Case not closed on Beth Israel's Levy after all; another Massachusetts exec gets jail time

It turns out that the matter of the now infamous Boston CEO's "improper relationship" with a former Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center employee is not "closed" after all, recent reports in the local papers suggest.

Not only have two BIDMC board members--Patrick Ryan and Chester Black--left their posts since Levy was punished with just a $50,000 fine, but now the hospital has asked Attorney General Martha Coakley to review the appropriateness of the board's response to Levy's indiscretions originally brought to light by an anonymous letter.

Specifically at issue is whether favoritism played a role in the woman's various job appointments, including as a special assistant to Levy and a management position at the Harvard teaching hospital, as well as the severance package she received when leaving the cash-strapped hospital.

In a statement released last night, Coakley's office said: "Boards of Directors of nonprofit organizations have a duty to ensure the proper governance of their organization and that charitable assets are protected. Pursuant to our authority over charitable organizations, our review will be focused on whether the Board met these obligations in connection with its investigation and sanction of its CEO. We will conduct a thorough review of this matter and we will make our findings public at the conclusion of this process.''

And Levy isn't the only Massachusetts hospital executive unable to swim out of hot water this week. William S. Burke, former administrative director of the cardiovascular center at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison for embezzling $222,000 from the hospital's charitable contributions and medical supply rebates. He'll also have to pay restitution of about $107,000, the amount he has not yet paid back since the 2007-09 crimes, according to the Boston Globe.

To learn more:
- read this Boston Globe article about Levy's situation
- here's another Globe piece on Levy
- here's a third Globe article on Burke
- read this Boston Herald story on Burke
- check out the Herald's take on the Levy situation