HMS Official Takes Beth Israel Helm

Paul F. Levy, a top administrator at the Harvard Medical School (HMS), has been named president and CEO of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in an effort to save Harvard’s premier, but financially troubled, teaching hospital from sale or collapse.

More than 20 percent of Harvard’s medical students train at Beth Israel Deaconess, which has lost at least $50 million each of the past three years and was in danger of being sold to a for-profit health corporation.

Harvard is affiliated with, but does not own, the hospital.

Levy, who served as the executive dean for administration at HMS and oversaw Harvard’s relations with its teaching hospitals, revealed on Monday—his first day in his new post—that the hospital’s parent company CareGroup had considered selling Beth Israel Deaconess to a for-profit health care corporation, a move likely to cause Harvard to reconsider its affiliation with the hospital.

Colleagues and officials at HMS welcomed Levy’s appointment, expressing the hope that the hospital’s new president could save the institution while safeguarding its educational mission.

In a letter to faculty and staff, HMS Dean Joseph P. Martin wrote that while he will miss Levy’s presence at the medical school, his move to Beth Israel Deaconess would ultimately benefit Harvard.

“We will all be stronger in the long-term if Paul lends his leadership prowess to Beth Israel Deaconess at this time,” Martin wrote.

The Beth Israel Deaconess is “important to our collective academic mission and Paul has the right skills to lead it,” he said.

HMS spokesperson Don L. Gibbons said that Martin, Levy and others at HMS had been carefully monitoring Beth Israel Deaconess’ attempts to right its ship. Martin, Gibbons said, became aware in recent weeks that a sale to a for-profit company was possible.

The medical school’s associate dean for planning, Eric Buehrens, said a for-profit Beth Israel Deaconess would pose serious challenges to the Harvard’s educational mission.

Teaching hospitals have traditionally been charitable organizations, and there is a perception that a for-profit hospital would have an excessive reliance on the bottom line.

Levy, Harvard officials said, was brought to Beth Israel Deaconess to make tough cuts and impose the fiscal responsibility for the hospital to remain solvent.

The hospital’s massive deficits in recent years prompted the firing of the hospital’s previous CEO this summer and the resignation of its president several weeks later.

Levy has been appointed to both posts, and on Monday signaled his intention to carry through with layoffs and reapportion resources. Levy is known for his managerial ability and willingness to make tough choices.

Levy’s appointment reflects the University’s more active role in dealing with the troubled hospital.

Levy previously sat on a Beth Israel Deaconess steering committee, and Martin co-chaired the search committee that picked him.

Buehrens, who will assume many of Levy’s former duties as a liaison with Harvard’s affiliates, said that HMS will continue to consult with Beth Israel Deaconess as Levy contemplates his first moves.

Beyond the medical school, there are also signs that the new University administration is paying close attention to how events play out on HMS’s Longwood campus.

According to Buehrens, University President Lawrence H. Summers and Martin have been meeting on and off, and have discussed Beth Israel Deaconess’ troubles.

Newly appointed University Provost Steven E. Hyman indicated that he and Summers were very concerned with the hospital’s health.

“I am going to pay a great deal of attention to this issue,” said Hyman, a former HMS professor. “We can’t afford for this hospital to incur substantial damage.”

Hyman said that he and Summers were pleased with Levy’s appointment as well, calling him “the man who can save the Beth Israel.”

Hyman said he and Summers would primarily be involved in retaining HMS faculty based at the troubled hospital.

“We want Levy and Martin to know that we’re available to help effort to retain key faculty members and researchers,” Hyman said.

In addition to stressing the importance of Beth Israel Deaconess’ health for the medical school’s educational mission, Summers has been speaking out about a vision for a biomedical version of Silicon Valley, centered around Harvard and Boston.

In a speech at Beth Israel Deaconess, Summers said that Harvard had

“a remarkable opportunity” to become a leading center of “biomedical research and thought.”

Hyman said the health of Harvard’s teaching hospitals would be central to any such effort.

—Staff writer David H. Gellis can be reached at gellis@fas.harvard.edu.