Memorial Healthcare System’s board of directors voted unanimously to terminate Chief Executive Officer Scott Wester’s contract, effective Wednesday.
The board hired Wester as CEO in July 2022 under a three-year contract to run the health system, which has more than 17,000 employees and includes six South Broward hospitals and a new freestanding cancer center. On Wednesday night, the board terminated Wester’s contract a year early.
“When we hired him, we felt he would help us with Memorial’s strategy and future,” board chair Elizabeth Justen said. “Unfortunately, two years later, the strategic plan he presented was not good, and we told him it wasn’t what we expected. We valued him, and we were disappointed in him, and he knew it.”
The Memorial Healthcare System is funded by taxpayers and is comprised of Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, Memorial Regional Hospital South in Hollywood, Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines, Memorial Hospital in Miramar, Memorial Hospital in Pembroke, and numerous auxiliary facilities, including nursing homes and urgent care centers.
Justen said the board and Wester did not see eye-to-eye on how to transition the large, growing hospital system into the future. “Wester had no vision. When I asked him what his vision was, he couldn’t articulate anything,” Justen said. Wester moved to Broward County from Louisiana. Board members said Wester had good values and understood health care, but struggled to adapt to the diverse and fast-paced nature of the South Florida region.
“He wasn’t the right fit,” Justin said.
Wester said he learned of the board’s dissatisfaction Monday night and submitted his resignation Wednesday night. Wester’s annual salary is $1.47 million and he will receive his salary for the remaining year of his contract.
“Memorial Health System is a fantastic organization that has done so much to help the people of South Broward and all of South Florida,” Wester said. “I couldn’t be more proud of my leadership team and all that we’ve accomplished together. I believe deeply in Memorial and will always do my best to support the organization in any way I can.”
Wester said he’s unsure of his next move but wants to stay in the health care field. “It’s time to reevaluate and recharge. I don’t know where this path will lead me. Leadership is knowing when it’s time to take a different path.”
David Smith, the company’s chief administrative and financial officer, will take over as interim CEO. Justen said the board will meet to discuss a strategy for finding a new CEO.
Board members told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that their mission is to ensure quality health care for Broward County residents, and that despite the leadership changes, the health system remains well-positioned to serve everyone who needs care.
“We’re financially strong and well-positioned as a system to meet the needs of the community,” said Laura Rabin Miller, who has served on the Memorial Hospital board for 25 years. “We have 400 leaders in our hospital, so one person has never been an issue. We’re not going to fail.”
“We’ve been focused on providing care in a more cost-effective way for the last two years,” Rayvin Miller said. “Going forward, I think we need to focus on access to primary care in our community.”
Rayvin Miller also said she would like to again explore opportunities for Broward Health (known as the North Broward Hospital District) and Memorial (known as the South Broward Hospital District) to work together. The boards of both systems met shortly after Wester became director, but have not met since.
“We are open to exploring mutual synergies and initiatives,” she said.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com
First published: September 12, 2024, 12:03 PM
