Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1117375
82 HEALTHCARE NEWS CEO of U of Maryland Medical System to take leave of absence amid scandal By Alyssa Rege T he president and CEO of Baltimore-based University of Maryland Medical System agreed to take a leave of absence, effective March 25, amid a scandal involving business deals between the system and several of its board members, according to e Washington Post. Six things to know: 1. UMMS Board Chairman Stephen Burch announced the board's unanimous decision March 21 to have President and CEO Robert Chrencik take a leave of absence. e system will also hire an independent accounting and legal firm to audit the board's contracts, and the search for an indepen- dent third party will begin immediately. "Over the past week, I've had the proper time to listen to concerns and reflect. e board and I am firmly committed to evolving our governance principles and operating with even more transparency," Mr. Burch said. 2. John Ashworth, senior vice president of network develop- ment at UMMS and associate dean at the Baltimore-based University of Maryland School of Medicine, will serve as interim president and CEO of the 13-hospital system. 3. e leadership changes follow the resignations of three UMMS board members, including Baltimore Mayor Cath- erine Pugh. At least four other board members have taken a leave of absence. e deals have been sharply criticized by state lawmakers, including Gov. Larry Hogan. 4. Ms. Pugh resigned from the board aer facing criticism for a $500,000 book deal she made with UMMS. A spokes- person for the mayor's office said March 20 Ms. Pugh has returned $100,000 in profit to the health system because production on the books was delayed and they were not ac- tually delivered to UMMS, which had planned to distribute the books to city schools. 5. Hours before Mr. Burch notified the public of Mr. Chrencik's leave of absence, the Maryland House of Del- egates unanimously fast-tracked a bill to overhaul UMMS' 27-member board of directors, e Washington Post reports. 6. Amid the scandal at UMMS, e Baltimore Sun reviewed state disclosure and tax forms for several other health systems in the state and found at least five other systems have engaged in business deals with members of their board. e American Hospital Association's guidance on the issue does not prevent such deals from taking place, but asks that leadership ensure "certain preconditions … to make sure that the organization's interests prevail in the board's decision-making." n The 6 specialties osteopathic physicians opted for on match day By Eric Oliver T he American Osteopathic Association shared results from its 2019 AOA Match, which saw more than 500 osteo- pathic physicians placed into residency programs. More than 19 percent of graduating osteopathic medical stu- dents joined 296 past DO graduates in this year's AOA Match. About 54 percent of participating graduates were matched with a residency program. The six options they were matched with: Family medicine: 304 physicians or 34 percent Internal medicine: 197 physicians or 22 percent Orthopedic surgery: 107 physicians or 12 percent General surgery: 65 physicians or 7 percent Emergency medicine: 54 physicians or 6 percent Other: 159 physicians or 18 percent n Vanderbilt hit with $25.5M suit over wrong-site surgery By Mackenzie Bean A Tennessee woman filed a lawsuit against Nashville- based Vanderbilt University Medical Center March 19, claiming surgeons operated on her wrong kidney, reports The Tennessean. Carla Miller sought care at the hospital in November 2017. The suit claims surgeons implanted a 22-centimeter stent in her right kidney instead of the left and ran it up the wrong side of her body. Ms. Miller's attorney, Afsoon Hagh, said the medical error damaged her urinary system and now requires her to receive dialysis for life. "For a wrong-site surgery to occur, there has to be a significant series of breakdowns and errors by multiple healthcare provid- ers," Ms. Hagh said in a statement to The Tennessean. "The fact that such a chain of missteps occurred here is very concerning." The lawsuit is seeking $25.5 million in compensatory and puni- tive damages. A Vanderbilt spokesperson told Becker's the hospital does not comment on pending litigation. Ms. Miller's lawsuit comes nearly two months after a Vanderbilt nurse was indicted on a reckless homicide charge over a fatal medication error made in December 2017. n