The findings of the Vineyard Gazette article Court Documents Shine New Light on Hospital, CEO Dispute are disturbing and disappointing. Sadly, they are not particularly surprising. Three separate issues stand out: the process of termination, the trigger for termination, community vs. corporate healthcare, i.e. “the vision thing.”

1) Process of termination. We all know it was spectacularly botched and yes, it was every bit as “keystone kops” as it appeared at the time. That is not the interesting part. But here’s what is interesting: neither Mr. Sweet nor Mr. Miller is stupid. They did what they did with a clear expectation that it would work very differently than it did. Why?

They seem to have expected that Joe Woodin would respond like any good corporate career man: he would swallow hard, lawyer up, and put out a face-saving statement about stepping down for personal reasons, (which they had already so helpfully drafted — and released— for him). In return for keeping everything looking fine to the outside world, he could have expected to get one heck of a golden parachute for himself, and greased skids to a position every bit as prestigious and lucrative as the MV Hospital CEO position.

Instead, he challenged them to explain to the public why it was necessary to fire him. As a result, his career has been significantly affected. Mr. Woodin is now known in the highest echelons of corporate healthcare for his “reckless intractability,” (ie can’t be bought off) and his refusal to fit in with a “sophisticated medical system” (i.e. corporate medical structures).

The confirmatory board vote two days after the fact calls into question the courage and integrity of the board members. It is deeply disappointing that so few refused to sign off on this folly, that they did not effectively press for the immediate resignation of Mr. Sweet and Mr. Miller, and that so few have since resigned themselves. This has done damage to the reputation of people who had formerly enjoyed respect for their abilities, stature and hard work on behalf of the Hospital.

2) Trigger for Termination. While the hospital has not officially confirmed that Mr. Sweet and Mr. Miller reacted with such alacrity in response to indications that Mr. Woodin was poised to restructure a key position, it cannot be discounted. It is the responsibility of a CEO to address staffing issues. Without reflection on the individual in question, it has been decades since this Island (and this world) has been small and sleepy enough so that it would make sense to have a development and communications director wrapped up in a single position. It is sad and painful. If Mr. Sweet acted in perceived defense of his wife, it is emotionally understandable, but professionally a major fail, and a testament to the inadvisability to have tolerated such an obvious conflict of responsibilities and interests in the first place. The same cannot be said for Mr. Miller. As trusted vice-chair, Mr. Miller could have moderated Mr. Sweet’s emotional reaction, and stepped up to work with Mr. Woodin in resolving sensitive staffing issues in the best interests of the hospital. He chose not to do so.

3) The Vision Thing. Here is the crux of the matter, which will continue to be an issue going forward. Our fundamental challenge is how to protect the interests of a small hospital serving a small community in the context of potentially competing interests of a corporate healthcare mega-system (Partners). Our interests are not always competing, and when they are not, we all benefit. But when they are, it is clear that the trustees are responsible for running our hospital as a subsidiary of Mass General. That is what we are, our bylaws define us as a corporation with one member, Mass General Hospital. Without real transparency, how can we trust that our interests are in fact fairly served in this relationship? Any future board of trustees, as well as Denise Schepeci, will run into the same buzzsaw if they choose to challenge the primacy of MGH/Partners’ interests over those of its puny little subsidiary. She, the future board, and the staff of the hospital will need us to have their backs as they work to ensure that Martha’s Vineyard Hospital has its needs fully met within this “sophisticated medical system” we are in.

We have our work cut out for us.

Marina Lent
Vineyard Haven