After months of acrimony and personality clashes at the University of Maryland Medical System, the board chairman and nine other directors resigned yesterday, and the remaining members installed new leadership at the health care powerhouse that oversees hospitals in Baltimore and around the state.
The board shake-up follows disagreements between some board members and Gov. Martin O'Malley over what they perceive as the governor's attempt to politicize the board and also between physicians and former Chief Executive Officer Edmond F. Notebaert over concerns that he ignored their interests. Notebaert announced last month that he would retire at the beginning of this month.
Tensions culminated yesterday with the resignation of Chairman John C. Erickson, who handed the gavel on an interim basis to Michael E. Busch, speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates and one of three board members from the General Assembly. Nine other members of the 27-person board also left, some in solidarity with Erickson, according to people who attended the meeting.
The remaining board members then chose Robert A. Chrencik, the chief financial officer, to step into the CEO role while they launch a national search for a permanent chief. In doing so, the board had to formally rescind an offer for the job to John P. McDaniel, who retired this year as CEO of the hospital system MedStar Health. McDaniel had been chosen by a slim majority of the board just two weeks ago.
"There were a lot of people who respected each other on both sides of the issue. Unfortunately, it had a sad ending," Busch said in an interview after the 31/2-hour closed-door meeting. "But with a reconstituted board and some new members, hopefully we can put the hospital system and the medical school back on track."
The turmoil has clouded the future of the University of Maryland Medical System, which underpins the local economy as the one of the state's largest private employers and delivers health care at hospitals and specialty facilities from the city to the Eastern Shore. The medical system also plays a critical role in educating many of the state's physicians.
The University of Maryland Medical Center, which is under the system, is one of the nation's oldest teaching hospitals. All of its doctors are faculty members at the university's medical school.
