The Summa Health board of directors is hiring an “executive coach” and taking over approval of all physician contracts after hundreds of doctors voted no-confidence in the health system’s CEO.
The board’s announcement on Sunday comes amid growing dissent by Summa’s doctors following the health system’s decision to abruptly switch emergency room physicians on New Year’s Day.
Hundreds of doctors have called for the board to replace CEO and President Dr. Thomas Malone, who has led Summa through a series of controversial changes over the past two years.
The board has publicly stood behind Malone, but in a statement released Sunday acknowledged “recent events and the divisions that they have revealed are very troubling to us.”
To address the growing rift with physicians, the board is creating a medical staff panel of three to seven doctors that will report directly to the board and advise on medical staff issues.
“All of these steps are intended to provide the foundation for the Summa Health leadership team to build a culture of engagement and open communication,” the board of directors said in the statement. “Our board will be monitoring this situation closely.”
For some physicians at Summa, the changes presented by the board still aren’t enough.
“This still doesn’t take care of the fact that the CEO needs to go,” said Dr. Hitesh Makkar, vice president of the Summa medical staff, who has been outspoken in his criticism against Malone. “I do not think he’s going to be an effective leader given he’s got so much distrust that’s aligned with him now.
“I cannot imagine that the board would elect to keep him on,” Makkar said. “If this continues, then people will start sending their business elsewhere. ... The pay-to-play philosophy this administration is using has got to go away.”
In its statement, the board also cited the health system’s accomplishments over the past two years despite the recent road bump, including a $350 million facilities plan, “sound finances” and a rise in SummaCare’s performance.
Other changes by the board include:
• Filling the two physician vacancies on the board by Feb. 28.
• Revising the contract renewal process “to avoid a repeat of the recent emergency department transition,” the statement says.
Theresa Cottom can be reached at 330-996-3216 or tcottom@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @Theresa_Cottom .