The rankings are based on data compiled before Beaumont Royal Oak outsourced its anesthesia services, a controversial move linked to the death of a patient undergoing a routine colonoscopy and another patient landing in the ICU because of a pain medication overdose. The writer, a Los Angeles freelancer, is a former Detroit News business reporter who blogs atStarkman Approved. Susick fired Royal Oaks highly regarded and very much beloved head of pediatrics after he protested budget cuts that he argued would harm patient care. Starkman: America's Mistakenly Entitled Restaurant Workers February 08, 2023, 12:24 PM - Starkman Approved 'The Week That Was:' Why Police Have Groups Like the 'Scorpion Unit' February 03,. According to a source, some travel nurses are being paid lucrative wages to work only three or four shifts a week. The merger talking points for Beaumonts leaders includes a commitment to improve health equity. This from a healthcare company that at the height of the Michigan pandemic last yeartemporarilyclosed Beaumont Wayne, a hospital catering to economically disadvantaged individuals with little or no insurance. ER sources at Royal Oak and Troy say Covid patients account for a small percentage seeking emergency treatment. Gretchen Whitmer. How Absurd. Eric Starkman of Los Angeles is a former Detroit News business reporter who blogs at Starkman Approved. Starkman: Electric Vehicles and the Exploitation of Michigan Taxpayers. The deal will invariably be good for Fox, as he will likely get a very lucrative exit package to sail into the Georgia sunset. Spectrum, with $6.9 billion in revenues, operates 14 hospitals in the western side of the stateand has 30,000 employees. But Beaumonts release last month announcing her elevation to chair to replace John Lewis provides some insight. So What? A traditional Bachelor of Science degree in nursing is typically four years. Those workforce headwinds should have been known to Freese Decker well before she took over Beaumont. Combining Spectrum with Beaumont would be akin to Target, whose management is respected and its brand has a loyal following, merging with Macys, a troubled chain whose flagship store in midtown Manhattan has lost its luster much like Beaumont Royal Oak. Whats notable about the joint announcement and Beaumonts internal communications is whats missing. Fox also disclosed that Beaumont has earmarked $40 million to purchase state-of-the-art beds, some of which are already being delivered. In addition to her Beaumont debacle, theres been considerable turnover in Spectrums senior ranks, mostly women. Copyrightdocument.write(new Date().getFullYear());Deadline Detroit, Inc. - All Rights Reserved, Michael Freed doesn't "see any value in this merger. Spectrums board strikes me as pretty buttoned up, so they might not yet appreciate the extent of how damaged Beaumont really is. They are looking at diversity as a numbers game. Lina Khan of the Federal Trade Commission, Hospital prices in southeastern Michigan are among the lowest in the country, so one would have to be incredibly nave to believe Spectrums claim that its takeover will lead to more affordable care. The Beaumont Health System, comprised of Royal Oak, Troy, and Grosse Pointe hospitals, was far superior and the expectation was that the merger would elevate the quality of staff and patient care at the Oakwood and Botsford hospitals. Its not clear whether Freed knows that Beaumont CEO John Fox was among U.S. hospital executives who shouted the loudest about a looming financial crisis for the health care industry because of the pandemic. By Eric Starkman. Said a veteran Troy ER source: Ive never seen anything like this in all my years of nursing. The FTC is headed by Lina Khan, a Democrat appointed by Biden and sworn in last June 15 to a three-year term. Spectrum appears to have grown organically, focused on a region it knows well. There are no bios or photos of Beaumonts other directors, and thats by intent. I know little about Fream, who served as Beaumonts vice chair for several years. Its almost a mantra among Beaumont Royal Oak nurses that Henry Ford treats their nurses like royalty. Beaumont has had a contentious relationship with its Royal Oak nurses for years, prompting them to try to organize a union two years ago. Under Susicks leadership, Beaumont Royal Oak precipitously declined, and internally she was viewed as a Fox sycophant. Although we are facing these current financial headwinds, we are confident we will continue to deliver effectively and successfully on our mission in the communities we serve in Michigan.. Soon after, Fox announced the Advocate Aurora deal. Fox in January also disclosed that Beaumont planned to spend significant dollars to embark on a three to five-year plan to expand the health systems private bed capacity. By Eric Starkman Beaumont Health CEO John Fox has no shame. According to the most recently available filings, Freese Decker earned $3.9 million in 2018. In a September letter to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel warning about Beaumonts implosion, Shaevsky spoke of the need for independent directors to bring some stability to the organization.. That Fream will serve as chair of the board overseeing a combined Spectrum and Beaumont is a disgrace and underscores Michigans poor leadership. I dont know how we could handle a catastrophe, said a source at Royal Oaks ER. Spectrum reported that Beaumont's operations already have racked up nearly $100 million in losses. Starkman: Electric Vehicles and the Exploitation of Michigan Taxpayers. View Comments. Instead, thanks to aggressive cost cutting and other misguided decisions by Fox and COO Carolyn Wilson, Beaumont imploded. Copyrightdocument.write(new Date().getFullYear());Deadline Detroit, Inc. - All Rights Reserved, Tina Freese Decker, Spectrum president and CEO, a month membership or a one-time donation, Beaumont CEO John Foxs Final FU to Detroit: Merger with Spectrum Health, Beaumont Health Chair John Lewis -- Champion of CEO John Fox -- Stepping Down in June, Beaumont Manager Moved to Sabotage Anesthetists Concerns About Critical Drug Pump Shortage, Beaumonts John Fox Set to Unload Historic Bloomfield Hills Estate, Beaumont Nurse Anesthetists at Royal Oak, Troy and Grosse Pointe Vote Overwhelmingly to Unionize, Beaumont Forces Suspension of Leader of Nurse Anesthetist Union Drive, Andy Levin Goes After Amazon's Union Busting in Alabama, but Silent About Beaumont. That wasnt entirely true. Reach Eric Starkman at eric@starkmanapproved.com . Typically, when deals of these sorts are announced, the CEO of the acquired company pays lip service to being committed to ensuring a smooth transition and promises to stick around and lend their full support. The writer, a Los Angeles freelancer and formerDetroit News business reporter, blogs atStarkman Approved. Fox cancelled the Advocate Aurora deal a few days later. Starkman: Electric Vehicles and the Exploitation of Michigan Taxpayers. By Eric Starkman During the Covid pandemic, a hospital's safety practices are more. Israel relies nearly 100 percent on Pfizer vaccines, while the U.S. also has a prevalence of Moderna and J&J vaccines. Beaumont employees and vendors are encouraged to reach out, with confidentiality assured. Spectrums board is certainly a lot tougher on compensation. Maybe they dont teach this at the University of Iowa from where Freese Decker received her Master of Health Administration, but when a hospital spends nearly $2 million as John Fox did to intimidate nurses at his flagship Royal Oak hospital and derailed a unionizing attempt, it creates bad blood. Joseph Hill, who was hired to be diversity chief at Hermann Health System in Houston, was fired even before starting his job allegedly because he had already identified racial bias at the hospital. This is Beaumont's latest attempt to merge with another hospital . Whats becoming increasingly obvious is how Freese Decker, like John Fox, is prone to making public statements that have no basis in fact. By that measure Fox, Wilson, and Wood have poor performance scorecards. Nessels do nothing stance on healthcare matters is in sharp contrast to her Massachusetts counterpart Maura Healey, who has moved to block the expansion of Massachusetts General Brigham on the grounds it will lead to higher health care costs in that state. According to one source, Beaumont at least until recently had more than 3,000 job openings. The anesthesiologists did this while earning a fraction of their . The Royal Oak budget cuts were made in 2020, when Beaumont increased its reserves to $3.5 billion from $2.5 billion and Fox earlier in the year warned U.S. hospitals could collapse because of the pandemic. Given that a survey of Beaumont doctors revealed last year they had no confidence in Fox, Wilson, and chief medical officer David Wood Jr., recruiting top quality executives to Beaumont is a near impossible challenge with Fox and Wilson at the helm. Studies show that when hospitals combine, healthcare prices increase while patient quality declines. Beaumont employees and vendors are encouraged to reach out, with confidentiality assured. A credible and competent board would have fired Fox, Wilson, and chief medical officer David Wood Jr. after internal surveys last year revealed the majority of Beaumont doctors and nurses had no confidence in them. Fox and spinmeister Geary have a history of making statements that are deceptive and misleading, a compilation of which can be found here. The FTC decision to implicitly rubber stamp Spectrums takeover underscores the weakness of President Bidens leadership and the little respect he commands, even among his own appointees. Reach Eric Starkman at: eric@starkmanapproved.com. Spectrums previous head of diversity was Ovell Barbee, an African American, who Spectrum proudly announced last April was named one of the leading diversity executives in the country. So What? Beaumont Royal Oak in the past 18 months has lost more than a dozen prominent surgeons, half of its fellowship trained anesthesiologists, more than 50 nurse anesthetists, and dozens of nurses. Also, if you wish to support Deadline Detroit's. Spectrum spokeswoman Ellen Bristol Wednesday morning said she would look into whether a merger was imminent, seeming to indicate Deadline Detroits inquiry was the first shed heard of a potential deal. The expansion is apromising sign that Spectrum is willing to commit money and resources to expand and upgrade Beaumonts facilities and reverse the decline the hospital system has suffered from Foxs extensive cost-cutting during his seven-year reign. The evidence is, Spectrums previous head of diversity was Ovell Barbee, an African American, who Spectrum, Many organizations are not interested in real change, Chris Metzler, the former associate dean for human resources and diversity studies at Georgetown University,, Disparities in healthcare are typically blamed on racism of U.S. doctors and other health professionals. It appears that Beaumont Health CEO John Fox won't be bundling his millions and bidding Michigan goodbye as soon as he hoped. Newsweek Ranks 3 Beaumont Hospitals Among Best in U.S. One Down, Three to Go. Under their oversight, Beaumont suffered a precipitous decline in reputation and quality of care. All of Spectrums top executives are based in Grand Rapids, which is understandable since none of Foxs top lieutenants remained with the company. He's even willing to. Naming Fream as chairman was done for optics, an attempt to assure Southeastern Michigan residents that their interests would be protected if Spectrum and Beaumont merge. Beaumont employees and vendors are encouraged to reach out, with confidentiality assured. No doubt the pot of cash is the bait that got the merger talks going. A Zoom video conference call that was leaked this week among physicians and the marketing director of a North Carolina hospital involved a discussion on how to manipulate Covid patient stats to make them more scary to the public. Henry Ford also said the unvaccinated were exacerbating its staff shortages. By comparison, BHSH will have 22 hospitals and 64,000 employees. Spectrum also is comfortable issuing misleading or deceptive statements, so culturally Beaumont is possibly a great fit. Consultants are part of the . This columnist, a Los Angeles freelancer, is a former Detroit News business reporter who blogs at Starkman Approved.. By Eric Starkman. My guess is that if Freed understood how Beaumonts directors stood idly by while Beaumont imploded, hed challenge their appointments regardless. Disgruntled Staff. To support Deadline Detroit's independent journalism, please sign up for a $3a month membership or a one-time donation. Copyrightdocument.write(new Date().getFullYear());Deadline Detroit, Inc. - All Rights Reserved, A Zoom video conference call that was leaked this week, a month membership or a one-time donation, Sh** Show At Beaumont Endoscopy Suite In Chaos Amid Nursing Shortage, C-Section Horror at Beaumont Lawsuit Claims Surgeon Left Sponge in Patients Abdomen, Former Spectrum CFO Trashes Beaumont Merger and Warns of 'Massive Financial Loss', Beaumont Health's Merger Partner Reveals its Disingenuous, Deceptive and Disrespectful Nature, Spectrum Healths Black Employees Explore Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Systemic Racism, Beware! In what will likely be his final FU to Metro Detroit, Fox will depart on Friday. Michigan Gov. As an example of their power and influence, they have managed to derail enforcement of rules the Trump Administration issued requiring hospitals to be transparent about their prices. We are incredibly excited about the impact the BHSH Beaumont Health Nurse Scholar program will have in health care and for our communities.. Reach Eric Starkman at: eric@starkmanapproved.com. Lewis resigned as chair just prior to Fox announcing Spectrums takeover and left the board in December. The companys chief revenue officer left earlier this month. After posting his letter, Freed noted on his LinkedIn page that Beaumont made $167 million from its operations in 2020, which included revenue recognition of $349 million from the CARES Act and FEMA payments for Covid. Six months into Freese Decker's acquisition of Beaumont Health from former controversial CEO John Fox, metro Detroit's biggest hospital system is suffering from a pandemic of red ink. Spectrums takeover of Beaumont was a deal that should never have been allowed. The Michigan Nurses Union vowed it would no longer seek to organize at Beaumont because of the companys climate of fear.. I'm officially declaring Beaumont CEO John Fox, the Atlanta carpetbagger whose greed and mismanagement destroyed Metro Detroit's biggest hospital system and put the health and safety of areas residents at risk, "The Cookie Monster." Its not unusual for a so-called charge or supervisory ICU nurse to have just one year of experience. Thats how Beaumont ended up in the sorry state that it did. Beaumont was once mostly staffed by highly skilled veterans, among the best in healthcare. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel could also have moved to block the Spectrum deal or demanded certain concessions, but she has proven to be a regulatory lightweight, particularly on matters relating to healthcare. There is compelling research showing that hospital mergers result in higher patient costs and reduced quality of care. . Instead, they allowed Spectrum to acquire Beaumont, creating Michigans biggest hospital system, as well as the states biggest employer. I expect Fox to promote the deal as a merger of equals and its possible the Beaumont name could be retained in some capacity, but dont be fooled: The combination is Foxs Hail Mary attempt to cash out and distract from the extensive damage his leadership has caused. Henry Ford in Detroit in years past enjoyed an A safety rating. It speaks volumes that Spectrum Health CEO Tina Freese Decker and her fellow directors have chosen to get into bed with the directors who are ultimately responsible for the implosion of Beaumont Health. The once proud and respected hospital system merged with two lesser ones in 2015, paving the way for Fox, who was determined to sell Beaumont from the moment he arrived. (Deadline Detroit art work ), Starkman: Why Tree Huggers Must Save This Small Town in Michigan From Ford, 'Detroit In Black And White:' Why We Got Kicked Off 910 AM, Randy Wimbley Leaving Fox 2 After a Decade on the Air. In a major blow to the hospital, Reza Dabir, Dearborns top cardiothoracic surgeon, resigned to join Ascension Health. These contracted doctors also were responsible for setting up a Covid-19 ICU unit at Beaumont Troy. Getting more Americans vaccinated is widely believed the ticket to saving lives and preventing hospitals from being overrun with Covid patients at deaths door. John Kerndl, who joined Beaumont in 2016, quit in March. Thats right, CFO Matthew Cox referred to Beaumont as an acquisition, not a merger as Freese Decker and Fox led the media to believe. Beaumonts board failed in their duties overseeing the hospital system they were responsible for protecting. Most of Foxs senior management team has departed, and hes expected to leave once the takeover is completed and he receives the millions of dollars likely owed to him under his golden parachute agreement. As often happens when you meld two organizations, the weaker one brings the stronger one down. Moreover, rookie nurses still have a lot to learn. The company announced this week that Aaron Gillingham, Beaumont Healths senior vice president and chief human resources officer and interim chief compliance officer, has resigned. Disparities in healthcare are typically blamed on racism of U.S. doctors and other health professionals. Beaumont employees and vendors are encouraged to reach out, with confidentiality assured. Merging with Beaumont would more than double Spectrums size in some areas. As chair just prior to Fox announcing Spectrums takeover and left the board in December board in! 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