Trustees fire CEO of health center
Alameda County Medical Center has had eight chiefs in 10 years
By Rebecca Vesely, STAFF WRITER, Oakland Tribune
Friday, September 19, 2003

Kenneth Cohen, CEO of the troubled Alameda County Medical Center, was fired Wednesday night by the medical center's Board of Trustees.

The trustees for the county-run hospitals and clinics said recent actions by the county Board of Supervisors had "stripped" Cohen of his ability to perform as CEO.

"The Board of Trustees and the county both have to support the CEO for that person to be able to do the job effectively," said Robert Phillips, the board's secretary-treasurer. "Hopefully we'll all learn a lesson from this."

Cohen will continue on in his position for 60 days, Phillips said, to aid in the search for and transition to a new CEO. Cohen will get a severance package of two years' salary. Cohen makes about $245,000 a year.

Board of Supervisors President Gail Steele said the supervisors could not take responsibility for decisions made by the trustees.

"They made a decision, we respect that decision, let's move forward," Steele said.

The medical center has had eight CEOs in the past 10 years.

In June, Cohen announced the medical center was facing a $45.7 million deficit and must come up with a new source of funding or slash patient services and clinics. The county's medical center includes Highland and Fairmont hospitals, three outpatient clinics in Oakland, Hayward and Newark, and John George Psychiatric Pavilion.

Cohen cited rising numbers of uninsured patients, fewer federal and state funds for county hospitals and lower reimbursement rates for low-income patient care as reasons for the deficit. An independent study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers in July supported this.

The Board of Supervisors, which appoints the medical center's trustees, has expressed dissatisfaction with the financial stewardship at the center. Last Tuesday, the supervisors removed Cohen from the Board of Trustees and appointed three new members to that board.

"They have not adopted a balanced budget yet this year, and they have not given us the information we need to assess the finances there," Supervisor Steele said.

The supervisors began their own audit of the medical center's finances in August, led by the county auditor-controller. The audit is expected to be completed in several weeks. The medical center is expected to deliver its budget to the supervisors on Sept. 29.

In the meantime, supervisors withdrew Cohen's authority to sign for large purchases and announced they would appoint a "blue-ribbon" panel to review the medical center from top to bottom. The panel will include two of the center's trustees and will be led by Supervisor Nate Miley, Steele said.

The medical center board said these actions undermined Cohen's ability to manage the center as CEO.

"Instead of working cooperatively with us, they [the supervisors-- have laid blame," Phillips said. "They weren't as supportive as they should have been."

Supervisor Keith Carson said the actions taken came out of joint discussions with the trustees.

"There was an agreement to send a team of auditors to the medical center," Carson said. "It's never been brought to my attention that the audit was hampering or impeding with his [Cohen's-- abilities to function."

After the trustees announced their decision to remove Cohen in closed session Wednesday night, Cohen made a statement thanking them for their support.

"Obviously, I would like to complete the job I started," he said. "But I understand the circumstances that have led the board to make the decision it made, which I support and accept. I have nothing but good wishes for the medical center board, staff, patients and county."

Community advocates had mixed feeling over Cohen's dismissal.

"We are outraged at the Board of Supervisors' lack of support of such a good leader," said Nancy Friedman, executive director of Vote Health.

Paul Kumar, political director for SEIU Local 250, representing health care workers at the medical center, said "what's critical now is that things don't devolve further and rather that people come together quickly and decisively."

In a news release, the trustees praised Cohen, who they hired in 2001, for his work over the past two years.

The PriceWaterhouseCoopers audit found high turnover and vacancies in management at the medical center had contributed to the financial problems.

Contact Rebecca Vesely at rvesely@angnewspapers.com