“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.”
In an interview, Steed said the board did not raise any concerns to her about her performance. She said she found out about her termination through media reports.
Steed came to MetroHealth from Sinai Chicago Health System. She stepped into the president and CEO role a month earlier than planned after MetroHealth’s board of trustees fired outgoing President and CEO Dr. Akram Boutros for allegedly awarding himself $1.9 million in unauthorized bonuses.
Steed, in the interview, said she raised concerns to the board about its handling of Boutros’ case, alleging the board tampered with evidence in an independent assessment of Boutros’ termination and deleted files that would support his claims the board knew about the bonus program.
“I was in an ethical crisis from the start, and I’ve been trying to navigate through it,” Steed said.
Steed also alleged she and other people of color in senior leadership were subjected to racial remarks and slurs and the board ignored those complaints.
“I have been undermined from the start, set up for failure,” Steed said. “They’re trying to package this as being a performance issue, but ... I raised concerns, and then now they’re retaliating because I raised them.”
In a news release Friday night by attorney F. Allen Boseman, Jr., of the Sherman Boseman Legal Group, Boseman said Steed "will be exploring all of her options, including legal action.”
In a statement to Modern Healthcare, Walker, MetroHealth's board chair, said, “We are not going to engage in a tit-for-tat with Dr. Steed. This was purely an issue of the CEO’s failure to perform and entirely based on her direct interactions with the Board of Trustees.”
Steed’s firing comes at a difficult time for the county’s health system. Earlier this week, acting President and CEO Alexander-Rager sent a memo to employees that the system would be trimming costs in response to its disappointing 2024 financial performance, according to a report by Ideastream.
Hospital and healthcare systems across the country are facing intense financial pressures, workforce challenges and increased demand for care.
The story first appeared in Crain's Cleveland Business.
