The CEO of Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., and two other hospital executives have resigned, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
In a statement issued Dec. 11, the health system said the following All Children's executives have resigned: CEO Jonathan Ellen, MD; Vice President Jackie Crain; and Jeffrey Jacobs, MD, the deputy director of the hospital's heart institute. Paul Colombani, MD, stepped down as chair of the department of surgery, but he will "continue in a clinical capacity" at the hospital, a Johns Hopkins spokesperson told the Tampa Bay Times.
The leadership shakeup comes after a Tampa Bay Times investigation found the mortality rate at All Children's heart institute tripled between 2015 and 2017. The hospital had the highest mortality rate of any pediatric heart surgery program in Florida in 2017, according to the report.
The increase in mortality rate came after several hospital employees reported problems with the heart program's surgeries to their supervisors. Some of the employees warned Dr. Colombani of the issues. When the problems occurred, Dr. Jacobs was a co-director of the heart institute and Ms. Crain was the hospital's chief strategy officer and the lead executive for risk and claims management, according to the report.
In addition to the leadership changes, the board of Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine has commissioned an external review of All Children's heart institute.
"We will share the lessons learned from that review to ensure that Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins All Children's and other hospitals around the country can learn from and avoid the mistakes that were made," the health system's statement said. "Losing a child is something no family should have to endure, and we are committed to learning everything we can about what happened at the Heart Institute, including a top-to-bottom evaluation of its leadership and key processes. The events described in recent news reports are unacceptable."
Read the full Tampa Bay Times article here.
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