Providence Well being officers said in an email to area health companies Friday that Providence St. Mary Health-related Center’s main government, Susan Blackburn, is leaving the clinic.
No clarification was give for Blackburn’s departure.
The announcement arrived a few days immediately after the U.S. lawyer for the Jap District of Washington, Vanessa Waldref, broke the news that the Walla Walla hospital has agreed to fork out $22.7 million to solve allegations it fraudulently billed point out and federal wellbeing care programs for medically unnecessary neurosurgery treatments concerning 2013 and 2018.
The actions of two neurosurgeons utilized by St. Mary all through that time had been at the coronary heart of this situation, the premier at any time in this location, according to Waldref.
The case commenced in January 2020, when the previous healthcare director of neurosurgery at Providence St. Mary Healthcare Heart submitted a criticism in federal court.
Identical fears arose at Swedish Neuroscience Institute in Seattle — owned by Providence — in 2017, when a Seattle Situations investigation exposed a vary of internal considerations about client safety.
Following The Instances investigation was released, Swedish’s CEO and the neuroscience institute’s leading surgeon, who faced just about 50 internal issues in 16 months of his arrival, resigned.
Under Blackburn’s management, St. Mary has been lauded for academic and group programs, such as one particular offering Walla Walla Group Higher education nursing students the prospect to continue arms-on learning through the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to steering the clinic by the well being treatment disaster of the pandemic, Blackburn has served on spot boards this sort of as Providence St. Mary Foundation and Walla Walla YMCA.
A Washington Point out College graduate, she’s been with the clinic for 22 several years, according to her qualified profile.
In 2011, Blackburn was promoted to chief running officer right after various years as vice president of human sources and help services.
She is getting changed by Reza Kaleel, who has been the main govt officer at Kadlec Regional Health care Center, in accordance to Joel Gilbertson, chief executive of the Washington and Montana region of Providence overseeing 13 Providence services including Richland and Walla Walla, and Scott O’Brien, main functioning officer for the similar region, in their memo.
Kaleel has a “track file of achievement and deep information of each Catholic health and fitness treatment and the lifestyle of Kadlec,” they said in the announcement.
Also in their message, Gilbertson and O’Brien explained that, in the months to appear, the most effective organizational framework for the Walla Walla and Tri-Cities hospitals will be established.
“For all but a handful of leadership workforce customers with new reporting interactions, our working day-to-working day operations and shipping of exceptional treatment by our caregivers will proceed unchanged. We will share particulars as a new organizational framework will come into focus,” Gilbertson and O’Brien explained.
Officials at St. Mary did not straight away return a ask for for comment.
Details from The Linked Press and The Seattle Times was bundled