Summa Health has hired one of its former executives to lead it out of an ongoing crisis that has hurt its reputation, upended its relationships with hundreds of local physicians and is threatening to destroy its medical education program.
Dr. Cliff Deveny, 56, takes over as the health system’s interim president and CEO March 13.
Deveny grew up in Akron, graduated from Firestone High School and spent about 20 years of his career at Summa.
When he got the phone call asking if he was interested in the CEO job at Summa, “my heart said, ‘You have to do this,’” Deveny said.
Summa’s full board of directors never interviewed anyone else because Deveny has the qualifications, skill set and familiarity with Summa and Northeast Ohio they were seeking, chairman James McIlvaine said.
Deveny was serving as Summa’s vice president of physician alignment and president of its physician practice when he left the health system in 2011 for an administrative position with Colorado-based Catholic Health Initiatives, the nation’s third-largest nonprofit health system. He has been president of Locus Health, an IT medical software company in Virginia, since November.
“Cliff jumped to the top of the chart very, very fast,” McIlvaine said, citing Deveny’s commitment to collaboration with colleagues, commitment to medical education and expertise in changes to the way health care is provided and funded.
Deveny replaces Dr. Thomas Malone, who resigned as president and CEO of Summa Jan. 26, three weeks after more than 240 physicians signed a no-confidence letter calling for his departure. Malone agreed to stay on for up to 60 days.
McIlvaine said the board took action to hire Deveny Thursday, which was planned to coincide with Malone’s last day. The incoming and outgoing Summa leaders haven’t spoken, Deveny confirmed.
The interim CEO contract is for one year, though McIlvaine said the board hopes to hire a permanent leader quickly and expects Deveny to be a candidate. His salary wasn’t disclosed.
From now until Deveny arrives March 13, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Brian Derrick will serve as temporary interim CEO.
Deveny takes over during a tenuous time for Summa, which is Summit County’s largest employer with about 7,000 workers.
While the health system’s finances have improved during the past three years, changes in the way Summa does business have left many employees and patients uncertain about where Summa is headed.
Winning over doctors, nurses and staff — many of whom say they feel demoralized and angry — won’t be easy.
Deveny acknowledged he has personal and business ties to the head of the emergency medicine physician staffing firm that abruptly took over the contract for Akron City Hospital and Summa’s other ERs, causing an uproar in the hospital and community.
Dr. Dominic Bagnoli is the CEO of US Acute Care Soluations (USACS), the staffing agency brought in Jan. 1 to take over Summa’s five emergency departments after contract negotiations with its longtime ER physicians failed days before.
The change prompted some to cry foul because Bagnoli is married to Summa Chief Medical Officer Dr. Vivian von Gruenigen and has had several business dealings with friend Dr. Mark Terpylak, another Summa executive.
Both von Gruenigen and Terpylak, as Summa executives, had some role in the failed ER negotiations that ultimately led to Bagnoli’s company getting a contract with Summa.
Summa has steadfastly denied wrongdoing and an outside law firm it hired to investigate found no conflicts of interest.
Yet many doctors and nurses have said they remain skeptical.
Summa’s incoming leader Deveny — who was hired, in part, to restore trust among the staff — will certainly face more questions.
Deveny talked openly about friendships and business ties to both Bagnoli and Terpylak.
“I lived here 40 years and, as a private physician, developed relationships prior to joining Summa,” Deveny said.
He said he never lost contact with connections in Akron or at Summa.
His relationships with Bagnoli and Terpylak didn’t stir criticism before he left Summa, Deveny said, and he hopes transparency will help him avoid any mistrust now.
Deveny — who said he and Bagnoli have only discussed Summa in generalities — said he disclosed all his business ties to Summa’s board before he was hired and the board has a plan in place to help him prevent any conflicts of interest.
Deveny, Bagnoli and Terpylak were original investors in Escallate, a medical billing company that has since become a subsidiary of USACS. Both Deveny and Terpylak’s interests in Escallate ended in 2015 when USACs was created with the help of New York private equity firm.
Deveny and Bagnoli also both sat on the board of Stat Doctors — which offered online patient consultations with physicians — before it was bought out in 2015.
Deveny and Terpylak, who both worked as ob-gyns, founded Matrix Management Solutions in 1998 to help physician practices like their own function better. When Deveny joined Summa’s executive ranks in 2002, he was advised to divest, which he did. The company was acquired in 2012.
In addition, Deveny and Bagnoli are part of a small group of investors who have worked for years with Akron developer Joel Testa on projects in the area.
Moving forward, Summa’s board chair and new interim leader said the health system’s overall direction won’t change — but the culture will, shifting back to a time before Malone when employees could question authority without fear of retaliation or losing their jobs.
Neither Deveny nor Summa board chair McIlvaine criticized Malone. McIlvaine praised Malone’s for “turning around a ship that was having financial difficulty” during his two years as CEO because of his laser focus.
Deveny said he knows many employees are hurt and angry, although he hasn’t been privy to what led to them losing trust.
“People are looking for a sense of purpose and their own legacy,” Deveny said. “My job is to make sure we create a culture and an environment they feel attached to.”
Deveny’s first meeting Friday was at 7 a.m. with Summa’s medical executive committee, which represents about 800 doctors — a move that Dr. John Zografakis, a Summa-employed surgeon and medical staff president, said “spoke louder than what he said.”
The discussion included Summa’s hostile culture and Deveny’s potential conflicts, Zogafrakis said.
“We had a very open and frank discussion, which is wonderful because that was something we were unable to do with the previous leadership,” Zogafrakis said.
Dr. Michael Bage, an independent cardiologist, former Summa medical staff president and author of the no-confidence letter seeking Malone’s resignation, said Deveny deserves a chance.
“Dr. Deveny must move forward rapidly and decisively to restore the trust which has been lost and to heal the deep wounds,” including with all physicians, said Bage, an investor in Western Reserve Hospital, which has been in a protracted legal battle with Summa.
While rebuilding trust with Summa staff, Deveny also will push forward major efforts pursued by his predecessor, Malone.
Summa will move farther away fee-for-service medicine — where doctors and health systems make money based on how many patients they treat or tests they perform — and follow a national trend toward “population health,” with payments are based, in part, on how healthy it’s keeping patients.
Summa still is pumping $350 million into its facilities, including construction of a new six-story tower on its main campus on the edge of downtown Akron, remain in place.
And Summa, McIlvaine reiterated, will stick by its ER contract with USACS, despite the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education this month putting Summa on probation and stripping it of its ability to train up-and-coming emergency medicine physicians.
Summa has hired a New York legal firm that specializes in appealing accreditation council rulings. It will file the appeal by March 10.
Deveny, who starts work at Summa three days later, will not be involved in Summa’s appeal.
Win or lose, however, he said Summa will be committed to medical education, even if there is a break in its emergency medical residency.
“It’s unfortunate a community jewel has been sidelined going forward,” Deveny said.
“We’re going to make sure people are proud of this place,” he said. “We owe it to the community to step up to fill that narrative. We have to make sure people sing the praises of Summa again.”
Amanda Garrett can be reached at 330-996-3735 or agarrett@thebeaconjournal.com. Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com.