Alan Kessler was bleeding in his stomach and blacking out when he returned home after being kicked by a horse. It had been over an hour since the incident, and after Googling "blunt trauma," his wife called 911.

When he arrived at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center on Oct. 24, 2010, Kessler may have been five minutes from death. But it was just another day for Dr. John "Dirk" Wassner, a Christus trauma surgeon with combat experience in Afghanistan.

"I owe my life to him. He was attentive, he was sympathetic ... I really shouldn't be alive. My hour was up," Kessler said, referring to the "golden hour" during which patients with traumatic injury need to receive treatment for best results.

After eight nights in the hospital and a slow recovery, Kessler was riding a horse again 52 days later.

Frank Gorham, a longtime friend who had visited Kessler at Christus, was one of those impressed with Wassner. As a tribute to the trauma doctor, Gorham offered $600,000 from his family's foundation to support the Emergency Department if the hospital raised $400,000 in matching funds through its foundation. The successfully realized $1 million went, in part, to purchase two pieces of medical equipment to improve trauma care.

The fundraising success was touted in the St. Vincent Hospital Foundation's spring 2011 newsletter. "Thanks to the on-going hard work and life-saving skills of Dr. John D. Wassner, the Foundation has received ... " began the article. And Wassner was recognized publicly during the foundation's annual Glamour and Gauze fundraiser Oct. 15

Three days later, on Oct. 18, Wassner was suspended. A month later, on Nov. 18, he was fired.

The official reason given was because of some off-color jokes and comments by Wassner — two in June, another in September. The unofficial, real reason may be that Wassner had quietly raised concerns about whether Christus was ready to take in more complicated trauma patients as the state's only Level II trauma center.

His attorney, Karen Kilgore of Cuddy and McCarthy, who is petitioning Christus for Wassner's reinstatement, called the hospital's actions "both shameless and suspicious."

"I think it's a railroad job," she said.

First, the dismissal was unlawful as it did not follow basic human-resources procedures, she said. If there were allegations — and Kilgore hasn't been able to interview a single person making them — they were not documented or investigated.

Second, Wassner wasn't told at the time — months before — that his conduct may have been offensive, nor was he given a chance to correct it, she said.

There was no physical touching, no evidence of a hostile work environment, said Kilgore. She also claims that other workplace allegations against Christus employees were handled differently with some, more serious complaints, actually not ending in employee termination.

"There was no process here," Kilgore said. "There was no exit interview. He doesn't even know how to get his stuff out of his office.

"They treated him differently than other complaints because he was speaking out on issues of public concern," Kilgore said

Christus spokesman Arturo Delgado confirmed that Wassner is no longer employed at the hospital. He said the hospital is negotiating with Wassner over medical privileges to practice at Christus, but he would not be on staff.

"Dr. Wassner knows perfectly well that he was warned several times about his behavior," added Delgado. He refused to make any further clarification.

Kilgore admitted that Wassner was disciplined after the fact about the errant jokes, but that is not a legal basis for dismissal. "Case law universally holds that an errant remark or jokes told in poor taste are not sufficient to meet the legal definition of sexual harassment," she claimed in a letter to the hospital.

A thankful patient

Kessler, 66, an artist, gallery owner and collector, is talking very publicly.

The horse accident, he said, "was like being hit with a baseball bat on steroids." His internal bleeding was caused by mesentery rips: The tissue that holds the intestine to the torso was torn. Kessler lost half his blood volume before and during the surgery, which required cutting the chest wall open and then repairing the ribs before closing with staples and stitches.

Of Wassner, he said: "He served in Afghanistan, he was awarded the Bronze Star. How many lives did he save? Can we afford as a community to lose a great trauma surgeon?"

Wassner himself just wants his job back.

The surgeon, 64, is a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Medicine and served his residency at The Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati. He worked in trauma care in Illinois from 1983 to 2002, eventually becoming chief of staff at a hospital in DeKalb County.

As part of the U.S. Army Reserves, Wassner's continuing military education includes courses in combat casualty care and emergency war surgery. He served in Afghanistan as part of the 909th Forward Surgical Team, according to his résumé.

After returning from combat, it was Wassner's wife, Linda — a nurse who once had a small practice near the couple's home in Eldorado — who explored jobs in New Mexico because they were looking for a better climate.

He took a job at St. Vincent in 2008 as the trauma medical director and did a lot of outreach and education during that time. He wrote to The New Mexican in 2010 urging parents to get helmets for children who ski and snowboard.

Wassner was replaced in September 2010 as trauma director by Dr. William Dougherty, and both Wassner and his attorney claim this is when he felt he was being targeted — in part due to his age and religion and in part because he raised concerns about the quality of patient care.

Kilgore added that when a Christus human-resources manager gave him his termination letter she stated in passing, "This is a Catholic organization." Wassner interpreted that to mean he was not welcome because he is Jewish.

Wassner claims he never spoke out publicly about the effort to raise the designation of the Christus emergency room to a Level II trauma center, which would allow more serious cases to be cared for in Santa Fe instead of University Hospital in Albuquerque. As the only Level II center in New Mexico, Christus also would bill for some emergency procedures at a higher rate.

But he and other doctors did talk privately, saying the effort was being rushed and the hospital needed to address some operating room and staffing issues before moving forward.

Attorney Kilgore said the hospital administration simply did not want Wassner around when the survey team from the American College of Surgeons came to consider the Level II request in December.

Delgado said the survey team completed its visit Dec. 16.

"The surveyors were extremely complimentary as to the progress we have made since their consultative visit three years ago," he said. "They identified some opportunities for improvement that we will address in the upcoming months. Final verification for Level II status will require a second visit within the next six to 12 months."

The friend and philanthropist

Like Kessler, longtime Santa Fe resident Daniel Gorham was immediately impressed by Wassner, whom he met in 2010 while waiting outside the operating room with Kessler's wife, Wendy.

The nurses "said we were incredibly lucky that Dr. Wassner was his surgeon because of his combat experience," recalled Gorham.

Wassner gave Wendy Kessler "renewed optimism ... in a comforting and assured way," he added.

Gorham said his father, Frank Gorham, served in World War II, and so he appreciated Wassner, who "is not shy about his patriotism."

Daniel Gorham and his brothers now serve on the board of the Frank D. Gorham Jr. and Marie K. Gorham Charitable Foundation. Since 1999, it has donated more than $11 million to New Mexico nonprofits.

The trust has demonstrated its diverse interests through gifts ranging from $600,000 to The University of New Mexico School of Law to establish the Leon Karelitz Chair in Oil and Gas, to the purchase of a Steinway concert grand piano for the Santa Fe Concert Association.

Daniel Gorham said he steers his efforts toward equipment. "I want [a gift] to have some sort of staying power." So as way to show his appreciation to Wassner, Gorham visited the doctor a week after Kessler's operation. He asked if there was anything the emergency room could use to improve care.

Wassner, "sat back, rolled his eyes and said, 'We could use all kinds of stuff,' " Gorham said.

The funding was officially offered in a matching grant agreement signed Jan. 31, 2011, by Daniel Gorham; Robert Glick, president of the St. Vincent Hospital Foundation; and Alex Valdez, Christus CEO. Wassner also signed.

The St. Vincent Hospital Foundation and Christus administrators decided the money would go for two mobile imaging devices, so "medical personnel will be able to view better pictures of patients in real time, which will allow them to see arteries and veins functioning, where screws and pins are placed ... as the surgery is being done," according to the letter.

Two of the machines would cost $466,636, according to a letter the hospital foundation wrote to Gorham on Dec. 3, 2010.

The other need was an autotransfusion system that would allow patient blood to be captured and reinfused during or after surgery.

"This new transfusion system would reduce the risk and cost to patients," said the letter. Two of the machines would cost $43,200. Other outreach and education efforts were also identified in the letter.

The Dec. 3, 2010, letter was on St. Vincent Hospital Foundation letterhead but signed by Wassner. "I look forward to meeting with you to thank you in person for your continued generosity," the doctor concluded.

The first half of the Gorham money would be paid immediately, with the remaining $300,000 donated only after the match was raised.

The matching gift, the Foundation newsletter later noted, "was inspired profoundly by the patriotism and professionalism of Major John Dirk Wassner MD. ... Dr. Wassner was a front-line battlefield surgeon in several U.S. Military campaigns, including Afghanistan where he saved the lives of many combat soldiers wounded in action. He continues his extraordinary work here in Santa Fe and our community is very fortunate to have him."

Gorham toured the emergency room in the fall to see the equipment firsthand and was told after Glitter and Gauze that the match had been met.

Gorham wanted to give Wassner a copy of the grant agreement and the final $300,000 check from the Gorham Foundation as a memento. When he went to Wassner's office in November, he was told the doctor no longer worked at Christus.

"I found out about it that way. I was shocked," Gorham said. "Since he was the inspiration for the gift, I think it would have been a show of goodwill for the [hospital] foundation to contact me. For whatever reason the hospital had to terminate Dr. Wassner, it certainly seems like they shortchanged the community."

At first, Gorham wrote a letter to the hospital board asking for an explanation, and refusing to turn over the last installment of the grant money. But he never sent it because the Gorham Foundation attorney said the agreement had been met and the rest of the money should be given to the hospital.

So Thanksgiving week, Frank Gorham went to the office of the St. Vincent Hospital Foundation and dropped off the $300,000 check. He left it with the receptionist.

Contact Bruce Krasnow at brucek@sfnewmexican.com.