Becker's Hospital Review

23 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP 23 CEO / STRATEGY Mass General Brigham's rebrand to affect all 12 hospitals By Morgan Haefner A ll 12 hospitals in Boston-based Mass General Brigham will be rebranded in a three-year, up to $60 million name change that was first announced in 2019, according to the Boston Business Journal. In November 2019, the former Partners HealthCare rebranded to Mass General Brigham to highlight the system's two flagship hospitals: Massachusetts General Hos- pital and Brighman and Women's Hospital, both in Boston. At the time, it was unclear whether the remaining hospitals would keep their names. Mark Bohen, chief marketing officer for Mass General Brigham, told the Journal in a July 6 report that under the rebrand, "Mass General Brigham" will be placed above all community and specialty hospital names, though the brand will be in a larger font for community hospitals and a smaller font for specialty hospitals. e flagship hospitals will have "Mass General Brigham" in smaller font underneath their names. "e brand strategy really follows the business strategy and is a hybrid," Mr. Bohen told the Journal. "You can think about it as an endorser brand, a halo brand, a corpo- rate brand. It becomes an organizing principle for the other brands." Mass General Brigham said in the July 6 report it still was determining how to incor- porate the rebrand into its health insurer, AllWays Health Partners. n New Hampshire hospital loses 12 physicians as interim CEO takes helm By Kelly Gooch T welve of 14 primary care physicians on staff left or were in the process of leaving practices affiliated with Fris- bie Memorial Hospital, a 112-bed hospital in Rochester, N.H., according to a July 15 Foster's Daily Democrat report. The departures, affecting five to six practic- es, come after Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare completed its acquisition of the hospital in March 2020. It also comes as Matt Larkin takes the helm of Frisbie Memorial as interim CEO. "Yes, this has happened, and we are work- ing to assure we can support the hospital with local coverage while we are actively recruiting new staff," Mr. Larkin told the Daily Democrat. "It is not a [reduction in force]. Sometimes when an organization changes administration, we can see attri- tion. Those physicians who left are fantas- tic, and we hope as we reorganize some may come back." Mr. Larkin, who previously was COO of HCA's Portsmouth (N.H.) Regional Hos- pital, is serving as interim CEO of Frisbie Memorial after Jeff Scionti retired. He said as the hospital is rebuilding prac- tices, its aim is that some of the physicians leaving will want to return, according to the Daily Democrat report. He also told the newspaper that the hospital is recruit- ing physicians in various areas, including hematology and oncology, and obstetrics and gynecology. He added that "HCA made no direct chang- es to account for the attrition" and that the physician exodus is "a perfect storm of events that just happened. We have a really positive feel for our emergency and other services, and we want people to know we are here to handle any situation." As part of HCA's purchase, the for-profit hospital operator agreed to make multiple investments in Frisbie Memorial. Current investments include updates for inpatient rooms, boiler systems and the pharmacy, Mr. Larkin said. n Howard hospital CEO called 'sellout' over COVID-19 vaccine support By Morgan Haefner A nita Jenkins, the CEO of Howard University Hospital in Washing- ton, D.C., faced backlash from members of her community for encouraging them to get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a 7News interview with Ms. Jenkins. "I was called online a 'sellout' to my people," Ms. Jenkins told the news station in an interview published July 12. "But that's OK," she added. "I am absolutely willing to take a hit if that means that one or two more people will listen. If everything that I've said or done or every risk that I have taken by being vaccinated first saves one person, it's worth it all. It's worth it all." In December 2020, Ms. Jenkins was among the first to be vaccinat- ed at Howard in a move she hoped would address doubts that some Black Americans held around the vaccine. The majority of Howard's pa- tients are Black. "Healthcare disparities, research, all of that has not necessarily been a smooth ride for Black and brown people in the United States," Ms. Jen- kins told WUSA 9 in December. "That's why this COVID vaccine is met with skepticism. But let's please understand, we are losing the battle with COVID. Black and brown people are dying about three times more from this disease than others." In her interview with 7News, Ms. Jenkins alluded to an upcoming vaccine mandate for employees, with the hospital preparing a list of exemptions and a timeline for the deadline. "If [employees] are unable to have any of the exemptions, then yes, their job is at risk," she told the news station. n

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