Whats notable about Foxs disclosure is the seeming priorities of Spectrum compared to Advocate Aurora, the Chicago-based hospital system that Fox tried to give Beaumont away to in June 2020 under terms so obscenely favorable to Advocate Aurora, he couldnt pull it off. Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Spectrum, is chair of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association. Nurses employed by staffing agencies are paid more than staff nurses performing the same functions. Beaumont CFO John Kerndl Resigns, Beaumont Nurse Anesthetists Union Drive Could Save Imploding Hospital from Further Demise, Layoffs. They are looking at diversity as a numbers game. But Beaumonts release last month announcing her elevation to chair to replace John Lewis provides some insight. By Eric Starkman. Fox took his marching orders from John Lewis, a retired Comerica executive who came from Oakwood and was named chairman of the combined organizations. Starkman: America's Mistakenly Entitled Restaurant Workers February 08, 2023, 12:24 PM - Starkman Approved 'The Week That Was:' Why Police Have Groups Like the 'Scorpion Unit' February 03,. Spectrumissued a statement to MiBizabout the disastrous financials reminiscent of the spin Fox served up during his seven-year tenure. Starkman: Electric Vehicles and the Exploitation of Michigan Taxpayers. It isnt clear from Beaumonts stats that the hospitals Covid patients were admitted because of the disease or possibly some other serious ailments. ER sources at Royal Oak and Troy say Covid patients account for a small percentage seeking emergency treatment. Its totally bizarre.. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services objectively ranks hospitals for quality and Beaumont recently got dismal results: Of Beaumonts eight hospitals, only Beaumont Troy, which is overseen by managers willing to stand up to Fox and Wilson, earned a coveted 5-star rating. Beaumont was once mostly staffed by highly skilled veterans, among the best in healthcare. Consultants are part of the . Starkman: Electric Vehicles and the Exploitation of Michigan Taxpayers. Spectrums management is rightfully proud of the people who they are ultimately accountable to because directors bios and photos are featured on the companys website. Fox also disclosed that Beaumont has earmarked $40 million to purchase state-of-the-art beds, some of which are already being delivered. Spectrum and Beaumont announced today that they are moving forward with Spectrums takeover, having provided the applicable regulatory agencies with all requested information. The deadline apparently has passed for the Federal Trade Commission to challenge the deal. As an example of their power and influence, they have managed to derail enforcement of rules the Trump Administration issued requiring hospitals to be transparent about their prices. I know little about Fream, who served as Beaumonts vice chair for several years. For years, former Beaumont CEO John Fox was paid more than $6 million annually because of his supposedly deft fiscal management. Reach Eric Starkman at: eric@starkmanapproved.com. By Eric Starkman During the Covid pandemic, a hospital's safety practices are more. Inexperienced nurses Fortunately, Freese Deckers western Michigan businesses were healthy enough to allow Spectrum to eke out an operating profit of $119.7 million despite Beaumonts losses. Spectrums joint release with Beaumont says the aim of the deal is to make health care more affordable for the communities we serve. Heres my challenge to Freese Decker: For every independent study she can come up with showing where hospital mergers resulted in more affordable care, I will come up with two showing the opposite. What, if any, role Wilson will play after the merger hasnt been disclosed. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel could also have moved to block the Spectrum deal or demanded certain concessions, but she has proven to be a regulatory lightweight, particularly on matters relating to healthcare. After she announced the deal, former Spectrum CFO Michael Freed publicly alerted Spectrum's then board the deal could result in a massive financial loss.. I'm officially declaring Beaumont CEO John Fox, the Atlanta carpetbagger whose greed and mismanagement destroyed Metro Detroit's biggest hospital system and put the health and safety of areas residents at risk, "The Cookie Monster." Nonprofit hospitals are supposed to manage their investments conservatively, opting for boring short-term duration bonds and other low risk investments. One need only look at Beaumont, an amalgamation of the Beaumont Health System, Royal Oak, Oakwood Healthcare, Dearborn, and Botsford Health Care in Farmington Hills that was created in 2014. According to the most recently available filings, Freese Decker earned $3.9 million in 2018. Beaumont Royal Oak nurses must sometimes tend to as many as seven at a time. Share. John Kerndl and Denise Waters. A Zoom video conference call that was leaked this week among physicians and the marketing director of a North Carolina hospital involved a discussion on how to manipulate Covid patient stats to make them more scary to the public. Henry Ford also said the unvaccinated were exacerbating its staff shortages. In addition to lacking a CFO and chief compliance officer, Beaumont has yet to find a replacement for its chief marketing officer, who left last September. Speaking of Oakland University, when Fox announced his ill-fated attempt to merge Beaumont into Chicago-based Advocate Aurora, one of the few benefits he touted was that Advocate Aurora had agreed to move Oakland Universitys William Beaumont School of Medicine to Beaumonts Royal Oak campus. Lewis, the board chair, was replaced earlier this month by Julie Frehm, president and CEO of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association. Studies show that when hospitals combine, healthcare prices increase while patient quality declines. The insurance business is among the most profitable sectors in healthcare, but as anyone who has dealt with one of these companies know, their priority is profits, not patient care. By Eric Starkman John Fox, the Atlanta carpetbagger who washed up on the shores of southeastern Michigan seven years ago to bolster Beaumont Health's profits and gussy up Metro Detroit's. Theres no prestige working at Beaumont anymore. It should give Grand Rapids residents cold shivers that the chair of Spectrum is Julie Fream, who was vice chair of Beaumont when Fox destroyed the hospital system's once nationally vaunted reputation. Eric Starkman of Los Angeles is a former Detroit News business reporter who blogs at Starkman Approved. Marshall is big news in Michigan these days, as the state has earmarked more than $1 billion in subsidies for Ford Motor Co. to build an electric battery plant on . To be sure, Beaumont isnt alone in suffering from a nursing shortage. The merger talking points for Beaumonts leaders includes a commitment to improve health equity. This from a healthcare company that at the height of the Michigan pandemic last yeartemporarilyclosed Beaumont Wayne, a hospital catering to economically disadvantaged individuals with little or no insurance. February 02, 2022, 4:58 PM . (Deadline Detroit art work ), Starkman: Why Tree Huggers Must Save This Small Town in Michigan From Ford, 'Detroit In Black And White:' Why We Got Kicked Off 910 AM, Randy Wimbley Leaving Fox 2 After a Decade on the Air. John Fox, the Atlanta carpetbagger who washed up on the shores of southeastern Michigan seven years ago to bolster Beaumont Healths profits and gussy up Metro Detroits biggest hospital network so that he could sell it, appears hes pulled off what he set out to do. How Absurd. Spectrum was projecting a loss of $57.1 million, which . Copyrightdocument.write(new Date().getFullYear());Deadline Detroit, Inc. - All Rights Reserved, Michael Freed doesn't "see any value in this merger. Indiana University Health has 16 hospitals and 36,000 employees. Israel relies nearly 100 percent on Pfizer vaccines, while the U.S. also has a prevalence of Moderna and J&J vaccines. Despite these challenges, our team members continued to provide nationally recognized health care and we were able to make new investments in the market and bring on new talent, Spectrum said. Spectrums board is certainly a lot tougher on compensation. Carey has spent more than 20 years as a . June 17, 2021, 9:36 PM . That's bad news for Metro Detroit's biggest hospital system. When you sign the documents that will permanently change this region, your signature will forever hold you accountable for the repercussions, Freed said in a letterhe posted on LinkedIn. The nursing shortage has forced Beaumont Royal Oak to use so-called travel nurses from temp agencies to hold things together in the ER, but this is sparking additional resentment. Gretchen Whitmer has paid lip service that shes committed to so-called healthcare equity, meaning that Blacks receive access to the same quality of care as whites. Seven Failed Beaumont Directors Will Serve on Board If Spectrum Merger Gets Approval Tweet. His chief marketing officer resigned last September, his CFO quit in March, his chief compliance officer left a few weeks ago, and his chief revenue officer is out the door in a few days. Susan Grant, the chief nursing officer for all of Beaumont, has her primary home in Atlanta. According to a source, some travel nurses are being paid lucrative wages to work only three or four shifts a week. That leaves the hospital with just two cardiothoracic surgeons, down from nine years ago. Beaumont Troy also operates at a reduced capacity. Disparities in healthcare are typically blamed on racism of U.S. doctors and other health professionals. That Fox, who along with Wilson has shown they have no commitment to southeastern Michigan, was allowed to negotiate Beaumonts fate underscores just what an irresponsible disgrace Beaumonts board is. Spectrumreportedthat Beaumonts operations already have racked up nearly $100 million in losses. Said a veteran Troy ER source: Ive never seen anything like this in all my years of nursing. Meet Michael Freed, decidedly among the bravest persons in . Beaumont is having difficulty attracting mid- and lower-level employees as well. The deal will invariably be good for Fox, as he will likely get a very lucrative exit package to sail into the Georgia sunset. A responsible attorney general would have removed Fox, board chair Julie Fream, and the other Beaumont directors who stood idly by a long time ago. If this is a signal of what to expect if Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health is allowed to rescue Beaumont Health from further decline, maybe the takeover isnt quite as ill-advised as I thought. In quickly reviewing Spectrums website and news releases, I can't find evidence that Freese Decker has expressed the belief that Spectrum needed to achieve considerable size to survive and remain competitive. In a September letter to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel warning about Beaumonts implosion, Shaevsky spoke of the need for independent directors to bring some stability to the organization.. Instead, thanks to aggressive cost cutting and other misguided decisions by Fox and COO Carolyn Wilson, Beaumont imploded. 'The Week That Was:' Will Kristina Karamo Seriously Damage Michigan's Republican Party? Beaumonts flagship Royal Oak hospital only garnered a four-star rating and its other hospitals earned two-and three-star ratings. An additional director will also be named. It marks the passing of a once great hospital system, and the creation of a giant Michigan hospital network Spectrums former CFO Michael Freed has warned could result in a massive financial loss.. Lewis resigned as chair just prior to Fox announcing Spectrums takeover and left the board in December. To support Deadline Detroit's independent. That wasnt entirely true. Under Susicks leadership, Beaumont Royal Oak precipitously declined, and internally she was viewed as a Fox sycophant. Beaumont spokesman Mark Geary ignored a request for comment. Those warnings are what led Congress to approve the financial largesse that Beaumont and other hospitals benefited from. Reach Eric Starkman at eric@starkmanapproved.com . Fox in January also disclosed that Beaumont planned to spend significant dollars to embark on a three to five-year plan to expand the health systems private bed capacity. Why isnt Freese Decker following through on that supposedly great initiative? 'The Week That Was:' Will Kristina Karamo Seriously Damage Michigan's Republican Party? Reach Eric Starkman at: eric@starkmanapproved.com. Said Kevin Cawley, a Michigan health care consultant: The only possible value I could identify (for the merger) was in national and international physician recruitment, and that frankly is a stretch.. Beaumont employees and vendors are encouraged to reach out, with confidentiality assured. Those workforce headwinds should have been known to Freese Decker well before she took over Beaumont. Nessels do nothing stance on healthcare matters is in sharp contrast to her Massachusetts counterpart Maura Healey, who has moved to block the expansion of Massachusetts General Brigham on the grounds it will lead to higher health care costs in that state. If there was an annual award for the healthcare industrys biggest chump, I defy anyone to propose a more worthy recipient than Tina Freese Decker, CEO of Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health. That could further worsen Beaumonts nursing shortage. But ER nurses are angry with Melissa Foreman Lovell, Troys chief nursing officer, who they say rarely appears at the hospital. Although we are facing these current financial headwinds, we are confident we will continue to deliver effectively and successfully on our mission in the communities we serve in Michigan.. Spectrum was targeting a $156 million operating profit. Ohios AG has won a series, Today is indeed a historic day. Starkman: Electric Vehicles and the Exploitation of Michigan Taxpayers. About a half dozen of Freams former board cronies also serve on the Spectrum board, once entirely controlled by Grand Rapids and western Michigan-based residents. Also, if you wish to support Deadline Detroit's. The silence is understandable. To support Deadline Detroit's independent. Nessel also has made that claim. Seven Failed Beaumont Directors Will Serve on Board If Spectrum Merger Gets Approval, Beaumont CEO John Foxs Final FU to Detroit: Merger with Spectrum Health, Beaumont Health Chair John Lewis -- Champion of CEO John Fox -- Stepping Down in June, Beaumont Manager Moved to Sabotage Anesthetists Concerns About Critical Drug Pump Shortage, Beaumonts John Fox Set to Unload Historic Bloomfield Hills Estate, Beaumont Nurse Anesthetists at Royal Oak, Troy and Grosse Pointe Vote Overwhelmingly to Unionize, Beaumont Forces Suspension of Leader of Nurse Anesthetist Union Drive, Starkman: Why Tree Huggers Must Save This Small Town in Michigan From Ford, 'Detroit In Black And White:' Why We Got Kicked Off 910 AM, Randy Wimbley Leaving Fox 2 After a Decade on the Air. In its announcement to employees, Beaumont said the merged company will maintain dual headquarters in Southfield and Grand Rapids, an economically inefficient move if true but it likely isnt. Beaumont employees and vendors are encouraged to reach out, with confidentiality assured. He tweeted on Thursday that he was cautiously optimistic about certain aspects of the partnership. Fox cancelled the Advocate Aurora deal a few days later. Disgruntled Staff. No doubt the pot of cash is the bait that got the merger talks going. Fox and Wilson could possibly be given lucrative ceremonial or consulting roles, which would antagonize Beaumonts rank-and-file because both executives are widely despised. Still, Beaumont is clearly going to be a financial albatross on Spectrums operations for quite some time. Lewis previously served on the board of one of Beaumonts predecessor companies and likely didnt want to continue after Beaumont completed its merger. That amounts to a Spectrum takeover in my book. The rankings are based on data compiled before Beaumont Royal Oak outsourced its anesthesia services, a controversial move linked to the death of a patient undergoing a routine colonoscopy and another patient landing in the ICU because of a pain medication overdose. Beaumont employees and vendors are encouraged to reach out, with confidentiality assured. The Detroit News. Funny we only now are learning just how badly Fox ran Beaumont into the ground. The only remaining senior management executives are Grant, the chief nursing officer, and Jane Jordan, the chief lawyer, who like Grant and CEO Fox, has her primary home in Atlanta. The Detroit Free Press quotedSpectrum's Freese Decker as saying, Today is a historic day. Its one of the rare instances where shes made a statement of undeniable truth. The release, which Fream presumably signed off on, said her appointment was part of a normal governance leadership rotational process.. To support Deadline Detroit's independent. Given that a survey of Beaumont doctors revealed last year they had no confidence in Fox, Wilson, and chief medical officer David Wood Jr., recruiting top quality executives to Beaumont is a near impossible challenge with Fox and Wilson at the helm. The expansion is apromising sign that Spectrum is willing to commit money and resources to expand and upgrade Beaumonts facilities and reverse the decline the hospital system has suffered from Foxs extensive cost-cutting during his seven-year reign. Spectrums board includes Doug DeVos, co-chair of Amway, whose family is among the most powerful in Michigan. Spectrum no doubt knew that Fox was desperate to unload Beaumont, so Freese Decker had him by the cajones. to Michigan Tweet. Starkman: Prominent Beaumont Cardiologist Calls for Ouster of Corporate Leaders, The Beaumont Health Superheroes Who Spoke Truth to Power, The Discredited PR Spin of Beaumont Health CEO John Fox, Beaumont and Advocate Aurora End Merger Discussions, Prominent Beaumont Donor Calls for Firing of CEO John Fox and His Key Executives, Starkman: Why Tree Huggers Must Save This Small Town in Michigan From Ford, 'Detroit In Black And White:' Why We Got Kicked Off 910 AM, Randy Wimbley Leaving Fox 2 After a Decade on the Air. Spectrums prices are higher than Beaumonts, as the hospital network has significantly less competition in western Michigan. . Grand Rapids business community is small and tight knit, and Spectrum is a major employer in western Michigan. Although Spectrum and Beaumont have characterized their combination as a merger, Spectrum is effectively taking over Beaumont. 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