The McDonough District Hospital board of directors has decided next steps following its decision to suspend Brian Dietz, president and CEO of the Macomb, Ill.-based hospital, Tri States Public Radio reported.
At the conclusion of a special meeting Jan. 2, the board voted 7-0 (two members were absent) on a motion related to the matter, according to a hospital news release shared with Becker's.
The motion stated that effective Dec. 28, Mr. Dietz is suspended with pay through Feb. 5, pending investigation into recent allegations regarding hospital management.
A Dec. 29 news release from MDH said William "Bill" Murdock, who has served as vice president and CFO of the hospital since April 2019, was named interim CEO.
Mr. Murdock will serve in the interim role through Feb. 5 or as otherwise determined by the hospital board, according to the motion approved Jan. 2.
The motion also stated that board chair Jere Greuel and board member Dan O'Neill, with the assistance of the hospital's legal counsel, will oversee an investigation by the hospital's legal counsel of the recent allegations against hospital management, and then report their findings to the board.
Tri States Public Radio reported that an investigation is ongoing into allegations in anonymous letters sent to them. Authors of the letters, who say they are hospital employees, reportedly allege reckless spending and a toxic work environment.
"The board of directors take all allegations against this hospital seriously, as shown by the unanimous vote Tuesday night related to the process of the investigation. We want to be thorough and will do our due diligence throughout this process," Mr. Greuel said in the MDH release. "Since this will be an ongoing review of a personnel matter, we will have no further comment until the conclusion of our investigation."
Mr. Murdock said: "I thank the board of directors for their confidence in me to lead our great organization as their interim chief executive officer. We will continue to provide excellent patient care as we continue to support our staff, community, patients and providers. As the chief financial officer, I always practiced having an open door policy with my direct reports and colleagues. As the interim CEO, I will continue to have that open door policy with every one of our MDH colleagues, providers and make myself available to members of the community."
Mr. Dietz has been serving as the president and CEO of MDH since June 2018.
Editor's Note: This article was updated at 1 p.m. CST Jan. 3.