Fully embracing my Public Enemy No. 1 Era. Here is my experience with Tim Hoekstra and Dr. Wills.

There were red flags from the beginning. The CEO who hired me was fired for reasons that I later found out were absurd and delusional (in my opinion - I’ll share that email at some point too). People had quit without notice (yes, before I started as well). I really just wanted to start my job as a PMHNP though. I raised these concerns and Dr. Wills took me dinner and just explained that they were a small company. He said it was common to have a high turnover as they were growing. I did understand this and I gave him the benefit of the doubt. It’s not my personality to be unreliable or back out of a commitment. I have now learned.

I absolutely love what I do, so it’s easy to say I love my job. Everything in the office around me though, was a mess. I never received my sign on bonus, I was never reimbursed for decorating my office, the bonuses that were promised - never happened. There was about a month total where I felt like I was working with a solid team. In June though, five employees walked out without notice including the office manager at my clinic. I really do not like gossip but this was a big red flag for me and I started asking around. This led me to finding out about alleged illegal billing practices. I learned about Dr. Wills being posted on the “Are We Dating The Same Guy-Boise” site - which is weird, because he’s married with five kids. Then I read some horrifying comments . When I spoke to other employees about this, I learned that Dr. Wills had a history of alleged inappropriate relations with employees. I thought that was interesting as he was asking me out to dinner frequently. Mind you, I was working 7 days a week at this time. I really didn’t have a lot of time for dinner, but I felt like if the owner of my company wanted to get dinner with me, I should go. Well, after I heard this, I decided I’d ask another new employee if Dr. Wills was taking him to dinner as well. I developed a sinking pit in my stomach as I found out that, no he was not taking this other new employee to dinner nor was he asking this other new employee out to dinner.

And it’s so sad that in 2023 I actually had the thought “It would probably be easier for me to leave this company if I just had sex with Dr. Wills.” But then I like, vomited a little in my mouth, and just thought “Ugh, I guess I’m just going to have to do this the hard way.”

In short, I started saying no to dinners and started looking for a new job. I had several offers. I took my contract to an attorney who reviewed everything - he felt confident he could prove my noncompete invalid if necessary. He warned me that they could sue for tortious interference with my noncompete, they could file for an injunction, they could send a cease and desist, etc. He also thought that was unlikely because in healthcare noncompetes are usually closely scrutinized and more difficult to enforce. Everyone in America has the right to choose who their healthcare provider is - if a patient wants to follow you to a new place of practice, they can. It’s not like I can pick up a patient’s phone, dial my new place of work, and schedule an appointment with me - for them. They have to take that initiative themselves. Makes sense.

I put my 8-week notice in. They were definitely shocked. I said I needed more money which was a lie - I said this because I felt like the company was too far gone for any corrective action to actually make a difference. I just wanted to leave silently. They asked me not to tell any staff which I thought was weird, but I said okay and I abided by that.

I did not anticipate them giving me this hard of a time.

Around 3 weeks after I put my notice in, Tim scheduled a meeting with me. He kept trying to get me to say where I was planning on going. I did have an idea, but again, I hadn’t signed a contract. He said things like “I’m going to send an email to your patients letting them know you’re leaving, where should I say you’re going” and “I don’t want your patient’s to be confused”. He also said things like “You know, these aren’t your patients, they’re PERMA’s patients” etc. My responses were along the lines of “No offense Tim, but I plan on telling my patient’s myself that I am leaving. I think if you sent an email to them, it would only be more confusing. That’s not how you end a patient-provider relationship. You’ve been in the business supposedly 30 years, surely you know this.” He did not like my answers but I wasn’t even trying to push back. I was really trying to get him to realize how ridiculous he sounded. He then abruptly changed the subject and his tune. He said he received an email saying I was getting credentialed for another company in the valley. I was honestly so shocked and confused to even hear this. If I even was getting credentialed with a new company, why would they email my current one? My response was very simply “That’s weird.” There was an awkward pause. Tim proceeded to get up, walk over to the door, and then dramatically look over his shoulder at me. With a smirk on his face he said “You know you signed a noncompete, right?” And then he left. His inner 13-year-old mean girl just reveling.

Continued…

I had heard rumors throughout the office that Tim was immature and would “throw tantrums”. Supposedly, he liked to exert his power over employees; I heard he would fire people on the spot if they put their notice in. Until this day, he had always been respectful towards me. I basically just shook off our meeting and kept working the rest of my shift. I remember I was actually getting ready to leave a bit early because my last patient of the day couldn’t make it. This is when the new interim office manager walked in and said that Tim was speeding back here as fast as he could because he had something he urgently needed to tell me. I told Nicole “I’m sorry, I’m not going to stay after hours so he can talk to me. I have pickleball tonight and I don’t like being late.” I also remember at the time I was drafting an email to our company about our policy for genesight testing. I was just letting everyone know that it’s not appropriate to push every patient that comes to us to get one; genesight requires patients to have at least tried some meds before it can be ordered and some patients are brand new to psychiatry, etc. I’m explaining this to nicole and she says “Oh yeah, that…. that sounds important. Finish that email and send it.” I’m laughing as I’m writing this. Obviously, I’m like okay and finish my email and send. Maybe 2.5 minutes later, I gather all my things and am walking out when Nicole asks to see me in her office. She goes “I need your key to the clinic”. Very perplexed, I say “Why do you need my key?" and then it dawns on me. “… Oh my god, Are you firing me?!” In my head I’m thinking, you don’t even have the authority to do that. She just says I need to call Tim. I say “Hmmm, I’m going to keep my key.” And then I walk out fuming.

This company can’t even fire people properly.

I don’t even have Tim’s number (bc he’s so new to the company), so I get Dr. Wills on the phone and I just ask how he’s doing. He says he admittedly could be doing better (lol, how are you doing now?). And I say “Okay, did you know Tim just fired me? Or well, actually, I’m not quite sure what just happened. Nicole was just asking for my key as I was leaving today, obviously I didn’t give it to her.” He’s chuckling in the background and says “You need to call Tim.” In my head I’m thinking, I know for a fact you both didn’t walk into work today thinking you were going to fire me so I say “This seems like a really impulsive decision, are you sure this is what you want to do?” He continues giggling and says again “You need to call Tim.” I’m not sure of my exact wording on what I said to Wills next but I know I said something along the lines of “I saw close to 60 patients this week, every single one of them thinks they are going to see me again. As my *pause* mentor (cringe), this is not how I learned to end therapeutic relationships? You’re supposed to have a plan for transitioning care. You’re not supposed to lie to your patients.” He literally just continues to snicker and tells me to call Tim again. And that was the last time I spoke with Dr. Wills on the phone. Even though I said the word ‘mentor’, I could hear in my own voice how much I did not even mean it.

Finally, I get Tim on the phone and ask him if he’s firing me. We exchange heated words for a bit as I basically reiterate to him what I said to Dr. Wills. He says “Sometimes as a CEO, you have to do things you don’t want to do!”. I am shaking angry at this point and I say “How could you do this to my patients?!” - His response in exasperation was “How could you do this to a company?!” I had to pause at that; I was shocked. He continued to say something along the lines of “Just tell us where you’re going and you can work!”. I think I did actually say to him at this point that I wasn’t even sure where I was going yet. I then told him why I wanted to leave - because I had heard about Dr. Wills and his alleged inappropriate relationships. I told him it made me uncomfortable. Nice guy Tim came back real quick. “Oh, you need to tell me everything” he said. He pretended like he cared about my feelings. He pretended he was concerned. He acted like he had no clue what I was talking about. I say some very vague things I had heard but also say that I think I need to talk to my attorney before I mention anything else. The last thing Tim said to me on the phone was “I really do respect you as a person and a provider. I really hope that you can have that same respect for me as well. This is a business decision and nothing else.” I am very nice back to him and say I understand and the feelings mutual. Now remember, this was the first time I really had seen Temper Tantrum Tim in action. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt because I’m a nice person.

I probably continued to hold respect for Tim as a CEO for about the next 12 hours. Then I received my priority-first, one-day delivery demand letter which included him threatening to sue me for extortion. Excuse me sir, I tell you how uncomfortable the owner of the company is making me and twelve hours later you threaten to sue me for extortion?! What, in the actual f**k, is wrong with you? —That is a rhetorical question as I am a psychiatric provider, I definitely have some ideas about what is wrong with him.

And that, was the end of any respect I ever held for Tim Hoekstra.

The real kicker for me is — remember that new male employee who started 1 month before me? The one who wasn’t being asked out to dinners. He also put in his 8 week notice the same day as me. He wanted to leave for the same reasons and he told them that. He told them where he was going which would be breaking his noncompete. He was allowed to work his full 8 weeks. He did not get fired. He was never sent a demand letter. He was never threatened with a lawsuit for breaking his noncompete. He was never threatened to be sued for extortion.

I am so confused.

And I was definitely late to pickleball.