Down East hospital ousts CEO
The board at Down East Community Hospital in Machias ousted its CEO on Friday, only hours after it received word that it will no longer receive Medicaid reimbursements.
Wayne Dodwell, the hospital's president and CEO, has been placed on administrative leave, according to a statement obtained by Mainebiz. The board has appointed Craig Jesiolowski, regional vice president with Quorum Health Resources, a health care management firm that works with DECH, as interim CEO. Jesiolowski will serve as the hospital's administrator while discussions continue with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding the hospital's future operations, according to the statement. "Decisions are being made on an hour by hour basis," Julie Hixson, hospital spokesperson, told Mainebiz.
The removal of Dodwell, DECH administrator since 2002, had been requested for more than a year by local groups who cited Dodwell's poor leadership and mismanagement within the hospital, the Bangor Daily News reported. In addition, Quorum claims the DECH board made numerous decisions in opposition to its recommendations, such as refusing to allow Quorum involvement in federal and state surveys and rejecting its suggested change in hospital leadership, according to the newspaper. Dodwell's leave closely follows a Friday announcement from CMS that, as of July 10, DECH will be cut off from Medicaid reimbursements, the paper reported.
DECH has been under state and federal scrutiny since 2008, according to the paper. Last April, following an investigation that revealed various failures in DECH emergency room procedure, CMS informed the hospital that it was prepared to terminate DECH's participation in the Medicare program. State regulators demoted DECH to a conditional license in February, the paper reported.
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