The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital board of trustees met with a concerned citizen group on Saturday. The meeting and its agenda were private. Each group issued a statement following the meeting. The statements follow.

From the hospital board:

•

Members from the board of trustees met today (Saturday, July 15) with Alan Brigish and seven members of his citizens committee. The trustees thought it was a constructive meeting and an important first step in opening a needed dialogue.

There was a brief discussion at the beginning of the meeting regarding the termination of Joe Woodin as CEO after which the citizen committee members expressed their desire to begin to look forward. They asked the board look into and address numerous areas of concern that had been expressed to them in the aftermath of Mr. Woodin’s departure, that included: clarification of the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital mission and vision for the future, the search process for finding a new CEO, any plans for more effective outreach to the community, a better understanding of the relationship between Massachusetts General and Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and the process for a planned review of the practices and policies of hospital governance.

The trustees expressed their appreciation to the committee for their input and taking the time to talk to the trustees about their concerns. The trustees promised to take the committee’s questions and suggestions back to the full board for discussion at its next meeting on July 28.

•

From the citizens group:

Eight Vineyarders from a group of concerned citizens met today, July 15, with 11 representatives of the board of trustees of Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Hospital representatives were Tim Sweet (chairman), Polly Brown, Susan Crampton, Michael Jaff,  Anthony James, Edward Miller, Dr. Pieter Pil,  Earle (Sandy) Ray, John Schaeffer, Walter Teller, and Tim Walsh. The group of concerned citizens were: Alan Brigish, Sam Feldman, Bruce Bullen, Victor Capoccia, Gerald Jones, Maria Krokidas, Paddy Moore and Sheila Shapiro.

The purpose of the citizens group was to place concerns on the table in the form of questions, and to share several ideas with the board about future hospital developments. We made it clear that we did not speak for anyone other than ourselves, and the hundreds of people who had contacted us to share their concerns.

Our group expressed a strong commitment to the continuation of the hospital as a healthy, stable and clinically excellent community hospital. We expressed our hope that in the future, the values of transparency, responsiveness, accountability and ongoing two-way communication would become the hallmarks of the hospital board and whole hospital.

We found the meeting to be both constructive and productive, and the hospital representatives to be people of good faith. They listened carefully, asked searching and insightful questions and seemed open to hearing ideas from the community. We trust that these board members will responsibly convey our concerns, discussion and ideas to the other board members at the full meeting of the board scheduled for July 28.

The concerned citizens group asked the following questions, and hopes to see answers in the immediate future:

• Why was the CEO fired?

• What was the process used to terminate the CEO and get the support of all board members, including those from MGH? What if anything would the board do differently in hindsight?

• What are hospital’s and the board’s mission and vision? How is it being lived day-by-day?

• What is the board’s power, authority and role vis a vis MGH?

• How does the board plan to operate before a new CEO is in place?

• What improvements to board effectiveness (trust building, processes, etc.) has the board made, or will plan to make, since the termination of the CEO?

• How will the board deal with what was heard here today?

The group shared the following recommendations:

While dealing with the continuing fallout from the termination, pay particular attention to taking care of patients; taking care of physicians and staff; staying connected to donors both large and small; and improving communications with the Vineyard community. Implement the search for a consultant in governance and internal board operations as rapidly as possible. Clarify and discuss alignment with your vision, mission and strategy throughout the Vineyard community. Design and begin to implement a plan for communicating with and engaging with the Vineyard community, even as you move to select a new CEO.