U.Va. Health has now lost two senior leaders in one week as Melina Kibbe, dean of the School of Medicine and chief health affairs officer at U.Va. Health, and University Medical Center CEO Wendy Horton will both leave the health system to accept new positions. Kibbe will become president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, after being named the sole finalist for the position. Horton has accepted a leadership role at the University of California San Francisco Health Center after serving in her position at U.Va. Health since 2020.
Bankrupt Steward Health Care System LLC hit former insiders, including ex-CEO Ralph de la Torre, with a nearly $1.4 billion lawsuit alleging they 'pilfered' the healthcare network's assets for their own gain. The former executives 'through greed and bad faith misconduct' enriched themselves at the expense of Steward Health and creditors via a series of transactions in 2021 and 2022, Steward Health said in a suit filed Tuesday in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. 'These insiders pilfered Steward's assets for their own material gain, while leaving the Company and its hospitals perpetually undercapitalized and insolvent,' the suit said. 'Their misconduct ultimately led to Steward's collapse and the filing of these chapter 11 cases.'
A man from Oakmont, Pennsylvania, is accused of threatening and harassing Tampa General Hospital CEO John Couris. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida said 63-year-old Lawrence Brunn was charged with cyber harassment. Prosecutors say Brunn has been harassing the CEO of Tampa General Hospital "at least as far back" as 2023, and that his online harassment escalated in frequency and intensity over the last two years, including Brunn calling for the execution of the CEO and his beheading with a guillotine. Officials said Brunn previously worked with the CEO at Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter, Florida, and he was fired in 2014 after he falsely accused the hospital's chief financial officer of embezzling funds. After his firing, authorities said he harassed Jupiter Medical Center, leading to a lawsuit.
The former CEO of Nassau University Medical Center plans to sue its parent company, Nassau Health Care Corporation, and Gov. Hochul's board appointees. Megan Ryan, the former CEO of Nassau County's only public hospital, filed a notice of claim in New York State Supreme Court earlier this week, and in the next 30 days, aims to follow up with a lawsuit against NHCC. Ryan, who announced in May she would step down in July, was later fired 'for cause' after allegedly authorizing $3.5 million in termination payouts to herself and 12 employees, according to published reports. But Ryan's attorney, Alex Hartzband, said there was no wrongdoing on his client's behalf, and that she and the other employees were contractually owed the payments.
Atrium Health is getting bigger with the combination of Elkin-based Hugh Chatham Health, a 900-employee institution that has an 81-bed hospital in the northwest N.C. city. Hugh Chatham Health also has a medical group with more than 70 providers across 25 locations, a home healthcare division, and joint ventures in a hospice/palliative care organization. Details about the combination were disclosed at the event in Elkin today. Winston-Salem-based Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist has agreed to invest $100 million in Hugh Chatham Health and an additional $30 million for a new community foundation.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. has appointed Mike Cotton as the new leader of its Medicaid insurance segment, according to Bloomberg, filling a previously vacant position following recent leadership changes at the healthcare giant. Cotton, a longtime insurance executive, will head the Medicaid unit, UnitedHealth confirmed to Bloomberg News. The company also announced that Bobby Hunter, who now leads the Medicare insurance division, will take on an expanded role as CEO of government programs, with oversight of both the Medicaid and Medicare businesses. These appointments represent the latest executive changes since Stephen Hemsley, the company's board chair, returned to the role of CEO.