With Strategy for Health Reform in Place, MetroHealth President and CEO to Leave System

Posted Friday, December 16 at 1:30 p.m.

The Board of Trustees of The MetroHealth System announced today that President and Chief Executive Officer Mark J. Moran has informed the Board that he will not renew his contract, which expires in March, and that he will be leaving the System. The Board will form a search committee to identify his successor and define the timetable for the leadership transition.

“Mark led a turnaround of the System at a time when public hospitals across the country have been struggling, and even closing or going private,” said Ronald Fountain, MetroHealth Board Chair. “He and his business-minded management team have stabilized MetroHealth and created a future direction while staying true to our core values as an academic health care system that provides outstanding care regardless of ability to pay.”

Previously a consultant who led a MetroHealth team in developing a new strategic plan, Moran became Interim Chief Executive Officer and President in March 2008. He was named to the position in 2009.

“As the turnaround gained momentum and the recession lingered, we asked Mark to stay for two additional years,” said Fountain. “With a solid foundation and a secure direction now in place, and health reform on the horizon, Mark is confident that it is time for new leadership to carry MetroHealth forward.”

Fountain pointed out that under Moran’s leadership MetroHealth has:

• Strengthened its financial position. After sustaining operating losses in seven of the previous ten years, and an operating loss of $17.3 million in 2007, MetroHealth has delivered operating surpluses in each year since. Improved operating performance has bolstered the system’s financial position and added $125 million in cash to the balance sheet. The System addressed this year’s dramatic increase in charity care and reduced reimbursements with cost reductions, leading to expectations of break-even performance.
• Expanded access to health care for all residents of Cuyahoga County. For the first time, MetroHealth will deliver 1,000,000 visits to Cuyahoga County residents in 2011. In addition to its existing network of 17 conveniently located health centers, MetroHealth will soon break ground on a new community health center in Middleburg Heights to deliver more services to County residents closer to their homes. As the lynchpin of the County’s health care safety net, MetroHealth is on track to provide 220,000 unreimbursed visits in 2011, a 35% increase since 2008.
• Reinvested responsibly in core programs, infrastructure and capabilities. MetroHealth has recruited five new department chairs, expanded its physician ranks and reinforced its nationally renowned trauma care program. MetroHealth is the first local System with a fully integrated electronic medical record and has invested to improve clinical and patient service programs. Over the past two years MetroHealth has developed an outpatient strategy to guide expansion in the County and a master plan to ensure that the acute care available at main campus is available to the community well into the future.
• Laid the groundwork for sustainability under health reform. MetroHealth has successfully piloted a Patient Centered Medical Home that is connecting more Cuyahoga County residents with primary care physicians and coordinating their care for improved health outcomes. Also MetroHealth will partner with the State of Ohio to apply for a Medicaid waiver to accelerate the availability of health insurance coverage for the citizens of Cuyahoga County.

“I am particularly proud that MetroHealth now has the ability to invest more in its unique mission – to provide outstanding care, regardless of ability to pay – at a time when the Cuyahoga County needs it most,” said Moran. “I am grateful to MetroHealth’s Board for the opportunity to lead the outstanding physicians, administrators and staff that make up this committed and vital institution.”

Mark J. Moran Accomplishments

Mark J. Moran, PhD, has been president and chief executive officer of The MetroHealth System since 2008, when he was appointed to implement a new strategic plan and improve operational and financial performance. Under his leadership, MetroHealth has strengthened its balance sheet, issued millions of dollars in bonds for capital improvements, and generated enough surplus to invest in growth. MetroHealth is the third-largest healthcare employer in Cleveland, with 6,100 physicians, nurses and staff, and is a major affiliate of Case Western Reserve University. Previously, Moran was a partner at the strategic consulting firm of Booz Allen Hamilton. Before that, he taught finance for six years at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.

During his tenure at MetroHealth, Moran has honored and strengthened the mission by building a system that:

• Delivers high-quality, affordable care
  • Among the top 1% of hospitals in the nation for quality and efficiency; honored three times by the Premier health care alliance with the Premier Award for Quality for achieving superior patient outcomes, providing outstanding patient care and consistently setting the standard in clinical excellence nationwide. MetroHealth is the only hospital in Ohio to receive this award.
  • Earned national recognition for nursing excellence as well as trauma, maternal-fetal medicine, burns, neonatal intensive care, pediatrics, cardiology and radiology
  • Attracts $37.5 million research dollars annually
  • Renewed its affiliation agreement with Case Western Reserve University
  • Completed an installation of Epic for electronic medical records
  • Purchased two new Metro Life Flight helicopters and expanded Life Flight service area with new bases of operation, in Wayne and Portage Counties.

• Delivers charity care to those most in need
  • Charity care continues to rise ($109 million in 2010, up from $100 million in 2009)
  • Formed partnerships to improve access to care: Akron Children’s Hospital, Premier Physician Group
  • Launched Patient-Centered Medical Home Program to serve uninsured patients in a more clinically effective and cost-effective way, reducing hospitalizations and Emergency Department visits and improving chronic disease management in enrolled patients
  • Helped form the Northern Ohio Trauma System to make sure trauma needs are addressed throughout Cuyahoga County

• Delivers financial performance that is sustainable
  • Initiated an organizational transformation program involving new strategic campaigns and a System-wide restructuring
  • Added $125 million in cash to MetroHealth’s balance sheet
  • Oversaw three years of positive financial results, positioning the System for growth
  • Scored all A’s in bond ratings, bucking the national trend among non-profit and public hospitals. Moody’s reaffirmed an A2 rating with a stable outlook, Standard & Poor’s upgraded to an A- rating with a stable outlook, and Fitch, Inc. assigned a first-time A-rating with a stable outlook. The three investor rating services credited the impressive turnaround in financial performance, sustained improvement in operations, community support, a fully integrated and employed academic medical staff, and solid market position as major factors in assigning the ratings.

Moran has recruited a strong leadership team, partnering physicians and management to successfully lead the organization:

• Daniel Lewis, Chief Administrative Officer
• Ed Hills, DDS, Chief Operating Officer
• Tom Onusko, Senior Vice President and General Counsel
• Alfred Connors, M.D., Chief Medical Officer
• John F. McInally, Chief Information Officer
• Thomas Goins, Vice President, Construction & Facilities
• Phyllis Marino, Vice President, Marketing & Communications
• John R. Corlett, Vice President, Government Relations and Community Affairs
• Kate Brown, Vice President, Development
• Sherry Aronson, Vice President, Inpatient Operations
• Mary Weir-Boylan, Vice President, Ambulatory Operations
• Dean Robertson, Vice President, Integrated Operations
• Joseph Lash, Vice President, Supply Chain
• Craig Richmond, Vice President, Revenue Cycle
• Jeff Rooney, Interim Chief Financial Officer
• Debbie Warman, Interim Vice President, Human Resources
• John Sedor, M.D., Vice President, Research