Answering her critics
Much-maligned Grady CEO offers system some money back
by Andy Phelan
andy@dekalbchamp.com
Grady CEO Pam Stephenson |
For the first time in her brief and controversial tenure as Grady Hospital CEO, state Rep. Pamela Stephenson [D-Decatur] indicated she is prepared to put a third of her salary back into the ailing health-care system.
Stephenson raised eyebrows and the ire of many observers, who say her multiple roles as Grady CEO, authority chairwoman and member of the new private board is a blatant conflict of interest.
And after it was disclosed that Stephenson is also taking the $600,000 a year salary, the heaps of criticism came from both conservative politicians at the Capitol and her south DeKalb constituency.
But now Stephenson said she is moving to give back to the transitioning system that is millions in debt and has lost money 10 out of the past 11 years.
“First of all, I’ve put something back every time,” said Stephenson, who spent $3,000 of her first paycheck on hospital equipment. “But now I’m in the process of formalizing it.”
Stephenson said she is proposing to put $200,000 of her yearly salary back into the system. Half of that, or about $8,300 a month, Stephenson is offering for capital improvements. The other half, also $8,300 a month, would be put into a pool to be distributed as performance bonuses to the more than 5,000 Grady employees.
“I live in one of the counties that have given to this hospital, and I’ve always believed that a part of showing you care is to give back. I don’t know any other way to do that.”
Stephenson, an attorney and lawmaker, has been at the center of the Grady storm since a report issued last summer by a metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce task force said the system was in deep financial trouble and on the verge of collapse.
To fix it, they said, the hospital must find new sources of funding and change the way its run.
The Georgia General Assembly failed this year to pass legislation creating statewide trauma network funding, which would have been collected through a $10 motor vehicle registration tax.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle called it a major failure of leadership, and now makes it much more difficult to save north Georgia's only level 1 trauma center.
The system’s flagship facility, Grady Memorial Hospital, is considered Atlanta’s primary trauma center and safety net hospital. But it has posted financial losses every year since 2000, including a record $40 million in 2002.
Enter Stephenson, appointed to the authority in 2002 and named chair in 2005. As chair, she’s been instrumental in helping transition the hospital from one dependent solely on Fulton and DeKalb county taxpayers to an organization now eligible for state, regional and private funding.
The new Grady board, which will run day-to-day operations of the hospital system, met for the first time March 17.
But as the process unfolded, critics on one side shouted Stephenson was a distraction, an obstruction, even unethical. Things weren’t moving quickly enough in the transition from a public to a private non-profit, they said.
Critics on the other side said she was giving away the family farm, that she was committing genocide on the poor and that she was moving way too quickly.
“I do give Pam credit for steering Grady to this point, and she deserves some credit,” said one of her biggest critics, state Rep. Mike Jacobs [R-Atlanta]. “But I would prefer, and there are other legislators who agree, for the new nonprofit board to be making independent decisions as a fresh start for Grady.”
For Jacobs and others, the problem is that one of the most fundamental things the new board must do is choose a new CEO.
“It becomes very difficult to make an independent decision if the interim CEO is sitting right there at the table,” said Jacobs. “In fact, participating in that decision.”
State Sen. Vincent Fort [D-Atlanta], a member of the Grady Coalition that was opposed to the hand over, said while Stephenson’s multiple roles are a conflict, the political and media focus on her is misplaced.
For Fort, Tom Bell of Cousin Properties and a member of the new board, who Fort says owns 50 percent interest in a Midtown medical office tower that does business with Crawford Long and Northside hospitals, both Grady competitors, is worse.
“That is the very definition of term conflict of interest,” said Fort, who called divisions in healthcare availability “healthcare apartheid.” “Look, I don’t believe Pam ought to be chair and CEO,” said Fort, “but to focus on an African-American woman, and not to focus on a White male is unfair at best.”
Bert Skellie, also a Grady Coalition member, said he understands why people would be critical but doesn’t see Stephenson’s case as particularly egregious. Skellie said he was speaking as a citizen and not a Grady Coalition representative.
“I don't see her different hats being in conflict when it comes to what is best for Grady patients and workers,” he said. “It’s not that unusual for a board member to temporarily run an organization. As far as being a representative, she can recuse herself on any bill that directly affects her business, the same as any other house member. I understand that she will give up her seat in the house and positions on Grady boards if she is chosen as the permanent CEO. In the short run, I don’t see a problem.”
Meanwhile Stephenson, who has a master’s from the University of Michigan in hospital management and a law degree from Woodrow Wilson College, said she would make a decision soon about her future.
She will remain CEO while the new board awaits approval of its tax status by the federal government, which should come as early as May or as late as September.
“Criticism is for me to receive,” said Stephenson. “Accolades are for my team to receive. It’s for the many, many people, including the wisdom of the authority to seek regional funding, and the 5,000 employees, to get credit. That’s what I’m here -- to catch those bullets.”
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