Becker's Hospital Review

21 CEO / STRATEGY Former MetroHealth CEO hid unauthorized bonuses, audit says By Kelly Gooch A third-party audit commissioned by Cleveland-based Metro- Health found its former CEO concealed bonuses from the board. Dr. Boutros immediately disputed the findings through his attorney. MetroHealth released the findings March 3 aer the organization's board of trustees fired former President and CEO Akram Boutros, MD, for allegedly authorizing more than $1.9 million in supplemen- tal bonuses for himself without disclosure to the board. Dr. Boutros alleges board retaliation and denies wrongdoing. MetroHealth fired Dr. Boutros in November aer law firm Tucker El- lis conducted an initial investigation. Tucker Ellis retained national accounting firm BDO to perform the recently released audit, which reviewed policies, practices and issues related to bonuses paid to Dr. Boutros. Among the findings from the audit, which was shared with Becker's, are: • Dr. Boutros included himself as an eligible employee in the supplemental bonus pool without board approval. • Dr. Boutros performed a self-evaluation of his supplemental bonus pool achievements and calculated his own supplemen- tal bonus payouts. • Dr. Boutros failed to disclose his supplemental bonuses to the board and outside parties. • e CFO failed to implement segregation of duty controls related to the CEO supplemental bonus pool compensation. Jason Bristol, an attorney for Dr. Boutros, said in a statement shared with Becker's that Dr. Boutros' bonuses were approved by the board. "BDO was hired by the Tucker-Ellis law firm, the same law firm that produced the biased and incomplete initial report," the statement said. "ere is nothing independent about this audit report. e re- port continues to deny allegations that we could definitively prove to be true today: e MetroHealth board of trustees approved the bonus program. ey knew the CEO was included in the program. ey ap- proved the bonus payments for all eligible employees every year. e bonuses were awarded only aer a robust assessment." e audit also provided recommendations to MetroHealth, includ- ing to "conduct training to ensure all system employees and [board] members understand their role in an effective internal control envi- ronment." BDO also recommended the health system review and as- sess its organizational informational reporting and update the related board reporting. e health system said in a news release that it has already taken ac- tions to strengthen policies and processes and improve organizational oversight. is includes requiring that CEO bonus compensation be the subject of a separate board resolution. e compensation will also be audited, and compensation consultants are now required to verify details of the CEO's pay and benefits with MetroHealth human re- sources, the health system said. MetroHealth expects that its board will consider additional recom- mendations included in the audit during its next meeting. Meanwhile, Dr. Boutros has filed multiple lawsuits since his firing. He filed a lawsuit Nov. 28 in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, alleging violations of Ohio's Open Meetings Act and the board by- laws. Dr. Boutros also alleges board retaliation and accuses the Metro- Health board of violating the law in its hiring of the health system's current president and CEO, Airica Steed, EdD, RN. Dr. Boutros filed a separate lawsuit against the health system in De- cember alleging breach of contract. n Who spent $1M to disparage a hospital? By Giles Bruce A campaign pointing out negative statistics and experiences at New York City-based Maimonides Medical Center, with a video even likening it to being in prison, has cost more than $1 million, The New York Times reported. But it's unknown who's funding it. The Save Maimonides campaign, incorporated as the Brooklyn Health Initiative, was officially founded by philanthropist Mendy Reiner, according to the Feb. 26 story. Hospital officials, however, told the newspaper they believe it's being paid for by Eliezer Scheiner, a wealthy nursing home investor who they say wants to gain control of the hospital to drive business to his financial interests (he denied being involved). "Have you suffered from the shortage of staff? Have you waited hours for care? It's time for change at Maimonides hospital," a bus ad reads, according to The Times. The campaign and hospital both say they want New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, to take over the facility, though that health system's president and CEO, Michael Dowling, told the newspaper he isn't interested because of Maimonides' financial challenges. The campaign has hurt the hospital, leading to a decline in patients, President and CEO Kenneth Gibbs told The Times. "Anybody who claims that they're trying to help our institution by driving patients away and hurting our cash flow — it is just indefensible," he said. In response, the medical center has recently invested tens of thousands of dollars in positive advertising and media consultants, according to the story. It has also brought on hundreds of new nurses. n

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