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When Kenneth Hanover replaces Jack Cook on May 1 as president and CEO of the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, the board of the area's largest hospital system also will take on a new role.
Chairman Robert Kanter said trustees will become less involved in operations once Hanover joins the Health Alliance.
"With Ken, I think we will evolve into a true governing board that sets policy and lets the CEO carry the ball," Kanter said.
Major challenges face the $1 billion hospital group that includes Christ, University, St Luke, Jewish and Fort Hamilton hospitals. The system posted operating losses in the tens of millions the last three years, including $15.9 million in 2000.
"I think the primary concern (Hanover) has to face is how do you stem that tide of red ink," said Kenneth Shewmon, principal with the consulting company The Exemplar Group.
Hanover also will face the challenge of working with a board of directors that at times, has had difficulty acting in unison.
With the Health Alliance's board composed of four trustees from each of the system's five hospitals, Kanter said someone from outside the community will have an easier time developing a plan to grow the entire system than someone inside the system who is tied to an individual hospital. To achieve that goal, Hanover may have to cut certain programs from some Health Alliance hospitals and leave them at others, Kanter said.
"There are...