Brigham official to run ailing Mass. Eye and Ear
John Fernandez has worked closely with doctors at Brigham and Women's Hospital for 14 years, making sure the business side of medicine runs smoothly -- and profitably.
Now Fernandez, 41, is taking on one of the most difficult administrative challenges in the Boston healthcare industry. Massachusetts Eye and Ear Institute said yesterday it has named the Brigham and Women's vice president of clinical services its chief executive.
Mass. Eye and Ear, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and renowned research institution, operates literally in the shadow of the much-larger Massachusetts General Hospital. And while the 42-bed institution has made money on investments, it has suffered operating losses because of the shift of eye surgery to outpatient surgical centers operated by doctors in Boston and the suburbs. The hospital has reported a $1 million profit in the 2006 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.
It considered merging with Mass. General this year, but talks were not fruitful and the board decided to go it alone. But Fernandez said Mass. Eye and Ear is not ruling out partnerships. The hospital also will seek ways to expand in the suburbs, but where and how extensively has not been determined, he said.
"Those questions are the exciting questions and why I wanted to take this job," he said. "I would look at all our options."
Fernandez will replace Curt Smith, who is resigning at the end of the year. Diane E. Kaneb, chairwoman of the hospital's board, said Fernandez's "collaborative working style and energetic personality" were key in his hiring.
Fernandez is a native of Philadelphia and a graduate of the College of Wooster , in Wooster, Ohio. He also received a master's in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania . Before joining Brigham and Women's, he was assistant administrator of the clinical AIDS program at Boston City Hospital, which is now Boston Medical Center .
He worked as the administrative leader in surgical specialties, radiology, and pathology at Brigham and Women's. He was instrumental in helping the hospital expand its programs into Faulkner Hospital, strengthened relationships with Dana-Farber, and developed partnerships with South Shore Hospital and Milford Regional Medical Center.
"John is the ideal individual to lead the next phase" of Mass. Eye and Ear's growth, Kaneb said.
He was recommended by a search committee after a nationwide search, said Paul Levy, chief executive of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a member of the panel.
The search committee was impressed with Fernandez's record of solving clinical and administrative problems, and his grasp of the marketplace challenges facing Mass. Eye and Ear, Levy said.
"It's not an easy task," he said. "A lot of the clinical work they do does not get particularly high reimbursements from insurance companies."
Christopher Rowland can be reached at crowland@globe.com. 
