Becker's Hospital Review

42 POPULATION HEALTH 42 CEO / STRATEGY Board member calls for change in leadership at Minnesota health system linked to racist incidents By Kelly Gooch H ennepin County Commissioner Irene Fernando called on Minneapolis-based Hennepin Healthcare to fire employees and demote supervisors over what she called "deeply rooted" racism within the organization, the Star Tribune reported March 3. Ms. Fernando, who has served on the Hennepin Healthcare Board since 2020, specifically cited the newspaper's reports detailing two incidents. "It was reported [March 2] that there are multiple photos of two Hen- nepin Healthcare employees, including the current EMS deputy chief and a paramedic, in blackface," Ms. Fernando wrote in a statement. "One of these photos may have been taken at an event hosted or sanc- tioned by Hennepin EMS. Regardless of when the photos were taken, the conduct of these employees is abhorrent. Dressing in blackface and treating race, ethnicity or culture as a costume is degrading, ex- tremely racist and cannot be tolerated. e employees in the photos should be fired, and supervisors who were aware of this misconduct should be disciplined and removed from leadership positions." Ms. Fernando also cited a Feb. 12 report about a physician at the health system who was in a training video for Minneapolis police ob- tained by the Star Tribune. e newspaper reported that the video shows the physician continued to train law enforcement on "a severe form of agitation called 'excited delirium,' " aer the Minneapolis mayor had said the city ended this training last year. "is is unacceptable and a direct violation of an organizational di- rective," Ms. Fernando wrote. "Excited delirium is a controversial di- agnosis that is not recognized by the American Medical Association. It is clear that this diagnosis is rooted in systemic racism and has been used to justify the assault and murder of victims of police violence, particularly Black, Indigenous and people of color. e doctor who conducted this training should be fired for his actions, and super- visors who were aware of his misconduct should be disciplined and removed from leadership positions." She concluded that the recently reported incidents, along with what she called "slow action from management," are indicative of "a harm- ful pattern that damages community trust." In a statement posted online, Hennepin Healthcare responded to the commissioner's remarks and the reports, saying that making progress with health equity "takes courage, humility and resolve." "We know that along with incremental successes we will also encounter new learnings, pain points and challenges to overcome," the statement said. "We also know that these discoveries may create even more pain for our team members and our community, who are already trying to heal from racism. ese events, hard as they are, also provide an oppor- tunity to realize our mission of high-quality healthcare for our commu- nity and enable us to reach our full potential as an organization." e health system acknowledged the blackface photos. e CEO, Jennifer DeCubellis, told the Star Tribune March 3 that leadership took "strong action" in response to the photos, but she declined to comment on the specifics because of personnel data policies and an ongoing review. "Let us be clear that we take this very seriously and our next steps will be determined by any findings. We acknowledge the harm and apologize for the impact to our community and our teams. We regret our role in causing further pain for those we serve and for those who serve," Hennepin Healthcare said. Moving forward, the health system said it will "continue to use education to change perceptions and actions, evaluate our poli- cies and processes through an anti-racism lens, and create a cul- ture of accountability." Ms. DeCubellis told the Star Tribune the health system is also estab- lishing new training to change the health system's culture. n Viewpoint: The problem with interim CEOs By Georgina Gonzalez I nterim CEOs should be the last option for a com- pany and usually indicate poor succession planning, Dr. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, professor at New Haven, Conn.-based Yale School of Management, wrote in a Yale Insights article. Interim CEO appointments are associated with poor management as well as continued poor performance, Dr. Sonnenfeld wrote, citing research from the Strate- gic Management Journal. Some of the performance is- sues can be ascribed to the limited authority of interim CEOs, who, cautious to make too many changes in a temporary position, assume a non-risk-taking leader- ship style, resulting in strategic paralysis. This keeps the organization at a standstill. Customers and stake- holders may also lose trust in the organization, as they know that the interim CEO may not be able to deliver on commitments. This kind of leadership then encourages employees to revert to cautious performance too, unsure of how the temporary leader will react to bold, risky decisions. The interim appointment can also quickly turn political, as disruptions in internal leadership create tension. Dr. Sonnenfeld argued that systematic leadership fail- ures cause organizations to get to the position of ap- pointing an interim. "Boards can't perpetually kick the can down the road. Companies need courageous leaders, not custodians," he concluded. n

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