Cliff Deveny has been listening. That was evident in his recent interview with Betty Lin-Fisher, a Beacon Journal business writer. The interim chief executive of Summa Health acknowledged in a healthy way what many long described: a corrosive culture under the previous management, the breakdown in trust ultimately leading to a revolt by hundreds of physicians.
“I think our folks managed by the negative rather than the constructive,” he said. “There has been vengeance. There has been fear. All those things I think are valid. Guilty as charged.”
Deveny has returned to where he grew up and practiced as a physician, about two decades spent at Summa. He knows the collegial culture created by Al Gilbert and Tom Strauss and how it helped make Summa such a strong and respected presence in the community. His big task is to get back there, albeit in more challenging times for hospitals and health care.
The encouraging thing is, he has made a good start.
That goes to the management changes announced last week, the streamlining and departures, breaking with the past. More such moves may be necessary. He also has been a visible presence, walking the halls, in meetings, engaging and learning. He has signaled that one or two executives are not enough to mend Summa. The steep path requires a collective effort.
One measure of the blow that Summa has suffered is the operating loss of $15 million for the first quarter. Deveny cited the need now to improve the annual financial performance by $40 million. That likely will require a range of initiatives. None is more important than rebuilding relationships with the medical staff, something Deveny has begun.
That especially is the case for independent physicians. Part of the flux in health care involves more doctors employed directly by hospitals. For Summa, the larger share of its business comes through independent doctors, and that isn’t likely to change soon. So, Summa depends on physicians, and nurses, working well with executives and administrators.
In that way, Deveny would make significant progress if he resolved soon and put behind the protracted legal wrangling between Summa and the physician-owned Western Reserve Hospital. Speaking with Betty Lin-Fisher, he struck the right tone, seeking the endpoint of a divorced couple “who are best friends.”
Ideally, a route would be found for returning Summa Emergency Associates to Summa Health, its departure coming at the end of last year in a contract dispute that exposed the larger problems. Bring back SEA, and Summa would be in a better position to regain its full residency program, which is critical to its operation for the long run.
It is worth repeating that given all that Summa has meant to the Akron community for decades, practically everyone is wishing the best for Cliff Deveny. So far, he has provided something to cheer.