Terry Monnolly, a MetroHealth board member who resigned after Akram Boutros, MD, was fired as the Cleveland-based health system's president and CEO, is defending Dr. Boutros amid a bonus controversy, cleveland.com reported Dec. 14.
MetroHealth confirmed to Becker's Dec. 8 that Mr. Monnolly, co-founder of DiGioia-Suburban Excavating, resigned from the board. The health system did not provide a reason for the departure.
Mr. Monnolly's resignation came after Dr. Boutros was terminated Nov. 21. Dr. Boutros was fired after MetroHealth board members say that between 2018 and 2022, he set goals for himself, evaluated himself against those goals and authorized more than $1.9 million in supplemental bonuses for himself, without disclosure to the board. Dr. Boutros, who planned to retire at the end of 2022, alleges board retaliation and denies wrongdoing. He sued MetroHealth over alleged violations of Ohio's Open Meetings Act and the board bylaws. He specifically accuses the board of violating the law in its hiring of new MetroHealth President and CEO Airica Steed, EdD, RN.
In his resignation letter, which was shared with Becker's, Mr. Monnolly indicated he disagreed with the firing of Dr. Boutros.
"It is my belief that the board had authorized Dr. Boutros to take all actions that he took," Mr. Monnolly wrote in a Nov. 30 email. "To terminate him, based on the belief that he would somehow take money from MetroHealth in the last month of his term, does not set well with me.
"My health is not the best, and I do not want to be at odds with the board. I therefore tender my resignation from the board, effective immediately."
In a statement shared with Becker's, MetroHealth said Mr. Monnolly did not attend the Nov. 21 board meeting during which board members voted to fire Dr. Boutros.
"Nor did he attend three of the four previous meetings. He did not participate in the board’s discussion and analysis of the investigative findings that provided the basis for its decision to terminate Dr. Boutros' employment," the statement said.
During a board meeting Dec. 14, the board passed a resolution thanking Mr. Monnolly for his work on the board and voted to add a compensation committee to oversee compensation matters regarding executives and highly compensated employees, according to cleveland.com.
MetroHealth also recently announced the hiring of an independent audit firm to review policies, practices and issues related to bonuses paid to Dr. Boutros.