EMMC seeks new leader as former CEO focuses energies behind the scenes

BANGOR – The search is under way for a new chief executive officer at Maine’s second-largest hospital, Eastern Maine Medical Center.

Former CEO Norman Ledwin said in a recent interview that it will be “an optimistic and energetic search, with all hands on board to interview the candidates.” The goal is to name a new hospital CEO by the end of June.

Ledwin vacated the hospital CEO position in January but continues as CEO and president of EMMC’s parent company, Eastern Maine Healthcare, as well as of the overarching Eastern Maine Healthcare System. Deborah Johnson, chief operations officer, is the acting hospital CEO.

A national executive search firm has been engaged to help identify appropriate candidates from within the institution as well as from other environments. Candidates will interview extensively within the organization. Ledwin and EMMC board Chairman George Eaton will make a recommendation to the hospital board, and the board will make the final decision.

Of primary importance, Ledwin said, is finding “someone who will fit with the culture of the system.”

“We want them to be as interested and excited about coming here as we are about having them,” he said. Key to that enthusiasm, he said, is conveying to interested candidates the recent improvements in patient services.

Ledwin said the growth in the number of hospital-employed physicians, the construction of a new dialysis center in Lincoln, bricks-and-mortar additions to the hospital campus in Bangor, and the computerization of patient records are all indicators of the organization’s commitment to meeting the health needs of the region.

Ledwin announced his decision to leave the EMMC position in January at the annual meeting of the EMH incorporators, a broad-based group of about 500 community representatives charged with electing board members. The meeting had become the focal point of a deep-seated conflict between hospital administrators, board leaders and a group of area physicians attempting to upset long-standing dynamics they claimed negatively affected physician practices and health care delivery in the area.

Ledwin’s announcement was seen by some as a victory for the “good governance” physicians. Others speculated that the powerful executive’s move places him in a less visible and less accountable position without diminishing his influence.

But Ledwin maintains his new focus on the larger organization is simply the realization of a plan established several years ago by board members.

Eastern Maine Healthcare System was incorporated in 1999 to provide a corporate parent to all the entities affiliated with Eastern Maine Healthcare. Several affiliated organizations – including The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle and Sebasticook Hospital in Pittsfield – had not come directly under the EMH governance umbrella. Clinical and administrative operations varied widely from facility to facility.

With the health care industry growing ever more complicated and fragmented, Ledwin said the time is right to provide for greater uniformity and efficiency within the entire system, one focus of his position at the helm of the overarching corporation.

The change will spread administrative costs over a larger base, while standardizing patient care, safety protocols, and administrative operations, Ledwin explained. It will allow patients to move easily and safely from one facility or level of care to another without the risk of losing records, the inconvenience of re-registering or the fear of receiving conflicting treatments, he said.

“It brings to the table a level of sophistication in planning, finance and information services that most hospitals and doctors offices could not afford if they weren’t in the system,” he said.

The organizational tier that is EMH will eventually be absorbed into EMHS and its board dissolved, Ledwin said. He would not speculate as to a time frame for the transition.

Ledwin said the most important thing for people to know is that comprehensive health care services will continue to be available in the northern half of Maine.

“When you start talking about all the esoteric business stuff, people in the community don’t relate to that,” he said.

Ledwin also will spend a good part of his time in Augusta, helping to guide the work of establishing a statewide network of hospitals and providers under the provisions of Gov. John Baldacci’s Dirigo Health reforms.

“It’s our belief that the citizens of this region deserve the very best that we can provide. And why shouldn’t they have the very best? Why should somebody in Massachusetts or Kentucky have something that we don’t have, so long as it fits within quality and fiscal responsibility?” he asked.

Some very specialized services, such as burn treatment or limb reattachment, may best be provided outside the state, he said.

“Could EMMC do heart transplants – absolutely. Is it fiscally responsible? Probably not. Does it deliver the best quality product that we could give to the patients in this area? Probably not, because we wouldn’t do that many because there’s not enough volume. … I think we have a moral responsibility as a system to direct people in the appropriate way where there is good quality and reasonable price,” he said.

Ledwin, who serves on the EMMC, EMH and EMHS boards, said he expects the recent appointment of new board members, sponsored by the “good governance” doctors’ group, will cause him no difficulty in his new leadership position.

“Despite what you might hear in the hinterlands, management does not set policy. The board sets the direction of an organization, be it a system or an institution of the system. The CEO and executive staff works for the board and the board judges us in how well we implement its policies.

“My view is that I can work with anyone,” Ledwin said.