Mark Shaevsky, a former Beaumont Health board vice chair and trustee, sent a letter to Michigan's attorney general that calls for firing the Southfield, Mich.-based health system's CEO, COO and CMO, according to Crain's Detroit Business.
Mr. Shaevsky, who served on the eight-hospital system's board for 17 years, is asking Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to "require or suggest" Beaumont's board fire the three executives. In an interview with Crain's, he said patient safety concerns raised by physicians and nurses have not been sufficiently addressed. Mr. Shaevsky told Crain's that he is also frustrated that most of Beaumont's 16-member board appears to support the system's proposed merger with Advocate Aurora Health, which has dual headquarters in Milwaukee and Downers Grove, Ill.
A Beaumont spokesperson told Becker's Hospital Review that the system has received a copy of Mr. Shaevsky's letter. "It contains multiple factual errors that we will clarify with the attorney general in due course," the spokesperson said.
A group of donors at Beaumont recently met with the system's board vice chair to discuss concerns about the system, according to Crain's. Two sources told Crain's that donors are preparing a letter to ask the board to appoint more physicians and nurses to the board, halt the merger with Advocate Aurora for at least one year and fire the system's CEO, COO and CMO and bring in an interim management team. The sources asked for anonymity because of their connections to the health system.
"Our donors are very important to us and we sincerely appreciate all of their investments in operating and capital funds to support major clinical initiatives throughout Beaumont Health," Beaumont Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer Margaret Cooney said in a statement to Becker's. "Over the past few months, we have been working closely with our donors to keep them informed, answer their questions and address their concerns, if any, through phone calls, emails and meetings. We will continue to have an open dialogue with our donors and welcome feedback, comments and questions from them."
The Beaumont board of trustees confirmed in mid-August that it is delaying a vote on the planned merger with Advocate Aurora. The trustees decided to postpone the vote after physicians presented the results of a survey completed by 1,500 of the system's 5,000 physicians. The survey revealed a lack of confidence in the hospital system's leadership and concerns about its proposed merger with Advocate Aurora Health. Crain's reported that on Aug. 20 the system also received the results of a survey of 681 registered nurses at Beaumont that was highly critical of management and operations.
Read the full Crain's article here.