The McDonough District Hospital Board of Directors voted to suspend hospital president and CEO Brian Dietz with pay pending an internal review.
Dietz’s salary is $550,000.
The board also chose to appoint Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Bill Murdock as “acting and interim” CEO.
The action came after the board held a nearly two-hour closed door meeting Thursday night, Dec. 28 to discuss a personnel matter, including “hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee.”
The vote to suspend Dietz was approved 7-1. Scott Clauson opposed it. The board then voted unanimously to appoint Murdock.
The board has scheduled another meeting for Jan. 2.
Community leaders speak out
Before the closed door session, Macomb Mayor Mike Inman and McDonough County Board Chairperson Scott Schwerer each addressed the board in open session.
Inman said that during his 25 years in elected office, he’s never addressed another local board. But he felt it was necessary in this case because of issues raised by employees in anonymous letters sent to city officials, county board members, and MDH board members.
At least eight such letters were written.
Schwerer told the board he had concerns about morale at the hospital and the number of long-time employees who are leaving. Schwerer said he has also been inundated with letters voicing concerns about hospital leadership.
The letters
Some of the letters are signed “MDH employees.” Others were unsigned. None named specific employees. “Regrettably, I cannot disclose my identity, for I must safeguard my livelihood,” reads one letter.
Several cite untenable working conditions. “His fear and intimidation based leadership style has caused a toxic work environment. No one in the organization has job security as long as he is here,” reads another letter. “We as a group are not allowed to have ideas or speak up in what we believe in without fear of retaliation. He makes rash decisions based on personal preference and emotion, instead of having difficult conversations.”
Letters also express concern about spending at the hospital.
“He has demonstrated reckless financial management, deviating from the well-thought-out spending plans that were previously in place at MDH,” reads another letter. That writer implored the hospital’s board to thoroughly review financial reports and ask questions.
Another letter states, “Brian Dietz is single-handedly destroying McDonough District Hospital. It’s an absolute tragedy, a devastating blow that will either bankrupt us or force us into the hands of another institution.”
Letters also complain about a recent 41% increase in health insurance premiums for MDH employees without prior notice.
One of the letters refers to a 2008 article in the South Bend Tribune that includes a photograph of Dietz posing in front of a Confederate flag. The newspaper story is about Dietz’s collection of Civil War items. In the story, Dietz is quoted as saying, “I’m of mixed sympathies, but mostly I lean toward the South.”
He also expressed admiration for both Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee.
More about Brian Dietz
Dietz came to Macomb in 2018 to lead MDH on an interim basis. After more than nine months on the job, Dietz said he enjoyed it so much in Macomb that he agreed to stay as the hospital's new President & Chief Executive Officer.
In an April 2019 interview with Tri States Public Radio, Dietz said he had “a five-year commitment” with MDH. He was paid $450,000 in the first year of the deal.
In a release at the time, MDH said Dietz previously worked with B.E. Smith as an interim CEO with INTEGRIS Bass Baptist Health Center in Enid, Oklahoma; he was CEO of Saint Francis Healthcare in Wilmington, Delaware; and he worked with healthcare facilities in several states.
At MDH, he replaced Kenny Boyd, who left for a health care job in Tennessee.
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