A lifelong Michigander with an impressive background, Barbee resigned in October to join Indiana University Health as head of HR. Beaumont CEO Fox and COO Wilson Must Go Now! On Thursday he posted an open letteron his LinkedIn page to Spectrums board implicitly questioning Beaumont Health's financials and warning that merging with the Southfield-based hospital network is ill advised. That wasnt entirely true. Why isnt Freese Decker following through on that supposedly great initiative? I imagine Fox is luxuriating at one of his Atlanta or North Carolina manors laughing hysterically at the Michigan executive yahoo who took Beaumont off his hands and no doubt paid him millions as part of the deal. Its almost a mantra among Beaumont Royal Oak nurses that Henry Ford treats their nurses like royalty. Beaumont has had a contentious relationship with its Royal Oak nurses for years, prompting them to try to organize a union two years ago. A credible and competent board would have fired Fox, Wilson, and chief medical officer David Wood Jr. after internal surveys last year revealed the majority of Beaumont doctors and nurses had no confidence in them. Beaumont, consistent with its practice of putting a spin on undesirable news, notified employees that it is making "good progress" toward . Various studies, including one published in 2019 by Harvard researchers, also show that hospital mergers result in worsened patient experiences. The metric that matters most is quality of patient care. Fox owns homes in Atlanta and North Carolina, Wilsons primary home is in Grand Rapids, Jordan, Beaumonts chief counsel, commutes from Atlanta, as does Susan Grant, the companys chief nursing officer. 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. John Kerndl and Denise Waters. It comes as no surprise that Spectrums takeover received the green light. Share. Freed might want to reach out to Mark Shaevsky, a prominent southeastern Michigan attorney and a former Beaumont board member before it merged with two lesser hospital companies in 2014. Former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra won a $575 million landmark settlement against Sutter Health for using the market dominance it obtained through a series of mergers to illegally drive-up prices. One of the deciding factors in evaluating merging Beaumont and Spectrum will be the financial terms of the deal. Travel nurses are also required to oversee only four patients at a time and are exempted from having to transport patients to other areas of the hospital. . Studies also show that hospital mergers also result in a decline in patient care. The FTCs approval isnt certain, as President Biden has asked the agency to be more critical of mergers. He said the expansion would involve a lot of local planning in terms of where these bed towers are located, which seemingly indicates that Beaumont is planning to expand its real estate footprint. Reach Eric Starkman at: eric@starkmanapproved.com. These contracted doctors also were responsible for setting up a Covid-19 ICU unit at Beaumont Troy. Eric Starkman of Los Angeles is a former Detroit News business reporter who blogs at Starkman Approved. Beaumont Royal Oak nurses must sometimes tend to as many as seven at a time. Starkman: Why Beaumont's John Fox Could Haul More Than $30 Million Back to Atlanta Tweet Share February 02, 2022, 4:58 PM Beaumont CEO John Fox The writer, a Los Angeles freelancer, is a. June 17, 2021, 9:36 PM . In addition to her Beaumont debacle, theres been considerable turnover in Spectrums senior ranks, mostly women. BHSHs management team is comprised entirely of Spectrum executives, except Beaumont Royal Oak president Nancy Susick, who has been named interim president of what is being called BHSH Beaumont Health. Gretchen Whitmer were silent. Instead, they allowed Spectrum to acquire Beaumont, creating Michigans biggest hospital system, as well as the states biggest employer. Freed was CFO of Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health for nearly 19 years, and later headed the hospital companys lucrative Priority Health insurance arm for six years. The American Hospital Association (AHA), the trade group focused on promoting the financial interests of nonprofit hospitals and their managements, is a major lobbying force in Washington. Fox disclosed that Beaumont has extensively expanded its use of nurse staffing agencies, which could exacerbate already poor morale among its nurses. Beaumont Health was significantly impacted by these financial and workforce headwinds that were particularly strong in Southeast Michigan (in the second quarter). Among the benefits of the deal Fox trumpeted was a $1 billion commitment to move the William Beaumont School of Medicine from Oakland University to Beaumonts flagship Royal Oak campus and a significant increase in technology spending. The promised dual headquarters was also BS. Eric Starkman of Los Angeles is a former Detroit News business reporter who blogs at Starkman Approved. Freese Decker is likely assured a big pay increase and bonus. Add in a staffing shortage, and you have a perfect storm," Fox said in a news release, urging Detroit-area residents to avoid Beaumont emergency rooms for all but critical care treatments. Maybe they dont teach this at the University of Iowa from where Freese Decker received her Master of Health Administration, but when a hospital spends nearly $2 million as John Fox did to intimidate nurses at his flagship Royal Oak hospital and derailed a unionizing attempt, it creates bad blood. A traditional Bachelor of Science degree in nursing is typically four years. 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. Instead, thanks to aggressive cost cutting and other misguided decisions by Fox and COO Carolyn Wilson, Beaumont imploded. In Dearborn, the nursing shortage is so acute that an ICU operates at 60 percent capacity. 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. Understandably, Spectrum is a more profitable hospital system, but its profits also are bolstered by its lucrative Priority Health insurance arm. Six months into Freese Deckers acquisition of Beaumont Health from former controversial CEO John Fox, metro Detroits biggest hospital system is suffering from a pandemic of red ink. The terms of the deal were so obscenely favorable to Advocate Aurora that Rep. Andy Levin, whose district includes Beaumont Royal Oak, announced he would oppose the deal. That's bad news for Metro Detroit's biggest hospital system. 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. 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. Board chair Fream, who holds a Harvard MBA, told The Detroit News that Beaumont's board used an "independent consultant" to determine Fox's compensation. To support Deadline Detroit's independent. And there is no mention of what, if any, role Beaumont COO Carolyn Wilson will play after the merger. Whats becoming increasingly obvious is how Freese Decker, like John Fox, is prone to making public statements that have no basis in fact. Freese Decker cant say she wasnt warned. Yet neither Whitmer or Nessel demanded any diversity or health equity commitments from Spectrum as a condition of its takeover. Starkman: Why Beaumont's John Fox Could Haul More Than $30 Million Back to Atlanta Tweet. 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. Beaumont Health CEO John Fox has no shame. By Eric Starkman. Spectrums due diligence team will be unable to get clarifications on Beaumonts financials from the companys CFO because it doesnt have one. But unlike Beaumont, Henry Fords staffing issues arent due to mismanagement. If Michigan had a competent attorney general or a governor with a healthcare interest beyond abortion rights, the deal would have been derailed. The release, which Fream presumably signed off on, said her appointment was part of a normal governance leadership rotational process.. Spectrums four-person communications team also ignored a request for comment. "Our staff must care for those unvaccinated individuals who become extremely ill with the Covid Delta variant, or other variants, and try to balance all the other patients coming in with medical emergencies. She bolted last month. Though Spectrum Health is a respectable hospital network run by a management and board deeply committed to the Grand Rapids area, the evidence is overwhelming that southeastern Michigan residents wont ultimately benefit from the deal. Also fostering ill will is Beaumonts mandate requiring that all employees be vaccinated or be fired. The nursing shortage in our state is a critical and complex challenge that must be solved with bold and collaborative solutions, the Detroit Free Press quoted Freese Decker as saying. Lewis previously served on the board of one of Beaumonts predecessor companies and likely didnt want to continue after Beaumont completed its merger. Beaumont employees and vendors are encouraged to reach out, with confidentiality assured. There are some serious issues with NorthStar Anesthesia, the Texas-based outsourcing company that Wilson bet the farm on and losing badly so far. Spectrums financial statements indicate that cash and investments from the acquisition was $3.2 billion. To support Deadline Detroit's independent journalism, please sign up for a $3a month membership or a one-time donation. The reason Royal Oaks ER, Beaumonts flagship hospital, is often operating at 60 percent capacity because it doesnt have sufficient staff. Studies out of Israel suggest that Pfizers vaccine protection begins waning after six months, but the FDA said that U.S. data is inconclusive. Its not unusual for a so-called charge or supervisory ICU nurse to have just one year of experience. 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. 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