Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please submit the good news—or the bad—from your shop, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
MetroHealth
Akram Boutros, M.D., has been dismissed from his position as chief executive officer by the board of trustees of Cleveland-based MetroHealth System.
MetroHealth’s board voted to complete the firing Nov. 21 after discovering that Boutros authorized more than $1.9 million in supplemental bonuses to himself. A statement released by the health system revealed that between 2018 and 2022, Boutros authorized the additional compensation free from awareness or approval of the board.
The probe found that Boutros evaluated his own performance to determine the entitlement of the additional bonuses. He established personal metrics to measure his progress against before settling on the figure. The health system acknowledged Boutros' contribution to the health system's growth while also stating that his actions were unacceptable.
On Oct. 31, Boutros repaid the funds with interest. He is said to
have self-reported his mismanagement to the Ohio Ethics Commission. On Tuesday, Boutros said, through a statement with his attorney, that the bonuses were proper. He stated that he plans to file legal action against the board, which he says were aware of the bonuses. He also stated that some communications between board members regarding the hiring of MetroHealth’s new CEO violated Ohio’s Sunshine Law.
Nabil Chehade, M.D., executive vice president and chief clinical transformation officer at MetroHealth, will fill the role of interim CEO until Airica Steed steps in as the next president and CEO Dec. 5. Steed is currently executive vice president and system COO of Sinai Chicago Health System.
Geisinger
John Kravitz left his position as chief information officer of the Geisinger regional health system, according to an article in HealthTech Magazine.
Kravitz has filled the role at the Danville, Pennsylvania-based company since 2009. He has now transitioned to software company Workday as vice president and head of healthcare and go to market. Workday is a cloud-based software vendor specializing in human capital management and financial management applications. He previously held similar positions at Good Shepherd, Allied Services and Mercy Health System.
During his tenure at Geisinger, he oversaw the health system’s cloud migration to Amazon Web Services (AWS). The move was the largest electronic health record migration to the Amazon cloud to date, according to AWS.
Mike Angelakos will fill the role of interim CIO of Geisinger, the company confirmed to Becker’s Hospital Review. Angelakos has been associate CEO and chief technology officer since July 2021. Angelakos previously held IT leaderships roles for Trinity Health for over 17 years.
Lifespan
John Fernandez has been selected as the president and chief executive officer of Lifespan, set to begin in early 2023.
Fernandez is currently president of Mass Eye and Ear and president of Mass General Brigham Integrated Care; both are based in Boston and are parts of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system. He has helped Mass General Brigham offer increased access to ambulatory services in several states including Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
While at Mass Eye and Ear, Fernandez designed and led a strategic plan to increase surgical volume by over 70%, expanded release funding from $18 million to $72 million, increased physician office sites from four to 22 and led a $252 million capital campaign to fund research. Before moving to Mass Eye and Ear, he served as vice president at Brigham and Women's Hospital in areas such as surgical services, imaging, cancer, pathology, laboratory and network development.
Timothy J. Babineau, M.D., preceded Fernandez in the role which he held for a decade before stepping down May 31. A press release stated that in his new position, Fernandez will focus on Lifespan’s ambulatory footprint.
Amedisys
Chris Gerard is leaving home health and hospital company Amedisys after seven months in the role of president and chief executive officer.
The announcement was made Nov. 17 with the ousting taking place immediately. Former CEO Paul Kusserow has retaken the reins until a replacement can be found. Gerard had succeeded Kusserow on April 15 after working as the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based company’s president and chief operating officer for nearly six years.
Gerard was “terminated without cause,” according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last month, the company reported a 43% fall in earnings as compared with the same period a year before. The $25.6 million reported in the 2022 third quarter followed a 63% decline in net income during the second quarter.
The company updated its 2022 guidance following the fall. The initial expectation of $2.29 billion to $2.31 billion was decreased to $2.22 billion to $2.23 billion. Amedisys cited COVID-19 challenges and staffing shortages for the adjustment in expectations.
> Athenahealth, an electronic health record and software services company, brought on Brittany Podolak as the new chief people officer.
> RxBenefits tapped Thad Kwiatkowski for the position of chief financial officer.
> Collective Health, a digital benefits management platform for employers, announced that Chris Newman will join its leadership team as chief financial officer.
> Carrot Fertility welcomed James Hotaling, M.D. to its medical advisory board.
> Oma Fertility announced four appointments to the company’s executive team: Brian Bettendorf, formerly of WorkitHealth, joining as chief financial officer; Seth Goldberg, formerly of SmileDirectClub, joining as chief marketing officer; Lacey Mitchell, formerly of New Directions Behavioral Health, joins as vice president of human resources; and Danielle Schulman, formerly of Hoag Orthopedic Group, joins as vice president of clinical operations.
> Regional West Health Services has named COO Amanda Vick, RN, as acting president and chief executive officer five days after CEO John Mentgen terminated his contract.
> Ro, a digital healthcare company, has added Gia Lee to its leadership team as its new general counsel.
> The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania announced the retirement of President and Chief Executive Officer Andy Carter by June 30.
> Oregon Health Authority shared that Director Patrick Allen has submitted his resignation after five years in the role.
> Rutherford Regional Health System, a Duke LifePoint hospital, has named Tory Shepherd its chief executive officer.
> Rentschler Biopharma SE announced that Chief Executive Officer Frank Mathias will return to the company’s supervisory board in March 2023. He will continue to be fully responsible for business operations while the supervisory board searches for a successor to be CEO.
> Bon Secours Mercy Health shared that President and Chief Operating Officer Brian Smith will retire after Dec. 31.
> HepaRegeniX GmbH, a pharma company, announced the appointment of Andreas Busch as senior adviser.