Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1476979
36 CEO / STRATEGY 20 most socially responsible hospitals: Lown Institute By Kelly Gooch A hospital in California earned the top spot on the Lown Institute's 2022 list of socially responsible hospitals. e Lown Institute, a nonpartisan healthcare think tank, released the ranking June 28. e list ranks more than 3,600 U.S. hospitals based on 53 metrics across categories of health equity, value and outcomes. Metrics included racial inclusivity of patients, employee pay equity, and avoidance of unnecessary and potentially harmful procedures. Hospitals with "A" grades on each of the three categories are considered "most socially responsible." According to the Lown Institute, 15 hospitals out of the 66 most socially responsible hospitals had an extraordinary COVID-19 burden, meaning at least 26 weeks with at least 10 percent of inpatient beds filled by COVID-19 patients during the first year of the pandemic. Additionally, only three of the of the U.S. News & World Report's top honor roll hospitals received grades higher than a "C" on the equity category of metrics, according to the report. e Lown Institute used publicly available data from Medicare claims, CMS hospital cost reports, IRS 990 forms and other sources for the rankings. COVID burden for the first year of the pandemic is reported for each hospital but does not factor into the hospital social responsibility ranking. e top 20 hospitals for social responsibility in the U.S., ranked by the Lown Institute: 1. Adventist Health Howard Hospital (Willits, Calif.) 2. Duke Regional Hospital (Durham, N.C.) 3. Tristar Horizon Medical Center (Dickson, Tenn.) 4. Boston Medical Center 5. Salinas (Calif.) Valley Memorial Hospital 6. Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center (Gresham, Ore.) 7. Banner-University Medical Center South (Tucson, Ariz.) 8. Saint Alphonsus Medical Center-Nampa (Idaho) 9. Saint Alphonsus Medical Center-Ontario (Ore.) 10. Denver Health Medical Center 11. St. Rose Dominican Hospitals-Rose de Lima (Henderson, Nev.) 12. St. Mary-Corwin Hospital (Pueblo, Colo.) 13. Saint Joseph Berea (Ky.) 14. St. Charles Prineville (Ore.) 15. MetroHealth System (Cleveland) 16. Stoughton (Wis.) Hospital 17. Sutter Solano Medical Center (Vallejo, Calif.) 18. Providence Milwaukie (Ore.) Hospital 19. North Suburban Medical Center (ornton, Colo.) 20. Baystate Wing Hospital (Palmer, Mass.) n Tennessee hospital shakes up C-suite By Ayla Ellison Blount Memorial Hospital in Maryville, Tenn., has a new CEO and is making other changes to its executive team. Harold Naramore, MD, was named CEO June 9 after serving as the hospital's chief medical officer for more than 12 years. He succeeded Don Heinemann, who decided to retire. Local mayors sent a letter to the hospital's board June 13, raising concerns about the process used for choosing the new CEO. They questioned "whether proper public notice was given for the special called meeting" where Dr. Naramore was chosen as the new CEO and "whether the by-laws of the organization were followed" in the CEO selection process, according to WATE. "It is our feeling that the process was not handled in accordance with state law for adequate notification of the special-called hospital board meeting and that there was a failure to follow the hospital's own by-law in the selection process," wrote the mayors of Maryville, Alcoa and Blount County, Tenn. A hospital spokesperson told WATE June 16 that leadership is confident that the required process was followed and that a response letter was being drafted. The hospital made a few other changes to its leadership team on June 17. Jonathan Smith, the hospital's CFO, will also serve as chief administrative officer. Cory Everett, who leads the hospital's physician group, was named COO, according to The Daily Times. In an email to staff obtained by The Daily Times announcing the two newest leadership changes, Dr. Naramore wrote that it "is normal to be nervous with changes like what our organization is experiencing right now, but, everything will be OK. And I meant that. Everything is going to be fine." n