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Staff Rallies To Oust Hospital Leadership
Battle joined for Griffin's future
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Business New Haven
2/9/1998
By: Lori Green
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At the heart of an ongoing dispute at Griffin Hospital in Derby is how to lead organizations amid the health-care industry's shifting winds. Employees, medical staff, public officials and corporators or shareholders of the hospital continue to work toward a solution to the call for the resignation of CEO and president John Bustelos Jr.
Says David L. Katz, M.D., an internist and associate director of preventive medicine at Griffin: “Administrators must remain connected to their mandate to deliver quality health care, otherwise they lose the respect and trust of the people who make the hospital run. Adequate discussion and disclosure and a commitment to the consultative process is what we are looking for in a CEO.”
Katz also criticized Bustelos for his aggressive promotion of many alternative medicine programs that have not been sufficiently assessed for outcomes and safety. In addition, Bustelos' plan to build a new $11 million health club in spite of revenue losses by the hospital's HMO, Suburban Health Plan, and Griffin's ranking as one of the state's least cost-effective hospitals, are being cited as examples financial mismanagement. Observes one Griffin employee, “Top-level administrators have run amok without enough checks and balances.” The hospital's board of directors is considering a petition to replace both Bustelos and executive vice president Jerold Sinnamon, neither of whom have spoken publicly to address specific charges. Supporters of Bustelos have also remained silent.
Many industry experts believe that strong leadership in today's health-care environment requires a high tolerance for change and ambiguity, and a commitment to including hospital staff as decision-making partners. Says Dennis May, president of the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA): “Visionaries are not needed right now - there are so many changes going on that we need to be very quick on our feet. Two years ago, for example, there are many things we thought were going to happen and didn't.”
“Sharing control with private equity holders, employees and physicians and other care providers to set and integrate the organization's medical policy and procedures is vital,” adds Kevin Kelley, CEO of the Hartford-based HMO, MedSpan Inc. “Leaders also have to be willing to share control with payers, patients and customers in order to deliver and better product.”
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