Beaumont Health announces appointment of John T. Fox as president and chief executive officer

The Beaumont Health Board of Directors has announced the appointment of John T. Fox as president and chief

John Fox

executive officer of Beaumont Health. Fox will join the organization in March.

“John Fox is one of the most recognized leaders in all of health care today,” says John D. Lewis, chairman of the board, Beaumont Health. “Over the past 15 years, he has led Emory Healthcare to become one of the top-rated health systems in the country for quality and patient safety. John and his team's recent work in successfully caring for Ebola patients and their families further established Emory’s reputation for outstanding care. We are fortunate to have such a well-respected and experienced CEO to lead Beaumont Health. Our board, leadership team, physicians, nurses and staff all look forward to partnering with him to lead us into the future during this dynamic, exciting time in health care."

Fox has more than 30 years of experience leading large, complex integrated health systems and academic medical centers. He joined Emory Healthcare in 1999 as chief operating officer and became CEO in 2002. Emory Healthcare is the largest and most comprehensive health system in Georgia with $2.7 billion in revenue. In 2013, Emory's two largest hospitals were ranked No. 2 and No. 3 nationally among all hospitals in the University HealthSystem Consortium Quality and Accountability Study. Prior to joining Emory, Fox was executive vice president of Clarian Health, now known as IU Health, in Indianapolis. Before that, he served as vice president and chief financial officer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. As an MBA and CPA, Fox began his career at Coopers and Lybrand, working in health care consulting. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis and his MBA from the University of Cincinnati.

“I am honored to have this opportunity to work with the outstanding team at Beaumont Health,” says Fox. “The accomplishments and reputation of all three founding organizations have been known to me for many years. The prospect of working together to build an integrated, high-performance system for the future is very exciting.”

In his new role, Fox will be responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership for the new health system, which was officially formed in September 2014 through an affiliation involving Beaumont Health System, Oakwood Healthcare and Botsford Health Care. Initially, he will focus on developing strategies to sustain and grow Beaumont Health as a regionally and nationally renowned health system. The new organization’s focus is on improving the value of health care services by delivering high quality, well-coordinated patient care at the right time in the right setting at an affordable cost, to improve the health, well-being, and outcomes of all patients served.

“John Fox is a remarkable CEO who has experience in creating a well-balanced health system blending an academic medical center with a network of hospitals,” says David Wood, M.D., chief medical officer, Beaumont Health. “He understands how to work with insurers and physician organizations on achieving population health goals. He will bring a fresh perspective with new ideas to health care in Southeast Michigan that will enhance the continuum of care for our community."

Fox will succeed Gene Michalski, initial president and CEO of Beaumont Health since June 2014, and president and CEO of Beaumont Health System since 2010.  Michalski will retire in 2015.

“On behalf of the Beaumont Health Board and the boards of our three founding health systems, I want to thank Gene for his many years of dedicated service to the organization and to our communities,” says Lewis. “His commitment has been truly exemplary and we congratulate him on his upcoming retirement. The successful formation of Beaumont Health is a fitting capstone to his remarkable and successful career.”

After the formation of Beaumont Health, the system’s new 14-member board of directors began a comprehensive national search to identify a new CEO for the organization.  A search committee was formed with representation from the three founding health systems. The process was led by the executive search firm Korn Ferry.

“We interviewed several exceptional health care leaders and were impressed with the high quality of candidates,” explains Lewis. “In the end, we are very confident that John Fox is the right person to lead us.”

The retirement of Michalski, a resident of Oakland Township, caps off his 44-year health care career that began at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak in 1971 working in

Gene Michalski

the laboratory.

Michalski was appointed as Beaumont Health System’s fifth president and chief executive officer on June 1, 2010. He served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Beaumont Health System from 2006 to 2010, and as senior vice president and hospital director of Beaumont Hospital, Troy from 1997 to 2006. Prior to that, he served as a senior associate hospital director, associate hospital director, assistant hospital director and administrative assistant at Beaumont.

Michalski left Beaumont to serve as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Saint Francis Hospital, Evanston, Illinois, from 1992 to 1996.

During his Beaumont career, Michalski led major facility expansions at the Royal Oak and Troy hospitals; created a new ambulatory care division; oversaw the transition of Bon Secours Hospital into Beaumont, Grosse Pointe; and formed successful centers of excellence that enhanced quality and strategic growth. His leadership contributed to Beaumont, Royal Oak being named the No. 1 hospital in Michigan by U.S. News & World Report in 2014 and a long list of other regional and national quality accolades.

 About Beaumont Health

Beaumont Health, a not-for-profit organization, was formed by the affiliation of Beaumont Health System, Botsford Health Care, and Oakwood Healthcare Inc. with a goal of providing high quality, efficient, accessible services in a caring environment for Southeastern Michigan residents and beyond.  The organization has net revenues of nearly $4 billion and consists of eight hospitals with 3,337 beds, 153 outpatient sites, 5,000 physicians, more than 33,000 employees and 3,500 volunteers.  Beaumont, Royal Oak is the No. 1 hospital in Michigan with 10 national specialty rankings from U.S. News & World Report and is ranked No .4 nationally in the 2014 University HealthSystem Consortium Quality and Accountability Study. Beaumont, Royal Oak and Troy have earned Magnet designation for nursing excellence.

Beaumont, Botsford Heatlh Care and Oakwood Healthcare agree to merge

ROYAL OAK, Mich., DEARBORN, Mich. and FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., March 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Beaumont Health System, Botsford Health Care and Oakwood Healthcare have signed a letter of intent and begun exclusive negotiations about combining their operations into a new health care system.

The boards of the three not-for-profit organizations have approved a letter of intent calling for formation of a new, $3.8 billion health system that would combine assets, liabilities and operations under unified executive and board leadership. The new system would integrate their combined eight hospitals and 153 other patient care sites into a comprehensive and collaborative health care network focused on advancing quality of care and access to care for people throughout the region.

The three organizations have begun the negotiation of a definitive agreement and due diligence discussions aimed at creating the new, not-for-profit health system.

"We are three successful health care organizations driven by a shared desire to collectively build upon our success in improving quality, efficiency and value in health care delivery," says Gene Michalski, CEO of Beaumont Health System. "By combining our strengths, resources, experience and capabilities, we'll be well positioned to meet future health care challenges while expanding access to high-quality, high-value care for patients throughout the region."

"This is really all about improving patient care for men, women and children in our respective communities," says Brian Connolly, president and CEO of Oakwood Healthcare. "If we join forces, we can and we will use quality data and standardized best-practice treatment protocols across the continuum of care for improved health and greater value for the families we serve."

"Physician collaboration and integration is a key priority for all three of our organizations," says Paul LaCasse, D.O., MPH, president and CEO, Botsford Health Care. "We will use our combined resources to work collaboratively with our physicians. Employed and private-practice allopathic and osteopathic physicians will be partners in the creation of our new organization."

Goals of the new organization include:

• improving the value of health care services through processes that deliver high quality, well-coordinated patient care at the right time in the right setting at an affordable cost
• improving the health, well-being and outcomes of patient populations
• improving care efficiency and patient safety by integrating patients' medical records for easy access by caregivers across all settings of care
• improving operational efficiency by lowering and spreading costs over a larger system and through group purchasing of supplies and equipment

The new organization will be governed by a single board and executive leadership structure with representation from the three organizations. John Lewis, Oakwood chairman of the board, will serve as the initial board chair. Gene Michalski, Beaumont CEO, will serve as the initial CEO for the new combined organization. Michalski, Oakwood CEO Brian Connolly and Botsford CEO Paul LaCasse will all serve on the CEO Council, overseeing the transition and implementation of the new system. Michalski will chair the CEO Council. Connolly and LaCasse will remain as president and CEO of their respective organizations during the period of transition. Connolly will also serve as transition executive on behalf of the CEO Council.

A system-wide Clinical Leadership Council, including physicians, nurses and other health providers, led by physicians, will develop and drive physician alignment and integration. This group will advise the CEO Council for all medical matters. The organizations' medical staffs will remain separate.

All three organizations will also maintain their existing medical school relationships.

A letter of intent is an agreement that signals the desire of the organizations to enter into a new partnership. It begins the process of negotiating a definitive agreement and conducting "due diligence," during which representatives from the systems work closely together to explore how best to bring the organizations together.

The new health system will not be final until due diligence is completed, the boards of the three organizations approve a definitive agreement and after appropriate regulatory approvals.

Beaumont Health System

Beaumont Health System is a three-hospital regional health system with 1,778 licensed beds, more than 14,000 full-time equivalent employees and nearly 3,100 physicians, including 500 employed physicians in the Beaumont Medical Group and more than 2,600 private-practice physicians. In addition to its hospitals in Royal Oak, Troy and Grosse Pointe, Beaumont has numerous community-based medical centers in Oakland, Macomband Wayne counties, family practice and internal medicine practices, five nursing centers, a research institute, home care services and hospice.  Beaumont is the exclusive clinical teaching site for the new Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. Visit Beaumont on the web at www.beaumont.edu.

Botsford Health Care

Botsford Health Care is an integrated health care system including Botsford Hospital,Botsford Commons Senior Community and Community Emergency Medical Service. Botsford Hospital is a 330-bed hospital and verified trauma center located in Farmington Hills. Each year Botsford cares for more than 16,000 inpatients and 60,000 emergency trauma patients with 2,500 employees, 300 volunteers and more than 600 physicians.  The hospital is home to an extensive medical education program affiliated with Michigan State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine. Botsford Commons Senior Community, located in Farmington Hills, provides a variety of residential choices for the elderly: independent living in condominiums and apartments, a senior assisted living center and a rehabilitation and continuing care center. Community Emergency Medical Service provides ambulance transportation, emergency and non-emergency treatment along with educational services to healthcare organizations, municipalities and communities throughout Southeastern Michigan. Visit botsford.org, facebook.com/botsford hospital.

Oakwood Healthcare

Oakwood Healthcare is an independent, not-for-profit health care organization committed to improving the health and well-being of the individuals and communities in Wayne County. As one of the largest employers in the county, Oakwood provides acute, specialty, primary and preventative care services backed by excellence in research and education. With four acute care hospitals and more than 50 outpatient facilities, Oakwood's 9,000 employees and 1,300 physicians represent nearly every medical and surgical specialty and subspecialty. Oakwood was also a finalist for the 2011 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

SOURCE Beaumont Health System; Oakwood Healthcare; Botsford Health Care