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Attorney Richard G. Johnson's editorial 3.7.23 -Reposted on Firing of Airica SteedSubmitted by lmcshane on Sun, 08/11/2024 - 09:07.
(DETAILS of Firing https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2024/08/09/metrohealth-fires-ceo-dr--airica-steed The Cuyahoga County Executive Was Supposed to Have Taken Charge of the MetroHealth System by NowRichard G. JohnsonPlaintiff's Lawyer & Sports Agent Malpractice • Legal Ethics & Professional Responsibility Issues • College Athlete Rights Advocate March 7, 2023 Back in December, this was Chris Ronayne's plan as to how to deal with MetroHealth: Incoming Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne plans to deal with the controversy at MetroHealth System by forming a team to observe operations, conducting an independent audit and possibly replacing some board members in the wake of the firing of the CEO amid allegations of unauthorized self payments. Yet nothing has happened so far, and this failure has resulted in two months of lost opportunities, while the conflicted Board obtained a biased consulting report from BDO US LLP via their retained law firm Tucker Ellis LLP rather than an independent audit under the control of the County Executive's team and office. Now, "“[His] goal is to reposition MetroHealth as a great hospital in our healthcare network,' Ronayne said." Julie Washington, “Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne Steps Up Monitoring of MetroHealth in Wake of Bonus Controversy, Cleveland.com, Mar. 6, 2023. Does our new County Executive not know that MetroHealth is still a great hospital as built by Dr. Akram Boutros and his team, but that it is now at great risk of demise due to an incompetent Board, CEO, and COO? Has the County Executive read any of my articles about the Board? For instance, "The MetroHealth System Board of Trustees Lies in its Answer to Dr. Akram Boutros; or "The MetroHealth System Board of Trustees Lie Out of Both Sides of their Mouths." Has the County Executive read my article about the new CEO, "The Sham Search for Dr. Akram Boutros’s Successor?" Metro has still not responded to my public records request for Dr. Steed's bona fides, but in my follow-up post to this article, her qualifications seem suspect, and her own statements about her lack of experience that are quoted in the comments thereto are beyond belief. Has the County Executive read my article about the new COO, "The MetroHealth System Is Poised to Sink Like a Rock without Dr. Akram Boutros?" His hiring and job description materially changed other's job descriptions, thus giving other executives the right to leave with severance, as explained in my article, The MetroHealth System's Death Spiral Has Begun …. To me its obvious that it's clean sweep time. Under Ohio law, the County Executive can terminate the entire Board for neglect and other reasons, and I think he should do so immediately and appoint a completely new Board. Ohio Revised Code Section 339.02 (H). The new Board can deal with the CEO/COO problem. Under Ohio law, Metro can pay its trustees a stipend for their time, and given that Metro is bigger than the County, the new County Executive might think about whether it is practical to have a volunteer Board overseeing a $1.6BB hospital system. Ohio Revised Code Section 339.02 (I). Plus, providing a stipend would allow the County Executive to lower the average age of the Board closer to the average age in the County, which would bring a more active composition to the Board, much like the County Council. Needless to say, the Board composition should reflect the demographics of the County, and there are plenty of qualified people available to serve in each demographic. Volunteering on a non-profit board is one thing, but when the non-profit is a huge operating business, different skills and oversight are needed, with significant time demands, that the current Board was simply not willing to expend as the trustees freely admitted in their Q&A with the Cleveland Plain Dealer back in December. (I have applied to be appointed to the Board, but I would not do so without a clean sweep and without a reasonable stipend for the twenty-to-forty hours a month that would be required to do that job correctly.) My view is that a new Board solves all of the problems that I know of, since the current Board created those problems by terminating Dr. Boutros without cause. All the Board had to do was decide and award Dr. Boutros's resubmitted bonuses and then coast another six weeks until his retirement. Instead, they fired the nuclear ICBM. Lack of judgment would be an understatement. Metro is audited every year. There is no allegation of missing money. So why order a redundant audit? Like everything else, the Board asked for one to misdirect focus, but if you don't have money missing, what is there to audit? Other than the cost of the auditors and the time spent by Metro staff, there's no harm to another audit, but it's not going to do any good, because you can't audit judgment or the lack thereof. With a new Board, I'd do everything possible to rehire Dr. Boutros, and within reason, I'd pay him what he asked for back in 2021, which was fair and reasonable, and then enough to make amends for how he has been mistreated. Obviously, he'd need to be paid for the damages that the Board has caused, which can be recovered by the new Board from the old trustee's D&O coverage, after they are terminated. (Trial is now scheduled for early December, and how the current Board compared to a new Board will handle settlement negotiations seems obvious to me. But one way or another, it seems that this dispute will be resolved by the end of this year, not years from now.) Needless to say, Dr. Boutros needs a complete public apology, because he did absolutely nothing wrong—he gave so much to this County and to Metro that it's unfathomable that this dispute was even allowed to become public let alone become a war. I find it beyond annoying that the County Executive three months later is still talking about what he's going to do about this dispute, when he originally promised to take action as soon as he took office. If the County consolidated Metro's financials as it should, Metro would be more than half the County's revenue and expenses, and it would be two-thirds of its workforce. Possibly the largest benefit people get from the County is Metro, yet all the County has to pay for this is $32MM, and of that, $7MM is diverted to the County addiction board. Metro's billion dollar bond float is NOT guaranteed by the County. Historically, Metro has been paid little attention by the County, when it should be integral to the County's problem solving potential. If I were the County Executive, I'd pay a lot more attention to Metro. Fire the current Board, appoint an excellent new one, settle with Dr. Boutros ASAP, hire him if possible or find a real replacement, and continue with making Metro a multiplier of good in this County. *****Index to other articles I have written on this dispute: Here's a list of the articles I've written here on the Akram Boutros/MetroHealth Board dispute: 12/08/22: MetroHealth Is Dr. Boutros, In Case You Don't Know or Remember What It Was, available at https://lnkd.in/g3R3mEFV 12/10/22: Why Can't the Metro Board Apologize to Dr. Akram Boutros?, available at https://lnkd.in/g6pEVyzh 12/15/22: The Sham Search for Dr. Akram Boutros’s Successor, available at https://lnkd.in/gHz-747C 12/21/22: Why Can't the Plain Dealer Admit It's Flat-Out Wrong About Dr. Akram Boutros?, available at https://lnkd.in/gYUH6Gsh 12/24/22: The Plain Dealer Almost Apologizes to Dr. Akram Boutros!, available at https://lnkd.in/gfAAaYMJ 12/29/22: The MetroHealth System Is Poised to Sink Like a Rock without Dr. Akram Boutros, available at https://lnkd.in/giMJHK5f 01/04/23: When Does the Plain Dealer Cross the Threshold of Malice Towards Dr. Akram Boutros?, available at https://lnkd.in/gZ7XJVpC 01/14/23: The MetroHealth System and the Plain Dealer Smear Dr. Akram Boutros by Repeating Knowingly False Allegations, available at https://lnkd.in/gMv6ivyG 01/23/23: The MetroHealth System Drags Its Feet in Responding to my Public Records Requests Regarding its Board's Misconduct Towards Dr. Akram Boutros, available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/metrohealth-system-drags-its-feet-responding-my-public-johnson 01/29/23: The MetroHealth System's Death Spiral Has Begun …, available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/metrohealth-systems-death-spiral-has-begun-richard-g-johnson 02/04/23: Would the Plain Dealer Please Stop Running Press Releases for the Metro Board?, available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/we-already-know-cleveland-plain-dealer-sides-system-board-johnson 02/07/23: Stiffing Public Records Requests the Metro Way!, available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stiffing-public-records-requests-metro-way-richard-g-johnson 02/18/23: Can You Believe How Hard It Is to Get Public Records from Metro?, available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/can-you-believe-how-hard-get-public-records-from-metro-johnson/ 02/21/23: The MetroHealth System Board of Trustees Lies in its Answer to Dr. Akram Boutros, available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/metrohealth-system-board-trustees-lies-its-answer-richard-g-johnson 03/05/23: The MetroHealth System Board of Trustees Lie Out of Both Sides of their Mouths, available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/metrohealth-system-board-trustees-lie-out-both-sides-mouths-johnson 03/07/23: The Cuyahoga County Executive Was Supposed to Have Taken Charge of the MetroHealth System by Now, available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cuyahoga-county-executive-supposed-have-taken-charge-system-johnson
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Letter sent to MetroHealth Employees - Firing of Steed
Dear MetroHealth employees,
A short time ago, the Board of Trustees voted to terminate Dr. Airica Steed’s at-will contract as President & CEO of The MetroHealth System.
We know this news will surprise and disappoint many of you, and it certainly is not an outcome that any of us on the Board wanted. When we hired Dr. Steed almost two years ago, Dr. Walker led the Search Committee. All of us on the Board had high expectations that she would be an outstanding leader for you and the System. We embraced and fully supported her often-stated commitment to Health Equity, an idea embedded in the DNA of MetroHealth long before any of us were here.
Unfortunately, this Board has concluded that Dr. Steed is not the right leader to deliver on those expectations and aspirations. It has become clear to all of us that the Board and Dr. Steed fundamentally disagree about the priorities and performance standards needed from our CEO for MetroHealth to fulfill its mission. We believe Dr. Steed’s performance is not meeting the needs of MetroHealth.
As a result, we have lost confidence in her ability to lead the organization going forward and believe it would not be in the best interest of the System for her to continue in her position. Therefore, we are exercising our right to terminate her at-will contract, effective immediately.
We wish Dr. Steed and her family good health and future success. We also believe we needed to act now for the good of the System, of you – our incredibly hard-working employees - and of the people we serve.
Make no mistake, we are not backing away from our commitments to Health Equity, to excellence in healthcare, education and research, to creating an ethos of safety and patient-centered care amid a great, inclusive and diverse work environment. We will continue the critical work of the Institute for H.O.P.E. and of initiatives like the PRIDE Clinic, School Health Program, Lincoln-West School of Science & Health High School and Maternal and Infant Health. We will support the ongoing efforts of senior leadership to improve access, to make our operations more efficient and to put us on the path to financial sustainability. We are confident that this leadership team will rise to the challenges we face.
Going forward, we all need to reaffirm our commitment to the mission of MetroHealth, to the people we serve and to one another. Let’s continue bringing hope, compassion and great healthcare to everyone. That’s what makes MetroHealth so essential – and why all of us do what we do.
Thank you,
Harry Walker, MD, Chair, MetroHealth Board of Trustees
John Moss, Vice Chair
John Corlett, Secretary
Inajo Davis Chappell, Member
Maureen Dee, Member
Sharon Dumas, Member
Ronald Dziedzicki, Member
Nancy Mendez, Member
Michael Summers, Member
Richard G. Johnson: ONE Sick Board
The only period in Metro’s modern history that it worked well was when business genius Tom McDonald was chair and visionary Akram Boutros, MD was CEO. After McDonald retired from the Board, new chairs Vanessa Whiting and then Harry Walker were simply incompetent to work with Dr. Boutros, and because the Board was so bad, Dr. Boutros chose to retire early and not seek to renew his contract. Since the Board had no justification for not working to retain their visionary, who frankly was not replaceable, they created a fraudulent scandle that Dr. Boutros had hid his compensation from the Board, which was not true at all, in order to attempt to save face for being unable to retain their visionary.
As far as the current mess, the Board awarded Dr. Steed her full performance bonus in March, after conducting her performance review, and while that review was a mixed bag, if she did well enough to earn her full bonus, her termination was not about her performance.
It also wasn’t about racism. The past and current Board chairs are black, at least a third of the Board is black, she as CEO was black, and so was her hand-picked COO. She had the absolute power to terminate anyone who disrespected her. It is simply not possible for the boss to be discriminated against by her employees.
It also wasn’t about employees’ loyalty to Dr. Boutros. He was the one who announced a year in advance that he was not renewing his contract and was retiring, because the Board would not renegotiate his contract. Certainly, firing him six weeks before retirement was atrocious conduct that upset the entire hospital staff, but that had nothing to do with Dr. Steed. In fact, in October of 2022, Dr. Boutros and his wife flew to Chicago to meet Dr. Steed and to take her and her husband out to dinner, so that she would know that he was available to help her transition into her new position. He wanted her to succeed, and she knew that. So did everybody else, as he publicly said so to the Metro community.
From her most recent interview, it seems that she had conflict with Metro’s Board and General Counsel, because she apparently had voiced objection to their obstruction of justice by tampering with and destroying evidence that vindicated Dr. Boutros. Dr. Steed has her doctorate in ethical leadership in addition to her MBA and nursing degree, and as the head of Metro, all such criminal conduct could be imputed to her and the hospital. It seems that she was illegally terminated for blowing the whistle on this criminal conduct. There’s going to be hell to pay.
If she reported it to the Board, where are the minutes to that meeting?
To gain protection under the whistleblower statutes, she had to report this conduct to some appropriate person or entity, so let’s see the report(s) or minutes. We know she had to have reported it to someone, or the Board rationally wouldn’t have risked firing her.
Note, too, that termination without cause means just that; if she had been terminated for performance reasons, that would have been for cause and documented pursuant to her contract and sound business practices.
Ridiculous MH Clinic grant with WRLC
https://news.metrohealth.org/metrohealth-collaborates-with-cleveland-clinic-western-reserve-land-conservancy-to-advance-health-equity/
Archived at Wayback Machine
The project, developed in collaboration with population health researchers from The MetroHealth System and Cleveland Clinic, targets four Cleveland neighborhoods: Buckeye-Woodhill, Hough, St. Clair-Superior, and Glenville. These communities, historically impacted by environmental and social disinvestment, will benefit from comprehensive strategies designed to improve key Social Determinants of Health (SDOH).
The initiative aligns with two Leading Health Indicators (LHIs) identified in Healthy People 2030:
Selected SDOH Domains:
Impact and Vision: This project seeks to produce both immediate and long-term health benefits. Cleaner air, lower temperatures, and reduced chronic disease burden are among the immediate outcomes expected. Over time, the initiative will generate actionable data and insights, providing a replicable model for other cities facing similar challenges with racial health equity, climate change impacts, and population loss.
* Bullshit
This federal money follows WRLC latest vacant land project Clevlot - https://www.clevlot.org/ another major piece of BS. Also archived at the Wayback Machine.
The Cleveland Vacant Land Opportunity Tool (CLEVLOT) is a project funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It started in 2022 and ran for two years. The main goal was to find ways to make it easier for people to reuse vacant land in Cleveland, Ohio, with a special focus on the Cleveland Land Bank.
Project Timeline
The grant timeline will be from February 2022 to February 2024. 2022 will consist of convening stakeholders and forming working groups to define the current issues with vacant land reuse. 2023 will see the development of a pilot project and developing a planning tool for more accessible and transparent vacant land reuse.
ONE Sick Board continued -Boutros vindicated
“Despite how my tenure ended, my 10 years at MetroHealth were the most gratifying of my career,” Boutros said in the release. “I love the staff and patients and am honored to have led a team that significantly improved health care in Cuyahoga County, and shepherded MetroHealth to become the most socially responsible health system in Ohio.”
I don't know how Dr. Boutros can be gracious when his life was ruined by an incompetent board - an incompetent board that also hobbled Dr. Boutros' brilliant remaking of MetroHealth.
Vanessa Whiting chaired the board that fired Dr. Boutros and she and the rest of the then board and the current board bear responsibility for the unnecessary and stupid chaos staff has endured.
The current MetroHealth board needs to release a statement and an apology. Both to Dr. Boutros-- and to Airica Steed, RN Ph.D.
Steed, the first female and Black CEO of MetroHealth, said the board did not raise any concerns to her about her performance, the CJN previously reported. She said she also raised concerns to the board regarding how it handled the Boutros case and said other senior leaders of color within MetroHealth have been subject to racial slurs and remarks and the board ignored complaints.
The board must stop blaming everyone but themselves for the hospital's performance. Fortunately, with Dr. Alexander Ranger now at the helm, I am hopeful. We must support our county healthcare.
Cuyahoga Rep Michael Gallagher on MH board
young lady's time I have a statement to read before we do her in the next uh Trust Appo he uh that has to do with not
you but the board itself D you can sit down for a minute okay I'm sorry Sor thank you for calling me young lady I'm
sorry I should not do that my bad I had five sisters so um Mr chairman uh and my
colleagues uh accountability in public service is not optional it is the
foundation of trust and Effectiveness and is the Bedrock of everything that we do for taxpayers supported institution
entrusted with the health of our community like Metro Health System impeccable governance is just not
expected it is essential recent recent findings by the Ohio Auditor of State spotlighted
troubling governance failures by the Metro Health Board of Trustees these
failures have not only tarnished the institution but also eroded public trust
and unjustly harmed the reputation of an exceptional leader is the evidence that trustees who it it
is evident that the trustees who mishandled DET termination of Dr arram Bros and apparently baseless claims he
awarded himself unauthorized compensation totaling more than 2 million doll must step down
immediately first Dr brose's leadership Legacy as CEO Dr buos transformed Metro
Health into a nationally recognized Public Health System he expanded access to care for
underserved populations laun launched Innovative programs and successfully
turned around the institution's finances operations and reputation he
demonstrated extraordinary leadership during the covid-19 pandemic expanded
the system's footprint throughout the region transformed the hospital's main campus and built a new Behavioral Health
Care Facility to serve our most vulnerable residents without hesitation
he also stepped up to care for those in our County Jail when we needed to reshape Correctional medicine a task
previous boards and administrations refused to even consider yet his
departure was marred by allegations and governance failures by the board requiring
scrutiny while I may not agree with every single decision he made Dr brose's
contributions to Metro Health success were undenied iable the circumstances
surrounding his departure however were deeply flawed and require urgent scrutiny from all of us Dr Bros the
patients of Metro Health Metro Health's dedicated Workforce as well as the taxpayers all deserve better from the
board the neglect of Duty by the board the Ohio Auditor of state report
highlights clearing deficiency in the board's oversight over a span of 5 years
the board failed failed to ask enough questions to take or take the time to fully understand their own bonus
incentive programs as anyone may know I have been very critical of some of these
compensation packages for Metro Health but that doesn't justifies the board's
unacceptable dereliction of Duty in overseeing them the result of the auditor's report make it clear the board
leveraged an independent consultant to further public to further a public narrative that Dr Bros acted criminally
and improperly received money from a p receiving money from a public institution this narrative has clearly
been proven false by the state Auditor's report the board clearly re-engineered
the findings of these reports to deflect from their own failures instead of addressing these issues they passively
neglected the fiduciary responsibility to ensure Financial integrity and good
governance such failures are unacceptable for any institution let alone a public
institution as significant as Metro Health the mishandling of Dr brose's
termination while the Audits and investigations found insufficient evidence to conclude whether Dr Bros was
properly authorized to receive certain bonus payments they unequivocally determined that Dr bruo Bros had not
acted illegally unethically or unreasonably this is the exact opposite of the
narrative the board publicly expressed both internally and externally following
their decision to terminate Dr Bros brose's employment instead of
letting the statutory in agencies conduct a fair investigation the board
acted precipitously undermining its credibility the mismanagement from the
board has caused lasting damage to met Metro Health reputation personally
impacting the lives and careers and trajectories of numerous Metro Health employees and distracted the hospital
from its vital mission of serving our community public hospitals must operate
Beyond reproach the spectical created by the board's action or lack thereof has
further tarnished the institution a call for accountability accountability begins and
ends with the Metro Health Board of Trustees those who failed in governance duties those who terminated Dr Bros and
allowed years of oversight lapses must take responsibility their resignation is
not merely a symbolic act but a necessary step toward restoring trust
and ensuring effective leadership new trustees on the board with a clear commitment to transparency and integrity
are essential to move this institution forward without an acknowledgement of the board's missteps the system cannot
approach appropriately recover new members of the board will be burdened by the past wrongs of their colleagues and
executive leadership efforts will be misdirected as a result of flawed governance and misguided narrative a
path forward as County council members I will continue to AV Advocate uh for
improvements that will hold the board accountable including structural reforms within the hospital ensuring new
trustees prioritize transparency accountabil ability and Trust to the
public demanding comp comprehensive fiduciary training for board members to
PR to prevent future governance failures Metro Health is a Cornerstone of our
community and its continued success depends on governance that reflects the highest standards and values those Metro
Health Board trustees who have demonstrated an unwillingness or inability to meet those standards and
values must immediately resign they contributed to This Disaster and
deliberately sought to destroy the reputation of an outstanding leader disregarding the profound and Lasting
damage their actions would inflict on the entire hospital system and region
once these trustees step away only then can we necessarily work be to begin to
rebuild the public trust and Charter new Courts for one of our communities most vital institution finally for those
Board of Trustees who resigned or step down and frustration over this unfortunate situation I thank you for
your service and your desire not to be tainted by such Shenanigans by your
fellow board members and that's from me personally uh as many of you know uh
when we were having trouble with the with the hospital or the uh jail medical
it was Judge Dr Bros and only Dr Bros that came in and fixed it for that I
think we all owe him a debt of gratitude for what happened to him I cannot believe what happened I waited for all
the reports I heard all the rumors and put those all aside it is disgusting
what happened and for you new trustees we we rely on you the the Administration
has appointed the last few rounds of Trustees have been Rock Solid people and we appreciate that and I anticipate
going forward that you also will be but you are walking into a situation until
we get this cleared up you have a problem and the problem is at the top
and there are four problems on that board that need to leave thank
you thank you for your comments uh Miss Garcia please
come to the Das or the podium and please tell us why you'd like to be on the
board and thank you thank you Council um I just want to start by
New MH trustee Dolores Garcia
New MetroHealth trustee Dolores Garcia
https://www.youtube.com/live/ozCBkemYTVA?si=99assTyUHlBKkQtR&t=866
saying how humbled and honored I am to be considered for this very important role uh as councilman Gallagher's
comments just reflect um you know Metro Health is uh such an important Community
institution and as a longtime resident of the city of Cleveland and the near West Side I've seen its impact on the
neighborhoods that it serves and the community that it serves I'm Sorry Miss Garcia can you uh introduce yourself
real quickly yes apologies so um my name is Dolores Garcia I am um currently uh lawyer at UB
greensfelder formerly R and burn where I lead the business litigation Practice
Group uh I'm also a Cleveland resident uh and have been since I moved to Northeast Ohio 15 years ago I spent my
enti entire adult and professional life uh living in the inter core neighborhoods of downtown and Ohio City
uh and like I said I'm very honored to be considered for this appointment um Metro Health is not just important as an
institution but very important to me personally um I myself and my children
have um are all Metro health patients and we see firsthand the impact that the
high quality of service um that Metro Health provides and the
difference and impact that it makes on families like I said I'm a lawyer I started at Jones Day I was uh assistant
us attorney here in the Northern District of Ohio and I've been at UB greensfelder for the last seven years
but my most important role in life is being a mother to my seven children and
making sure that they have all the health uh and access to um highquality
health care service providers um and we have made a choice in my family to um
get our healthcare services from Metro Health uh and I think that's a reflection of Metro Health's um ability
to be not just the safety net hospital for the county but a system of choice um
for County residents I understand that I'm coming in potentially at a time of
um many challenges for Metro not just uh the leadership concerns that councilman Gallagher highlighted um but also um you
know a a very unknown um you know future for uh Federal funding for health care
institutions and I think that um my background and and personal
circumstances both reflect um an ability to handle those challenges just to the
point of leadership um I've always had the three tenants of leadership for me
um have been accountability uh transparency and empathy that as leaders
were accountable for the decisions that we make we have to answer for them we have to hold ourselves to a very high
standard uh trans parency we have to make sure that even though the decisions that we make may be ones that um not
everyone agrees with that everyone feels that they have an understanding of why and how those decisions were made and
then most importantly empathy uh to understand that we make decisions that affect people um on a very personal
level um and and at all levels not just Metro Health employees but the the patients that they serve and to go into
all of those decisions with an understanding and empathy for how those decisions will impact um you know
everyone who's affected by them so I again I'm grateful for the opportunity
um I look forward to being able to serve uh Metro Health the county and and my
fellow citizens and this very important institution thank you very
much uh being a person that uses Metro and being part of the governance
is pretty cool I'm just wondering how many board members actually choose Metro to be their healthc care provider that's
me to figure out so I would hope a lot but I just in my own reflection to have
that uh dual expertise and understanding is some qualities that will be
extraordinarily beneficial to the board to my colleagues I'll open up
questions I'm going to go with the Madam vice president absolutely all right through the uh chair to uh Miss Garcia
um I noticed that you're also on the Metro Health foundation so my question would be
um can um someone that's sitting on the Metro Board of Trustees is it a conflict
to be on the Metro Health Foundation as well uh I do believe it is not necessarily um a traditional conflict
but that the potential for conflict does exist and um as part of my discussions
with Administration I have uh expressed a willingness to step down from from my role as the metro and on the Metro
Health Foundation board in order to be able to serve on the system board okay so you're stepping down I would yes okay
so you would or you will I will okay and uh when does your term in for Metro uh
Health Foundation uh two years from now when this comes effective you will
you step down yes and i' I've expressed that to the leadership at the foundation
as well that's up to the chair if he wants to require a letter that okay and then my other question would be uh can
you please describe for us the process in which you as a candidate for the Board of Trustees goes through to get
the approval from the probate court and commment pleas administrative judges I don't think we've ever asked oh um with
both judges I sat down for a half hour inperson interview um they asked me questions about um you know the current
the current challenges obviously facing Metro um and you know how I would
approach them so I met with both of them um at the end of last year I believe
thank you just can you identify him for the public outside the longest serving
judges yes judge Russo um
and I'm sorry I it used to be G to be satula who's the
L satula thank you sorry I knew it was right there okay that's just for that's
a process here and there's a step that the uh judicial branch of government has a role in this appointment process
chairman Gallagher thank you Mr chairman uh welcome I I apologize for uh my rant but
uh that's been on my mind for quite a long time and I since we've started and I think my colleagues that have been
with me from the beginning have known how important Metro Health has been not just myself but my colleagues and how
screwed up it was back in the day and things just didn't seem for whatever reason to get better then it started
getting better and then it got worse and it was just been this roller coaster and it's so important I think to all of us
to globally have a a direction in that hospital where everybody understands where we're going and the only thing
that I ask you that I ask anybody that we put on this board which I consider to be the most important appointments that
we do is just to be independent take a look at everything take a look around
and make your own judgment and that's what we depend on uh your your resume is
impressive uh I I have great hope that you'll you'll do the best that you possibly can I have no questions about
that the only thing I ask is be yourself make your own decisions thank you I intend
Johnson explanation for Steed firing and lawsuit
Posted on LinkedIn 2/5/2025:
Dr. Airica Powell-Steed,Ed.D, MBA, RN, CSSMBB,FACHE,FAAN filed her lawsuit against The MetroHealth System (Cleveland, OH) Board of Trustees yesterday over her unethical and illegal termination, and if you have the patience to read 46 detailed pages of allegations, boy did she get screwed merely because she insisted that the hospital not be involved in an unethical and illegal cover-up by the Board regarding its unethical and illegal termination of her predecessor Akram Boutros, MD.
The below excerpt from pages 16–17, at ¶¶ 66–70, of the Complaint calls out the details of Ernst & Young's resignation, which is stunning, there are no other words. A public Board that behaves this way should be indicted by the County Prosecutor pronto, after empaneling a special grand jury to investigate, IMO as a former grand jury foreman:
"Upon information and belief, after Steed expressed her concerns about missing/deleted records, on or about April of 2024, Ernst & Young ('E&Y') began to conduct an internal audit risk assessment for MetroHealth in which it was reported that there were concerns regarding deleted emails and missing public records related to the former CFO and other MetroHealth executives, which was a potential risk for criminal activity and potentially fraudulent activity.
"E&Y separately escalated this 'missing information' and 'deleted public records' concern to Steed on or about May of 2024. As part of this communication, E&Y indicated to Steed that they would be advising the Board that based on this concerning information revealed in the internal audit risk assessment, including the alleged deleted public records pertaining to the former CFO and other former executives, that they recommended a full forensic assessment be completed before they could move forward with the internal audit work.
"Upon information and belief, E&Y informed the Board both verbally and in writing in June 2024 that it could not do any further work on its internal audit risk assessment without a full forensic audit and review of all information related to the missing information.
"Steed requested that MetroHealth comply with E&Y's request, and the Board overruled this request, obstructing the internal audit and forensic computer record investigation. The Board elected not to approve a resolution to move forward with the forensic audit based on E&Y's recommendations despite the resolution being drafted for Board approval.
"Thereafter, E&Y formally resigned from the MetroHealth risk audit and any further internal audit work for MetroHealth based on concerns with the Board's failure to move forward with the forensic audit recommendations and conduct a completely independent review without Board interference."
Airica Steed gets the homestead exemption
check for yourself
Homestead exemption for Steed is crazy
I don't think her husband is even 65 - and the incomes of Steed and her husband are way more than the threshold in Cuyahoga County. Good catch. You can thank
Ron O'Leary at the Board of Revision for this special play-along tax deal.
I don't defend this - but I do defend her against the party stink at the MetroHealth Board. Her attorneys name JOHN MOSS TAMIYKA ROSE E. HARRY WALKER, M.D LAURA SONJA RAJKI MCBRIDE SARAH PARTINGTON ROBIN BARRE as defendants. She deserves her reputation back and an apology just as Dr. Boutros deserves respect and an apology. There is no fair compensation for what they both went through at the hands of a political board.
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