Three of Beaumont Health's top leaders are resigning from the health system as it works to merge with Spectrum Health.
Carolyn Wilson, who has served as Beaumont's chief operating officer since 2016, is leaving the system on Sept. 1. David Wood, Beaumont's chief medical officer, is departing on Sept. 30. Sam Flanders, chief quality officer, is leaving Aug. 6, according to an internal memo CEO John Fox sent to employees on Wednesday.
Flanders is leaving to become the chief quality officer for St. Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield, Mo. It's unclear if Wilson or Wood have other positions lined up.
It's also unclear if the executives resigned or were terminated. Beaumont declined to clarify their departure, citing the departures as a personnel matter.
Wilson and Wood, along with Fox who will remain with Beaumont, have been subject to calls for termination since last year when the health system attempted to merge with Illinois' Advocate Aurora Health.
Physicians, board members and some donors expressed displeasure with the proposed merger. A former board member called for their termination, while donors called for a meeting with the board to address the growing "crisis" at the eight-hospital system. Physicians also penned a letter to the board critical of management.
Beaumont and Advocate terminated the merger plan in October, blaming COVID-19 financial constraints, not internal unrest.
Wilson's duties will be split between Nancy Susick, president of Beaumont's Royal Oak hospital, and David Claeys, president of Beaumont's Dearborn and Farmington Hills operations. They will serve as co-COOs, Fox said in the memo.
A search to replace Wood will occur, Fox said in the memo. Flanders will be replaced by Jeff Ditkoff, the current chief safety officer the Royal Oak hospital.
The executive moves come only a month after Beaumont announced its intent to merge with Grand Rapids' Spectrum Health. Fox indicated in the memo that Wood is leaving as the system "finalizes" its new partnership with Spectrum, indicating the deal may close at the end of the third quarter of this year. Beaumont and Spectrum formally say the deal with close in the fall of this year.
The pair inked the letter of intent to explore a merger in June. The merger would create the state's largest health system with $12 billion in revenue and operating 22 hospitals and 305 outpatient locations. It would also create the largest employer in the state with 64,000 employees.
