Spokane7
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October 22, 2009 in City
Sacred Heart’s CEO blasts Rockwood
Its leaders displayed ‘lack of integrity’ in aligning with rival, Agwunobi charges
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center’s chief executive charged Rockwood Clinic’s leaders with bad-faith dealings and ethical lapses the day after Rockwood stunned Spokane’s medical community by announcing it would align with Sacred Heart’s main rival.
“It is clear to us that the interim leadership of Rockwood is leading the Rockwood physicians down a very dangerous path fueled purely by profit motive,” said Sacred Heart CEO Dr. Andrew Agwunobi.
Rockwood will be purchased by Community Health Systems Inc., which bought Sacred Heart rival Deaconess Medical Center last year. Agwunobi accused Rockwood interim president Dr. Craig Whiting and others of gaming Sacred Heart months ago when they initiated talks to “strengthen partnerships” – going to the point of having Sacred Heart officials sign confidentiality agreements to keep a lid on the discussions while Rockwood said it needed to finish leadership changes and complete an internal analysis.
“It now appears that this was simply a negotiating ploy to increase their leverage with Deaconess and Community Health,” Agwunobi said. Agwunobi learned of the Rockwood-CHS transaction Tuesday from a news release.
“This speaks to a lack of integrity and simple decency on the part of Rockwood’s interim leadership and board,” he said.
Whiting declined to comment on the earlier talks with Sacred Heart.
“I have no intention of discussing who our discussions were with, or the specifics of those discussions,” he said. “I will say this: We had extensive discussions and did extensive research and the result of that was that we felt CHS had tremendous potential for our future and our patients’ future.”
Rockwood will be folded into Community Health’s sprawling network of 122 hospitals in 29 states, potentially altering the flow of patients to Spokane’s big hospitals.
The clinic has 133 doctors and a total staff of about 940. It treats 160,000 patients a year and enjoys renowned patient loyalty.
As the clinic has grown, it has worked closely with Sacred Heart. The relationship benefited hospital and private doctors alike as quality medical care was delivered and the money followed.
Many Rockwood physicians have offices on Sacred Heart’s campus.
Sacred Heart has grown over the past decade and now dominates many hospital specialties in this region, including pediatric care.
At the same time, Deaconess had foundered – losing millions of dollars, shedding employees and services and approaching insolvency until Community Health, a Tennessee-based hospital corporation traded on the New York Stock Exchange, bought it along with Valley Hospital and Medical Center for $156 million.
Rockwood’s leadership team now envisions tapping into the corporation’s financial might by operating as part of an integrated health care system with Deaconess and Valley.
The terms of the deal have not been announced. And although Rockwood’s 10-member board of directors entered into a letter of intent with Community Health, the other 67 physician partners of the clinic still must vote to approve the buyout.
The deal buoyed employees and backers of Deaconess Medical Center, said spokeswoman Christine Varela. She noted Rockwood’s reputation for excellent medical care that stretches back 79 years.
Whiting said Tuesday patient care would not be affected.
Agwunobi said Wednesday he disagreed. He alleged Whiting was misleading the public and Rockwood’s physicians and employees.
“I can say with complete conviction that everything will change with Rockwood if this transaction occurs,” he said.
Sacred Heart, he said, would move aggressively.
“Providence will not sit back and allow Deaconess and Rockwood’s profit motive to disrupt patient care and physician practice at our facilities,” he said. “We will definitely do everything possible to protect affordable patient care, including complete hiring of replacements for Rockwood’s physicians and services.”
Agwunobi also zeroed in on Dr. Kevin Sweeny, Rockwood’s president and chief executive officer.
Sweeny had served on the Providence Board of Trustees until last week and didn’t tell his fellow board members of the decision that would affect operations at Sacred Heart.
“He did not have the courtesy or even the decency, as a board member, to let us know that this negotiation was occurring or to give us the chance to participate,” Agwunobi said.
Whiting said Sweeny was unavailable for comment. Sweeny recently returned to Rockwood after taking a personal leave.
Said Agwunobi, “If this goes through I think Rockwood will look back on this decision with huge regret.”
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garfnagn on October 22 at 7:31 a.m.
Wolves eating each other. Hard to dredge up much sympathy for Sacred Heart.
“leading the Rockwood physicians down a very dangerous path fueled purely by profit motive,”
I’m shocked. Shocked I tell you. Profit motive in the healthcare industry? Say it isn’t so.
Scoutster on October 22 at 7:39 a.m.
Oh, my…to hear the Grand Poobah of Sacred Heart lecture the world on ethics. Ethics.
No, really, he is.
Cassie on October 22 at 9:03 a.m.
I completely agree with Dr. Agwunobi and will be looking for replacements for my Rockwood doctors if this acquistion goes through.
edmitch on October 22 at 10:05 a.m.
The peer reviewed health economics literature suggests these types of consolidations will lead to significantly higher prices charged for service. Larger providers will be able to negotiate better payments (in industry lingo “reimbursements”) from insurance companies.
Under health insurance reform with both mandates for purchase of health insurance, and mandates for purchase of fairly rich benefit packages, health insurance companies will do quite well.
Small health care providers won’t have the market size to negotiate favorable deals for payments from insurance companies unless the providers become bigger through mergers, acquisitions and partnerships.
We will likely see more local mergers and partnerships, less competition, and higher prices charged for services (which for the majority are “paid for by someone else” a.k.a. insurance or pre-paid health plans.) Which means higher insurance premiums for everyone.
riteallthetime on October 22 at 10:46 a.m.
Wow - is this the pot calling the kettle black or what. Having said that we can all be assured the reason for this choice by Rockwood was not to improve patient care in Spokane but to increase the value of the shareholders wallets. Look at the state of healthcare in Spokane now - not one local large provider left. Our healthcare dollars are now being added to the profit of organizations from Seattle and back east. I thought Rockwood would stay true to their tradition and fight the urge to give into the greed….that’s what happens when a specialist runs the store instead of a family physician….shame on you Whiting!!!
spokanecubsfan on October 22 at 10:49 a.m.
I think that we can all take a look at how Sacred Heart’s merger with Providence of Western Washington and the elimination of jobs in Spokane, due to that, as being profit-motivated. Also the fact that when that merger happened, they raised their prices across the board by 15%, as being profit-motivated.
CHS will bring healthy competition to the Spokane market, and the development of an IDN in Spokane should keep the cost of healthcare down, as better connectivity between providers will eliminate redundancies, which will also help eliminate errors.
formerProv on October 22 at 11:29 a.m.
what comes around, goes around; it is called ‘integration’ by Providence Health Systems in Seattle
bagohurt on October 22 at 12:02 p.m.
Don’t let Providence fool you…they are just being a crybaby because they didn’t get the deal with Rockwood first. If they could have pulled it off, they would have done it and tried to crush Deac and Valley to the ground.
Sorry Dr. SHMC, but you come off looking like you just had a tantrum.
pinkribbon on October 22 at 1:40 p.m.
Dr. Agwunobi sounds scared that there may be some real competition to growing empire. This is probably just what Sacred Heart needs. Seems like they have plenty of money to throw around as they build and and expand, shutting out the smaller hospitals.
My doctor has assurred me I can still be seen at Sacred Heart if I choose to do so. After the emotional release of Dr. Agwunobi, I will choose not to. I encourage Sacred Heart to consider choosing a CEO who can temper his feelings before he responds to Rockwood’s (or any other) business decision like an emotional child who had his toy taken away.
Cassie on October 22 at 3:41 p.m.
Interesting that the last 5 comments were posted by users that just created their accounts today. Smells of planted posts from where I sit.
bagohurt on October 22 at 3:57 p.m.
S Shanti both pos and negative comments alike have been from new users but you didn’t care to mention that. Dr. SHMC is the one who comes across looking like a crying jerk no one else did that to him. After this little crybaby rant I’ll be looking forward to SHMC floundering.
riteallthetime on October 22 at 5:33 p.m.
S Shanti must be sitting in his/her own crap….because we see an issue we care enough about to create an account…all the sudden we are plants….maybe we have lives and dont have time to comment on every issue.
lguthrie42 on October 22 at 7:47 p.m.
If the community is smart, it’s time to force Providence to open their books to the hard working people who have unwritten the Sisters’ statch of hundreds of millions in cash and other liquid assets. Dr. Agwunobi is incredibly disingenuous at best, and a bonehead at worst. Everyone in the Northwest healthcare community knows that Providence has the same business model as CHS - pound the competition into obscurity. One of the reasons Empire foundered was its leadership’s ill-advised attempts to do what’s right for the community by engaging in a cooperative model with the Sisters only to receive a long series of lies and systematic doublecrossing. Which system committed a clear strategic info systems advantage to the community? - Empire! Check the true history re which hospital system has dedicated the larger share of their revenues to pure charity care? - you’ll find Empire at the top of the list. Part of healthcare reform must include new levels of financial transparency by systems that don’t pay taxes. Wake up, Spokane, and ask the right questions. Don’t be hoodwinked by billion dollar not-for- profit system propoganda.
formerProv on October 22 at 8:59 p.m.
I don’t believe the Sisters are to blame for what SHMC has become. Neither SHMC nor Holy Family Hospital are any longer the community hospitals that the Sisters intended. In an attempt to preserve their mission, they naively handed it over to the same type of business persons who now head up big banks and the insurance industry cartel. The only difference is that they hide a for-profit motive behind a non-profit mask. The Sisters’ mission statement means nothing to them, nor does the venerable history of those institutions..
harley2 on October 22 at 9:25 p.m.
My husband is a shareholder at RWC and found out about the merger on Monday night.
I have to admit it is a scary thing to be put in this position with little time to decide.
My first thought was thank God it was not Providence that wanted to buy us out. I have always appreciated the underdog who doesn’t say they are broke every year and post 20 plus million in profit (excuse me they call it margin since they are supposedly a non-profit) at the same time they terminate all their best employees.
But what has really clinched it for me is reading up on Dr. Agwunobi, (google his name and some interesting reading comes up) and also his temper tantrum, ridiculous behavior and untruths at his emergency meeting last night.
At this point I know that RWC is making the right decision, as evidenced by Dr. Agwunobis’ anger or is it fear???
Remember everyone competition is always a good thing.
bagohurt on October 22 at 10:37 p.m.
harley2 thanks for the idea to google his name! What an eye opener that was!!!
I finally figured out what was behind this guy Agwunobi:
He has his doctorate from Nigeria.
Anyone hear of Nigerian email scams?
Need I say more?? LOL!
catlover on October 22 at 10:40 p.m.
If SHMC and it’s current leadership thought that there might be blood in a turnip, they would pulverize it without a second thought. This hospital is a ruthless business and has had this microenvironment for years. The current leader is just showing their true colors.
harley2 on October 22 at 10:44 p.m.
Does anyone else find it interesting that there is nothing about this on the local news?
ktn on October 23 at 2:33 a.m.
Of course, RWC wants to sell the practice because they have their own financial problem. This is how the shareholders and board members could get out with a big chunk of money. This is how business work. It has nothing to do with patient care if you hear it from any other ends, all you would hear nothing but seeing dollar signs. CHS wants RWC because of the patient base. And with a for profit system, I am pretty sure RWC patients and their lowly employee will suffer first. I don’t care how caring RWC physicians are, but all I know they do care the dollar signs. If they don’t they already join CHAS clinics to serve the community. As for Sacred Heart, of course they would feel betrayed from all the subsidaries they have done with RWC. But remember, the big house has a lot of power in term of specialty services. They provide incredible interventional radiology services all to none compared to CHS. They do have neurosurgery and vascular services that you could not find at Deaconese or Valley Hospitals. If I was RWC, I would not upset Sacred Heart and every one is happily making money. Sacred heart would easily take away all RWC docs privileges in a week. Where are their patients gonna go for the mentioned services?
bagohurt on October 23 at 5:03 a.m.
Sorry ktn but Sacred Heart couldn’t easily take away all RWC docs privileges in a week. That is illegal. If you don’t know what you are talking about it is best just to be quiet you know.
Diana on October 23 at 6:25 a.m.
Poor, entitled Sacred Heart is being schooled about what it means to be on the other side. Having been the bully in town for many years, they now must learn what it’s like to be on the wrong side of the upper hand.
Bad PR decision to let the CEO whine about it in the newspaper. Sacred Heart looks like a loser now.
harley2 on October 23 at 7:42 a.m.
The best thing Sacred Heart could do is get rid of their CEO who should have tried to reach a deal when approached.
Pulling 100+ docs privileges would as bagohurt said be illegal, and also guarantee that Sacred Heart would have no docs to do surgery and round on any of their patients. If you get rid of the doctors you lose the patients why do you think SHMC CEO is so upset? That idea is stupid at best.
steveberde on October 23 at 8:45 a.m.
When the smoke clears Spokane’s citizens will hopefully be the beneficiary of this acquistion. If Deaconess can become a “Mayo Clinic” we all win. This is a wonderful opportunity for Deaconess and Rockwood. True enough the reaction by the CEO of SHMC was a bit over the top and he’s torn down the bridge behind him.
Let’s keep our heads cool - SHMC has and does wonderful things for our community - it serves a population that is only 50% covered by insurance and serves them well and provides services only it can provide.
While this certainly has shaken up the medical community and will continue to do so, let’s have faith the patient will be the one that will benefit if it is successful.
Steve
ellasmom on October 23 at 1:02 p.m.
Harley2- yeah I’ve noticed that the paper hasn’t printed anything negative about Agwanobi, or SHMC for that matter. EVER. This is another example of how they are going to try to bend public opinion in favor of SHMC at the expense of Deac. Why this paper has it in for Empire I don’t know but I do know that the mission of a newspaper is supposed to be to provide unbiased information to it’s readers. That should be an imperative when it is the only major paper. Sadly, the editors of the SR seem to think their readers are not entitled to render their own opinions. I, for one, am sick of being fed their slanted version of the “news”
ktn on October 23 at 9:27 p.m.
If SHM wants to take away the privileges, they will find the way. To me most of you don’t like SHM for some personal reason. If SHM is so monsterous, why don’t people stop goning to SHM or their doctors stop practicing at SHM to make their point across? Leave the paper out of the discussion. I am not wasting my time to come back here to take side I was just stating the facts. Please don’t waste your time to comment my opinion because I won’t come back to read and would not waste my time on this matter any longer. This is my last entry. Happy gossiping.
mom22boys on October 24 at 2:42 p.m.
Clearly every patient has their right to choose which hospital they are going to support. From the letters on her it is clear that there are many citizens who do not agree with Sacred Heart and are clearly misinformed. What I will remind you of is that you currently do have choice and after this sale goes through you will not. I spoke with my Pediatrician and my PCP on Friday and asked about this. I was told that I would have a choice “until Deaconess was stable”. What that tells me is that if I choose to go to Sacred Heart as a patient of RWC this will not be allowed. Regardless of which hospital you support for whatever reasons, I am here to tell you that you will no longer have the choices you clearly feel entitled to.
bagohurt on October 24 at 4:06 p.m.
mom22boys and ktn….please again don’t talk if you don’t know what you are talking about. The stupidity on her is unbelievable.
grey on October 25 at 2:50 p.m.
Wait and see. As soon as the sale goes final you will see layoffs and “restructuring”; servant-like treatment to employees and ridiculous benefits. Of course, doctors don’t have to worry much :/, But then who knows, CHS doesn’t ask anybody’s opinions.
nomadsmom on October 26 at 3:16 p.m.
As an employee of RWC I have to admit that I was really upset to hear about the sale. However, this sale will benefit RWC employees and patients! Not only will we be able to negotiate better benefits, but we will also be able to provide our patients with better equipment and facilities! Nothing is going to really change for our patients and they ARE NOT going to have to choose between SHMC or Deac for care! We only want the best for our patients! We are going to remain our own brand and keep our own leadership! If SHMC completely shut RWC out, SHMC would FLOUNDER. None of our contracts are changing, this is just a plan for our future. We are not in the same boat as Deac because we are actually still on budget. So please don’t jump to conclusions, just bear with us and give it a chance. Change is hard but it will make things better!
grey on October 26 at 10:04 p.m.
quite “this sale will benefit RWC employees and patients! Not only will we be able to negotiate better benefits, ”
I am sorry to disappoint you, nomadsmom, but the history of CHS dealings with its employees states opposite. Deaconess employees still negotiating with CHS after over a year of new ownership. Benefits and retirement are worse than Empire Health offered, even though CHS promised better. Yes, they will give some upgrades (even though they don’t ask anybody for opinions and that would make docs mad. Then they look for scape goats. Watch out!).
They will bring in their own CEOs.
As far as optimism… Most of Deaconess were optimistic. Not anymore.
bagohurt on October 26 at 10:43 p.m.
Grey I have to say you are incredibly naive if you don’t think SHMC does the same thing. Both hospitals are there to make money. Oh, Sacred Heart does lots of charity work….well, their non-profit status gives them substantial tax breaks. Deaconess sees a lot of uncompensated care in their ER and hospital as well. Don’t think that SHMC is all high and holy they are just another corporation just like CHS and both are there to kill the competition.
Who do you think is paying corporate taxes for the roads and schools?
SHMC has had huge layoffs as well…I know managers in their outpatient clinics there that were told with no notice to leave. What about all the LPNs they just told to leave. Yes, it is the big bad CHS that is out to make a buck and they are just an evil corporation right? Guess what….corporations are good. CHS will turn Deac into a flagship hospital for Spokane and lots of jobs will be created. Spokane needs both hospitals.
Truth_teller on October 27 at 6:45 p.m.
So interesting to see all the different takes here. Dr. Andy certainly doesn’t seem to have time on his side to make his case…given his propensity to job hop. Maybe if he’d stick around long enough at a single location, he’d earn some credibility as opposed to just ranting. Sounds to me like a little “I-got-caught-flat-footed-itis” from simply a business perspective.
Truth_teller on October 27 at 6:48 p.m.
Maybe grey should open mind before mouth. Lots to learn before making those assertions about a company new to town. What do the employees at Valley have to say?
grey on October 27 at 8:05 p.m.
No, I am talking reality from first- hand experience. Yes, both hospitals are there to make money. The difference is that Deac closes services, employee satisfaction is not even being disclosed. They’ve matched nurses pay to community standards in a year. The rest of the hospital still “negotiating”.
CHS is not new here is you follow the history.
bagohurt on October 27 at 10:37 p.m.
Interesting article here about Agwunobi and SHMC:
http://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/2009/10/in-spokane-area-there-appears-to-be.html
just google “provocateur” and “Agwunobi”
nomadsmom on October 28 at 11:12 a.m.
Hey Grey, I was an employee of Deac for over a year during the CHS take over. So my “first-hand experience” is pretty good. Nursing staff no longer is union driven so of course they were able negotiate faster! The unions at Deac are not fun to deal with!
grey on October 28 at 5:36 p.m.
Negotiate? Right. And how was your retirement and benefits compared to EHS?
Stevef on October 30 at 10:59 p.m.
Interesting string but a lot of naive folks. I for one have already switched doctors. How can I trust a physician’s decisions who now is trying to maximize his company’s stock price? Rockwood are a bunch of sellouts that talk a good game. A few older docs have just cashed out and sold out the rest of the company. CHS will rip it apart in short order. Nothing changes, yeah right. Tell that to the nursing staff, dietary staff, and finance staff of Empire Health. Oh wait - none of them work there anymore… The result of all this - Spokane healthcare consumers continue to lose by a for-profit chain sending profits back to sharedholders and not reinvesting in our community. We are all still waiting for that $100M investment in Deaconess. By the looks of Deaconess, they’ve spent zero.