MDs vote to rebuff hospital's executive

Parent company says Beverly CEO has its support

In a private meeting, doctors at Beverly Hospital have taken a vote of no confidence in its chief executive, Stephen R. Laverty, citing frustration with his management.

The unusual step, made three weeks ago and acknowledged by hospital officials this week, was prompted by Laverty's alleged lack of communication and support in recent years, said several doctors who attended the April 29 meeting at the hospital.

"There's been a lot of cumulative dissatisfaction with how the physicians have been dealt with over a period of years in a variety of departments," said Dr. Harriet A. Bering, an oncologist who was at the meeting. "People had the same frustrations with incidents in which they hadn't been included in the decision-making process."

Dr. Brenda E. Richardson, a nutritionist who works part time at Beverly Hospital and who was at the meeting, said, "It's really hitting the fan. You've got a lot of very unhappy physicians."

There are about 600 physicians on the medical staff, including those from outside medical groups. Many doctors did not attend the meeting, and the vote was not unanimous.

The expression of dissatisfaction isn't binding and does not require Laverty or the hospital's trustees to respond. Still, the vote puts pressure on Laverty and the board to make changes and improve relations with doctors.

"A vote of no confidence from the medical staff is the nuclear option in every healthcare system," said Dr. Marc A. Bard, a partner at Bard Group, a Needham management-consulting firm that works with hospitals. "They are quite rare, and in my experience they represent a chronic lack of attention to the issues of the medical staff rather than a response to an acute egregious act. In my experience, they are often fatal for the leadership."

Laverty declined to comment.

Nancy Palmer, chairwoman of Northeast Hospital Corp., the parent company of Beverly Hospital and part of Northeast Health Systems Inc., said Laverty "is an asset to Northeast Hospital Corp. and he has our support."

She added, "We are anxious to meet with the doctors to resolve these issues. We understand the seriousness of their concerns and we'd work with them to resolve it." A meeting between hospital administration and the staff is possible next week, Palmer said.

The vote came at a crucial time for the 221-bed hospital, because competition is heating up in the North Shore communities it serves. In a $50 million expansion set to be completed next spring, Lahey Clinic of Burlington is adding 65,000 square feet and improving cancer treatment, orthopedic surgery, and emergency services at its Peabody facility. It is also adding treatment for sleep disorders, spine ailments, and pain.

Massachusetts General Hospital and North Shore Medical Center, both members of Partners HealthCare System Inc., are building a 200,000-square-foot outpatient center in Danvers. It will include specialties in oncology, cardiac care, outpatient surgery, and high-tech imaging and is slated to open in June 2009.

Laverty has been a fixture on the Boston-area medical scene for more than 20 years. For six years ending in 1998, he was chief executive at Winchester Hospital. During that time, he formed an affiliation with Children's Hospital Boston. He joined Children's as president and chief operating officer in July 1998.

The following year, Children's longtime chief executive, David S. Weiner, resigned. But rather than offer the top job to Laverty, the institution's trustees said they wanted a physician to be chief executive.

Laverty resigned in December 1999. He joined Beverly Hospital and Northeast Health Systems in September 2000.

Northeast was formed by the merger of Beverly Hospital and Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester. The community chain also owns mental health and outpatient facilities.

Laverty scored a significant victory for his physicians in early 2007, after Partners ejected Beverly's doctors from its large network of physicians, Partners Community HealthCare Inc. Beverly claimed it was a retaliatory move because its doctors had made referrals outside of the Partners network. A Partners official said keeping patients within its network would reduce medical errors.

Because the Partners network negotiates better payments from insurers than smaller groups, Beverly's doctors were facing pay cuts. But through negotiations with insurers, Laverty won them a three-year contract at substantially the same rates they were receiving from Partners.

Still, some doctors who participated in last month's vote said they have accumulated grievances during Laverty's tenure. For instance, they said they were not properly consulted a few years ago when Beverly Hospital ended a successful cancer treatment program with North Shore Medical Center, replacing it with a similar program through Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

"If you're going to establish a relationship with another institution, you'd like to have the physicians on board with that and have them enthusiastic about it, instead of undercutting them," said Dr. Sydney Wedmore, a longtime staffer who helped engineer the merger of Beverly and Addison Gilbert hospitals.

Wedmore said no single event turned doctors against Laverty, but an accumulation of smaller perceived slights.

"Things have been marinating and simmering in silence," he said.

Jeffrey Krasner can be reached at krasner@globe.com.