OMG – Nabil El Sanadi’s First 5 Months!

‘I’ve taken a little time since my last post to talk with a few Broward Health Board members, some senior Broward Health physicians, and some notably well informed people who work for or with Broward Health.  The consensus picture they paint of Dr. Nabil El Sanadi’s first 5 months as CEO is peppered by his apparent arrogant administrative miss-steps, ‘discretionary’ spending seemingly more befitting a drunken sailor, a rumored lack of confidence vote by the medical staff, and ostensible team busting organizational paranoia that even by Broward Health standards is remarkable.  It appears that Dr. El Sanadi’s lack of experience as a CEO and possible narcissistic personality is threatening the very health of the Broward Health organization and its ability to overcome challenges and take advantage of unique opportunities to serve the health needs of Broward County.

DoAsISayAbsent transparency in Dr. El Sanadi’s actions, any public debate or even disclosure of his “strategic plan”, and the complete apparent absence of responsible oversight by Governor Scott’s appointed Broward Health board, we should all be concerned.

It is in this context that I decided to write Dr. El Sanadi the following open letter, and invite him to similarly respond.

Dear Dr. El Sanadi,

It is obvious that I have been openly critical of how you have appeared to have “bought” your appointment as CEO through your political connections and extensive political contributions as opposed to your experience and abilities to administer and manage one of the largest public hospital systems in America.  But regardless of how you arrived at your current position, here you are, and in spite of some putative initial missteps – you have the ability to change the criticisms to praise through your actions.

But first you have to lose your semblant paranoia, embrace the potential of the many diverse voices at Broward Health and have the personal strength of character to surround yourself with people who are smarter and more experienced then you are.   Learn to work with those that disagree with you.  Use their thoughts and energy to polish your ideas and vision.  Above all, make them feel secure in their candor.  Stop talking about being transparent.  Be transparent.  It’s ok to make some mistakes in the beginning.  It’s even expected.  Admit them quickly, bring people together and move on.  Be confident.  Embrace humility.

Understand that Broward Health is not a private hospital system that receives tax-assistance for indigent care, but rather an important public enterprise that not only exists to serve the public health needs of our community but also has grown to be an important Broward economic engine that must be protected.

last-resort-customer-serviceUnderstand that criticisms of you, your actions, and your conduct are not personal, but rather are job related, and goes with your public position.  Don’t be afraid to agree with your critics when they “accidently” get it right, and stop ostensibly promoting yourself and start promoting Broward Health, its 8,000 employees, and its future potential to more fully serve Broward County.  Your apparent self-promotion is becoming embarrassing, and way too political for a CEO.

That said, I would encourage you to complete some important initiatives that had started before you became CEO.  Two of more than 12 identified initiatives are:

  1. The establishment of an intensivist program at Broward Health Medical Center and Broward Health North ICUs. The previous 4 board of commissioners have supported this important standard of care for Broward Health and at the time of your appointment – there was ongoing, but incomplete negotiations for a program at Broward Medical Center. The intensivist program standard is, as you know, a board certified critical care physician on site (not on call) for every 15-24 occupied ICU beds.  It means that the highly qualified ICU nursing staff will never again have to tell a patient or family that they are waiting on doctor’s orders.  You should know that Broward Health will be among the last hospitals in Broward to adopt this standard of medical care for those most in need.  Further, every study on ICU care concludes that on-site intensivists saves lives.  The reverse is similarly true.  The absence of an ICU intensivist costs lives.
  2. Centralized credentialing of Physicians. Currently credentialing paperwork is centralized at the new Spectrum center.  That is only the first step.  The end game is that the credentialing committee should be comprised of the chief of Medical Staffs from each hospital, and once a physician is credentialed for any Broward Health hospital – they are credentialed at all Broward Health hospitals.  This will immediately create community viability for all of Broward Health, and address the seeming historic problems of particular specialty deficits at any given hospital at any given time.  As an accomplished clinician, this should be a no brainer for you.

Dr. El Sanadi, it been more than 5 months.  Ostensibly, it’s time to show more than your press clippings, and your political letters of support to the Governor.  Interviews and ribbon cutting just isn’t enough!  Do the job, and if you can’t – then go away.

If you wish to respond to this open letter, please remember that I published your vision unedited, and I will similarly publish your response unedited.

Sincerely,
Dan Lewis

poop-was-thereI’m trying to keep these posts a little shorter than some of my previous posts.  Here’s a peek about planned upcoming posts you won’t want to miss:

As Bette Davis said in “All about Eve”, “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night. Stay tuned.’

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