Becker's Hospital Review

33 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP 33 CEO / STRATEGY Physicians look to ban Boston hospital execs from working on corporate boards By Kelly Gooch A petition signed by a group of physicians and medical stu- dents seeks to prohibit hospital chiefs in Boston from work- ing on corporate boards, e Boston Globe reported Aug. 7. e petition is signed by physicians from Harvard faculty physi- cians at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, according to the re- port. Researchers, residents and medical students also signed the petition, which was delivered July 27 to Harvard Medical School and hospital officials. In the petition, signers specifically call for prohibiting those in "exec- utive leadership positions" at Harvard teaching hospitals from serv- ing in paid positions on boards of pharmaceutical, biotech and other publicly traded healthcare companies, according to the report. ey cited concerns about hospital chiefs working in paid corporate board positions and possible conflicts of interest. Carolyn Becker, MD, an endocrinologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, wrote in a letter ac- companying the petition that these relationships "have been dam- aging to the reputation of Harvard and have eroded the trust of our patients, employees, trainees and faculty in the integrity of our aca- demic healthcare institutions," the Globe reported. e petition also cited an investigation published by the Globe in April that revealed it is commonplace for hospital chiefs in Boston to work as directors of pharmaceutical, biotech and other publicly traded healthcare companies, and that they do so at rates above plac- es outside of Boston. Ekaterina Pesheva, a spokesperson for the medical school, told Becker's: "e dean has received and is aware of the concerns raised in the petition. He had previously asked the Harvard Medical School Standing Committee on Conflicts of Interest to consider the range and nature of possible conflicts and their potential impact on the medical school, its faculty and its mission. e comprehensive work of the committee, which is comprised of faculty from Harvard Med- ical School and its affiliated hospitals and institutions, is ongoing. erefore, HMS will not have any additional information to share until the committee's work concludes." Rich Copp, a spokesperson for Mass General Brigham, the parent organization of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, told the Globe the organization "is in the process of reviewing our policy on this topic." e other hospitals declined to comment to the newspaper. Last April, Boston hospital presidents and trustees contended that outside directorships boost medical center collaboration with the bioscience sector and that proper safeguards can prevent possible conflicting interests, according to the Globe. n PepsiCo CFO joins HCA's board By Morgan Haefner T he board of HCA Healthcare will grow by one as PepsiCo's vice chair and CFO joins the ranks, the Nashville, Tenn.-based hospital operator said July 27. Hugh Johnston's addition as an independent director will expand HCA's board to 10 members. His appointment took effect Sept. 1. In addition to his duties on the board, Mr. Johnston will join HCA's audit and compliance committee and its finance and investments committee. Mr. Johnston has been with PepsiCo since 1987, serving in multiple leadership positions. He also was an indepen- dent director for Microsoft's board of directors. n 15 things to know about CHS, Tenet and HCA By Ayla Ellison T hree of the major for-profits hospital chains operate 329 acute care hospitals across the U.S. Below are 15 things to know about three of the major for-profit hospital operators: Community Health Systems, HCA Healthcare and Tenet Healthcare. Community Health Systems Headquarters: Franklin, Tenn. CEO: Tim Hingtgen Number of acute care hospitals: 84 2020 revenue: $11.8 billion 2020 net income: $511 million HCA Healthcare Headquarters: Nashville, Tenn. CEO: Samuel Hazen Number of acute care hospitals: 185 2020 revenue: $51.5 billion 2020 net income: $3.8 billion Tenet Healthcare Headquarters: Dallas CEO: Saum Sutaria, MD Number of acute care hospitals: 60 2020 revenue: $17.6 billion 2020 net income: $399 million n

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