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Beth Israel Deaconess CEO Levy to Step Down

 |  By John Commins  
   January 07, 2011

Story updated 1/10/2011

Paul F. Levy, the beleaguered CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and an outspoken champion for healthcare transparency, announced his resignation on Friday, eight months after he admitted to "lapses in judgment" in reference to a relationship with a subordinate.

"Last night, I informed the Chair of our Board that I will be stepping down as CEO," Levy said Friday morning in an open letter to BIDMC employees, which he posted on his blog, Running a Hospital. "We will work out an appropriate transition period, and things will continue to run smoothly here. I leave confident that the Board will find many able candidates to succeed me."

Eric Buehrens, BIDMC's COO, was named interim president/CEO by the hospital's board of directors on Friday. The board will meet again on Monday January 10 to begin a national search to find Levy's replacement.

In May, the BIDMC board reprimanded Levy and fined him $50,000 for an inappropriate relationship with a female subordinate. Neither Levy nor the hospital would detail the relationship which Levy nevertheless acknowledged and apologized for.

However, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office in September issued a report that chastised the executive leadership and the board at BIDMC for years of inaction before addressing Levy's relationship with the employee. Investigators determined that while no laws had been broken, the reputation of the prestigious Harvard-affiliated teaching hospital had suffered a blow.

The 11-page report by the AG's Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division was requested by the BIDMC board, and focused on whether charitable funds were used inappropriately as a result of Levy's indiscretions, and whether the board acted appropriately in its handling of the matter.

On Friday, Levy in his letter to employees once again apologized. "Over the last nine years, I have certainly made mistakes of degree, emphasis, and judgment. I have apologized to you directly for some of those, but I do so again, in the hope that such errors will not overshadow the many accomplishments and contributions of our hospital to the community and the healthcare industry," he wrote. "On the personal level, if I have slighted any one of you in any way or given you any cause for concern about my warm regard and respect for you, I doubly apologize.

Levy said the decision to leave the hospital came to him while he was "biking through the Atlas Mountains" in Africa and contemplating his 60th birthday. "While I remain strongly committed to the fight for patient quality and safety, worker-led process improvement, and transparency, our organization needs a fresh perspective to reach new heights in these arenas," Levy said in the letter.

BICMC Board Chairman Stephen Kay said in a statement that the board accepted Levy's resignation "with deep regret."

"Paul has significantly strengthened the medical center during his tenure, including making improvements in quality and patient safety, and has led BIDMC into a new era of accountability and excellence," Kay said.

BIDMC lost $50 million in 2001, the year before Levy arrived, Kay noted. Under Levy's leadership, however, the hospital's net worth increased nearly 300%, long-term debt was reduced, volumes for inpatient and emergency department volumes grew by more than 11%, and ambulatory clinic visits nearly doubled.

"The board is profoundly grateful to Paul for bringing to our hospital qualities that are uniquely his own," Kay said. "When the situation demanded a bold vision, Paul delivered. When austerity was the order of the day, Paul answered with compassion, so much so that our employees and patients became our ambassadors."

Levy's departure was cheered in some quarters. Veronica Turner, executive vice president of Service Employees International Union, Local 1199, the largest healthcare union in Massachusetts, said in a statement issued by SEIU that Levy's resignation was overdue.

"When we called for Paul Levy's resignation, it was because under his leadership, there were serious issues of care; cuts to services; and misuse of funds entrusted to BIDMC as a public charity," Turner said. "Paul Levy also engaged in conduct that deprived workers of their fundamental rights and evidenced disrespect of women. The caregivers of BIDMC work hard to deliver quality care and they deserve a CEO who will live up to the values of this venerable institution. Levy has made the right choice to heed our call to resign and should leave without any additional compensation from BIDMC."

Some workers at BIDMC have been campaigning to join Local 1199, but do not yet have a vote scheduled.

John Commins is a content specialist and online news editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.

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