Beleaguered Fairview Health CEO to Retire in July

The Star Tribune newspaper reported that Eustis announced his departure in a memo to employees on Thursday morning, saying in part: "I believe deeply in Fairview and the vision we have set in motion. I can retire knowing that what we have worked so hard to establish will carry forward."

Fairview had come under the scrutiny of the Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson, who issued a scathing multivolume report detailing strong-armed bill collection tactics that allegedly were recommended by Accretive Health Inc., a Chicago-based consulting firm that Eustis had hired.

Fairview severed its contract with Accretive in April.

After the board ended its ties with Eustis this week, they had only kind words for him and no mention of Accretive or the AG's investigation. In the media release announcing his departure, Eustis was credited with "spearheading transformation of Fairview's care delivery and core business model to improve clinical outcomes, enhance the patient experience and reduce total cost of care. Under Eustis' leadership, Fairview created a new care model focused on improving the health of defined patient populations, developed and implemented one of the first shared-savings contracts in the country, and became one of only 32 Medicare Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations in the country."