MetroHealth names new CEO as previous leader fights back with lawsuit
MetroHealth has named Airica Steed, EdD, MBA, RN, CSSMBB, FACHE, IASSC, as its next CEO and president, effective Jan. 1, 2023. The decision came before MetroHealth announced it had fired Akram Boutros, MD, as CEO after the board of trustees discovered he had allegedly awarded himself more than $1.9 million in bonuses from 2018 to 2022.
Steed currently serves as executive vice president and system chief operating officer of Sinai Chicago Health System and president of Sinai Children’s Hospital. MetroHealth System, an academic medical center based in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, operates four hospitals, four emergency departments and more than 20 health centers and 40 additional sites throughout the county.
“Dr. Steed’s capabilities, character and experience are a perfect match for the qualities we wanted in our next CEO,” MetroHealth Board Chair Vanessa Whiting, who is president of A.E.S. Management Corp, said in a statement. “She comes from a major safety-net healthcare system that shares a similar focus to that of MetroHealth: improving the health of the community in an urban, academic setting.”
Steed architected and led a multifaceted clinical, operational, financial and cultural transformation that accumulated over $200M in improvements over three years in her role at Sinai Chicago, where her efforts also improved publicly reported quality indicators and reduced hospital-acquired infections and mortality rates by 40%. Prior to her time at Sinai Chicago, she served as senior vice president of operation at Presence Health, chief experience and administrative officer at University of Illinois Health System, vice president of clinical operations and professional services/operations at Advocate Health System, as well as a senior consultant and engagement leader at Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
MetroHealth removed Boutros as CEO in November after the board discovered millions in unauthorized bonuses while they began a transition process following Boutros’ plan to retire. However, Boutros has since filed a lawsuit against MetroHealth’s board of trustees and Vanessa Whiting, chair of the board. Boutros already paid back more than $2 million on October 31, including the bonus money plus interest.
“The MetroHealth Board’s actions yesterday are the latest of a series of retaliatory acts against Dr. Boutros after he raised the issue of the unauthorized hiring of the new CEO,” Boutros’ attorneys said in a statement Nov. 22. “He uncovered that the Board members were participating in serial deliberation outside of public meetings and that Vanessa Whiting, the Board Chair, signed agreements and authorized payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars without Board approval.”
He also contends he was targeted for receiving bonuses that were administered to all eligible employees, and he was forced to repay the money to distract from the board’s own gross negligence.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."