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69 HEALTHCARE NEWS CHI St. Luke's Health CFO Steps Down a Week After CEO's Sudden Resignation By Ayla Ellison J enny Barnett-Sarpalius, senior vice president and CFO of the CHI Texas Division at Houston-based CHI St. Luke's Health, left her her position, according to the Houston Chronicle. The news, announced in an internal email, came one week after St. Luke's CEO Michael Covert submitted his resignation, effective Aug. 31. He will also step down as senior vice president of operations for Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives, which is St. Luke's parent system. Ms. Barnett-Sarpalius has 30 years of accounting and finance experience. Be- fore joining CHI St. Luke's in 2015, she worked for Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, Christus Health in Irving, Texas, and Catholic Health East in Newtown Square, Pa. n North Carolina Hospital to Close and Lay Off 76 Employees, Including Nurses By Ayla Ellison S elect Specialty Hospital-Winston-Salem (N.C.) will close Sept. 1, according to a Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act notice filed Monday by the hospital's owner, Mechanicsburg, Pa.-based Select Medical. According to the notice, the closure will result in 76 layoffs. The layoffs will affect many positions, including nurses, nursing assistants, physical therapists and other support personnel, according to WXII. Select Specialty Hospital-Winston-Salem is part of Select Medical's network of more than 100 long-term acute care sites. Select Medical did not immediately respond to Becker's Hospital Review's re- quest for comment. n Leadership Exodus At Lutheran: 2 Board Members Leave Over Rift With CHS, Making for 7 Resignations in 6 Days By Ayla Ellison T wo physicians have resigned from the board of Dupont Hospital, which is part of Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Lutheran Health Network. ey join five other board members and executives who have le the Lutheran network in the past six days. Arvind Surendran, MD, stepped down from Dupont Hospital's board, and Todd Rumsey, MD, submitted his resignation letter to Lutheran Health Network's acting CEO Mike Poore, ac- cording to e Journal Gazette. "It's just become very apparent in the last eight weeks that CHS is going to use their 72 per- cent (ownership stake) to do what they think is best," Dr. Poore told e Journal Gazette. "It's no longer possible for me to support all of the decisions that come from that boardroom." e recent mass exodus comes aer Frank- lin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems rejected a buyout offer from a group of LHN physicians in May. Dr. Rumsey and Dr. Suren- dran are two of several Lutheran leaders to re- sign in the past week. Chuck Surack previous- ly stepped down from the advisory boards of LHN and Lutheran Hospital. e next day, Tom Kelly resigned from the boards, and three phy- sician executives — LHN Medical Staff Presi- dent James Cameron, MD, Lutheran Hospital President-elect Matt Carr, MD, and Lutheran Hospital Medical Staff Vice President Marlene Bultemeyer, MD — le their positions. Shortly aer CHS rejected the physician group's takeover bid, the hospital operator fired two Lutheran Health Network executives: CEO Brian Bauer and CMO Geoff Randolph, MD. Lutheran Hospital CMO Matthew Sutter, MD, resigned in June and Steven Orlow, MD, the system's chief medical information officer, resigned earlier this month. n Former CHI Hospital Administrator Indicted in Bribery Scheme By Ayla Ellison L exington, Ky.-based Saint Joseph Hospital's former Executive Director of Facilities James Newton has been indicted for his alleged role in a fraud scheme, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. From April 2009 through October 2012, Mr. Newton allegedly arranged for Rocky Williams, a contractor, to receive general contracting work at Saint Joseph Hospital in exchange for illegal kickbacks. Mr. Newton is accused of taking bribes, including a motorcycle, vacations and golf club memberships, from Mr. Williams. According to the indictment, Mr. Williams submitted invoices for general con- tracting work to Saint Joseph Hospital and its parent company, Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives. The two men are charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and each face up to 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines, according to the report. n