 1st, during what’s called a “Plea taking.” Hudspeth was hired as the CEO for the Cass County Health System in November, 2013. He took over in January 2014 from former CEO Pat Markham, who retired after more than 29-years of service.