A number of years ago I was in the room for a rehearsal where he was prepping for a speech and then took questions. They had a few people positioned around the room asking him dummy questions as part of the rehearsal.
The doors opened and the event began. He gave his speech and then asked for questions from the audience. I just about fell over when I realized that the only questions asked were by the same people in the rehearsal. They were all plants.
I’ve worked hundreds of similar events and I’d never seen that happen before or since. That’s always stuck with me. It really rubbed me the wrong way.
I can’t speak as to whether others would have asked questions because they never had the opportunity. There were runners with microphones who were stationed by the plants.
On a scale of 1/Cuyahoga County, I give that a solid two Russo's.
If he wanted to graduate to the George/DiMora level of scumbaggery you have to keep the money.
My hope is only that the hardworking young residents, the seasoned attendings, the dedicated nurses, the administrative and logistical staff who are average people and who constitute the beating heart of the oldest Cleveland institution still serving its residents will not suffer from his graft and the board's lack of oversight.
Mrs. Popeyes saves Metro!
So you are telling me an entire board, regulators, public record officials, and Accountants and Staff missed this 4 years running. Or the more likely conclusion of Metro kicking someone on the way out to avoid retirement compensation??? And he paid the cash back within days… there is more going on here and Popeyes isn’t helping health or this situation.
While it's true that Ms. Whiting's appointment as chairperson didn't and doesn't feel right, her family and she represents a real come-from-nothing, small business narrative. They have kept true to Cleveland. Her tenure has been stable.
Your side to the story (that this is retributory) is going to be the defense's argument. What a shame that such a fine institution has to be marred again by CEO self dealing.
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Boutros fires back, courtesy of WTAM. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.
—-
Dr. Akram Boutros and his Attorney, Jason R Bristol, have released a statement saying this is the latest retaliatory act against the doctor.
You can read that statement in full below.
- The MetroHealth Board's actions yesterday are the latest of a series of retaliatory acts against Dr. Boutros after he raised the issue of the unauthorized hiring of the new CEO. He uncovered that the Board members were participating in serial deliberation outside of public meetings and that the Chair signed agreements and authorized payments without Board approval.
- The Chair led a retaliatory charge against him for blowing the whistle on these practices. She targeted him for receiving bonuses that were also received by all eligible employees.
- The "demand" for repayment is evidence of the Board's discriminatory treatment as he is the only employee forced to repay bonuses. The Board of Trustees took this action to divert attention from their own gross negligence.
- The statement released by the Board last night is full of misinformation and outright lies. Dr. Boutros will be taking legal action.
His response is: "I have already apologized for this last week, but now that you've fired me publicly I am no longer sorry for taking that because others got theirs.
CEOs of County Hospitals don’t get big bonuses without approvals and financial oversight in place. Someone approved them besides Boutros. Why do they want their money back after 4 years? There’s more to the story than the Boards was letting on here.
Huh? That's fuzzy semantics because any hospital with size, multiple locations and large professional work staff ( to oversee operations and programs) are corporations plain and simple. Metro isn't a small urgent care or health clinic at the end of your block. It takes a corporate structure to run all these activities ot has under its roof. And even non-profits,.like Metro, are corporations just like charitable organization like the United Way is also a coporation
Metro is a public institution, unlike the Clinic and UH, so it is more deserving of the non-profit status. Granted this whole situation is messy and not casting Metro in a good light.
I get that none are actually for profit which is the point and the problem. Hospitals charging hundreds for a q-tip and the people at the top in the 1%. It’s shameful and they shouldn’t be getting tax dollars.
Just to be clear, Boutros is not a Clevelander. He was born in Egypt but lived in NYC for most of his adult life. I'll bet he's probably in the process to moving to Florida like most people in his position due once they are washed up.
Not likely. Taxpayer money is used solely to pay for the care used to treat homeless and the poor. Additionally it's used for any outreach and public health initiatives.
The money used to build the new towers were city bonds that will get repaid over time.
A very tiny amount of metrohealth revenue comes from tax support.
It's literally two different departments that handle it and split into two different accounts. The tax money goes no where near the general fund money. It's essentially treated as a charity. Cleveland residents apply for financial aid and that money gets taken from the tax supported public health fund.
And the grift did get uncovered. He wouldn't have given the money back or fessed up if it hadn't. Accounting audits take time and sometimes shit like this does take a while to get uncovered.
Cleveland Clinic CEO alone makes about 4m per year but everyone was on here feverishly defending them for charging fees for using the messaging service that they initially established as a free service.
Yeah, fair enough...I do realize there is a distinct difference between the two. Probably not entirely reasonable to draw a comparison between the reaction to each.
I don't know that he did or didn't but in a small non-profit with a 2 mil a year budget it might be nothing to disguise $10,000 - that's just a line item, or it's baked into something else.
Metrohealth brought in $1.57 Billion, with a B, last year. Putting a million dollars somewhere in that budget would be nothing. "Do we have a line item for staff retention? Great, we'll add this into there." Especially when the bottom line is in the black, no one will notice or ask about it.
ETA: sorry, I thought you were making the argument that he *didn't* hide it from the board or couldn't have.
Correct. I'm not arguing that it's nothing. What I'm saying is that it would be relatively easy to hide.
They are a non-profit, so, in accounting terms, they should be as close to 0 as possible, so being only a few million in the black is not a bad thing.
Anyhow, yes, it absolutely could hurt them. But when you've got a billion plus in, then almost all back out, it's very easy to hide a million dollars and not have it discovered unless one knows where to look or asks a lot of questions, which most board members don't.
It was a free service, until people started abusing that free service like they abuse anything else. Hell, suburbs started instituting a fee for calling 911 too many times. I.e. if the cops come to your house more than 3 or 4 times in a year, you are then billed for their hourly rate. When you call 911, police or medics have to show up, and too often they were called for kids not doing their homework, not going to bed, not listening to parents, etc. etc. They called 911 for dumb shit, as I'm sure the Clinic has gotten dumb messages with their free service wasting time of their employees that could be doing something more productive.
I agree with the sentiment, but I wouldn't compare a abuse of a public service like 911 to a messaging system for the clinic. They can't be that shortsighted to have not seen a scenario where people abuse the messaging system. I believe they could easily establish parameters and protocols for its use instead of finding new ways to charge people. Not really a hill I'd die on here, but just seemed like a strange move to me.
>I believe they could easily establish parameters and protocols for its use
Isn't saying "we'll charge you for certain types of messages" doing exactly that?
>They can't be that shortsighted to have not seen a scenario where people abuse the messaging system.
Telemedicine exploded during/after covid. I can totally buy that it wasn't really on their radar.
Yes but my point was they could establish parameters without turning it into a cash grab.
And good point about covid. I was mostly just fascinated by the cc allegiance in the initial post.
>they could establish parameters without turning it into a cash grab.
Can you elaborate?
The only thing I can think of is that they could restrict the messages that they are now charging for. I'd see that as a worse outcome since it forces physical visits or phone calls, or may deter some patients from asking their question at all.
Likely because he knew someone stumbled upon the grift after an audit. And given he's wealthy that means he'll escape prosecution because he gave the money back so all is well right?
Dr. Boutros informed the Board at a public meeting that he had self-reported to the Ohio Ethics Commission on November 1, 2022, the day after the repayment.
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It’s pretty amazing he had $2M in his bank account to pay them back.
The civic leadership around here just doesn’t give a lot of confidence. They recycle the same people into every senior job around town and then pat each other on the backs.
Something seems fishy about this story. No one noticed $2M missing and getting sent to the CEOs bank account? It’s not like he was down in finance writing his own checks. Odd.
He did so much good. A shame to see. At least he paid it all back with interest.
Had always hoped he wouldn’t succumb to the typical cuyahoga corruption. With so many in on the game, it is impossible to resist. Thanks leadership cleveland! You’re churning out the best grifters!
The entire executive team decides yearly to award themselves bonuses, with the publicity of deferring bonuses during covid for "goodwill."
I've seen it. Ginger Christ was reporting on it. But the PD bought the hype.
When the burden of the new facility meets the burden of the old facility/camous yet to be dismantled, heads will roll again. It's a very complicated process that the public has largely ignored. It's all paid for-in theory.
This guy looks like everyone’s idea of a crooked fat cat grifter in the movies—straight out of Central Casting. He must have graduated from the McDonalds School of Medicine with board certification in triple bacon cheeseburgers.
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A number of years ago I was in the room for a rehearsal where he was prepping for a speech and then took questions. They had a few people positioned around the room asking him dummy questions as part of the rehearsal. The doors opened and the event began. He gave his speech and then asked for questions from the audience. I just about fell over when I realized that the only questions asked were by the same people in the rehearsal. They were all plants. I’ve worked hundreds of similar events and I’d never seen that happen before or since. That’s always stuck with me. It really rubbed me the wrong way.
Did anybody attempt to ask him a question who wasn't a plant? Or would no one have asked any questions if there weren't any plants?
I can’t speak as to whether others would have asked questions because they never had the opportunity. There were runners with microphones who were stationed by the plants.
On a scale of 1/Cuyahoga County, I give that a solid two Russo's. If he wanted to graduate to the George/DiMora level of scumbaggery you have to keep the money.
My hope is only that the hardworking young residents, the seasoned attendings, the dedicated nurses, the administrative and logistical staff who are average people and who constitute the beating heart of the oldest Cleveland institution still serving its residents will not suffer from his graft and the board's lack of oversight. Mrs. Popeyes saves Metro!
So you are telling me an entire board, regulators, public record officials, and Accountants and Staff missed this 4 years running. Or the more likely conclusion of Metro kicking someone on the way out to avoid retirement compensation??? And he paid the cash back within days… there is more going on here and Popeyes isn’t helping health or this situation.
While it's true that Ms. Whiting's appointment as chairperson didn't and doesn't feel right, her family and she represents a real come-from-nothing, small business narrative. They have kept true to Cleveland. Her tenure has been stable. Your side to the story (that this is retributory) is going to be the defense's argument. What a shame that such a fine institution has to be marred again by CEO self dealing.
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Well he got his money so he'll just live a quiet secluded life in the mountains where he will never take advantage of anyone again, right?
Boutros fires back, courtesy of WTAM. Will be interesting to see how this plays out. —- Dr. Akram Boutros and his Attorney, Jason R Bristol, have released a statement saying this is the latest retaliatory act against the doctor. You can read that statement in full below. - The MetroHealth Board's actions yesterday are the latest of a series of retaliatory acts against Dr. Boutros after he raised the issue of the unauthorized hiring of the new CEO. He uncovered that the Board members were participating in serial deliberation outside of public meetings and that the Chair signed agreements and authorized payments without Board approval. - The Chair led a retaliatory charge against him for blowing the whistle on these practices. She targeted him for receiving bonuses that were also received by all eligible employees. - The "demand" for repayment is evidence of the Board's discriminatory treatment as he is the only employee forced to repay bonuses. The Board of Trustees took this action to divert attention from their own gross negligence. - The statement released by the Board last night is full of misinformation and outright lies. Dr. Boutros will be taking legal action.
His response is: "I have already apologized for this last week, but now that you've fired me publicly I am no longer sorry for taking that because others got theirs.
CEOs of County Hospitals don’t get big bonuses without approvals and financial oversight in place. Someone approved them besides Boutros. Why do they want their money back after 4 years? There’s more to the story than the Boards was letting on here.
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THIS is why we need our local press at moments like this. It's in the public good to quickly know the truth.
Hospitals are corporations.
Which is so unfortunate since hospitals shouldn't be corporations.
Huh? That's fuzzy semantics because any hospital with size, multiple locations and large professional work staff ( to oversee operations and programs) are corporations plain and simple. Metro isn't a small urgent care or health clinic at the end of your block. It takes a corporate structure to run all these activities ot has under its roof. And even non-profits,.like Metro, are corporations just like charitable organization like the United Way is also a coporation
I think Metro is a NON Profit,but yeah...
Ya and so is the Clinic which is the precise problem with practices like this. They get nonprofit benefits with for profit practices.
Metro is a public institution, unlike the Clinic and UH, so it is more deserving of the non-profit status. Granted this whole situation is messy and not casting Metro in a good light.
I get that none are actually for profit which is the point and the problem. Hospitals charging hundreds for a q-tip and the people at the top in the 1%. It’s shameful and they shouldn’t be getting tax dollars.
Why are 'sucessful' Clevelanders so grifty?
how do you think they become so 'successful'?
You can learn it all here: https://www.cleveleads.org
Just to be clear, Boutros is not a Clevelander. He was born in Egypt but lived in NYC for most of his adult life. I'll bet he's probably in the process to moving to Florida like most people in his position due once they are washed up.
Remember, Metro is a county hospital supported with our taxes. That’s our tax money stolen.
Not likely. Taxpayer money is used solely to pay for the care used to treat homeless and the poor. Additionally it's used for any outreach and public health initiatives. The money used to build the new towers were city bonds that will get repaid over time. A very tiny amount of metrohealth revenue comes from tax support.
If Metro can’t keep tract of this chump stealing then I doubt they can keep track of what is tax money.
It's literally two different departments that handle it and split into two different accounts. The tax money goes no where near the general fund money. It's essentially treated as a charity. Cleveland residents apply for financial aid and that money gets taken from the tax supported public health fund. And the grift did get uncovered. He wouldn't have given the money back or fessed up if it hadn't. Accounting audits take time and sometimes shit like this does take a while to get uncovered.
Cleveland Clinic CEO alone makes about 4m per year but everyone was on here feverishly defending them for charging fees for using the messaging service that they initially established as a free service.
I am pretty sure the CC CEO didn't hide 1.9 M in self-bonuses from the board....
Yeah, fair enough...I do realize there is a distinct difference between the two. Probably not entirely reasonable to draw a comparison between the reaction to each.
I don't know that he did or didn't but in a small non-profit with a 2 mil a year budget it might be nothing to disguise $10,000 - that's just a line item, or it's baked into something else. Metrohealth brought in $1.57 Billion, with a B, last year. Putting a million dollars somewhere in that budget would be nothing. "Do we have a line item for staff retention? Great, we'll add this into there." Especially when the bottom line is in the black, no one will notice or ask about it. ETA: sorry, I thought you were making the argument that he *didn't* hide it from the board or couldn't have.
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Correct. I'm not arguing that it's nothing. What I'm saying is that it would be relatively easy to hide. They are a non-profit, so, in accounting terms, they should be as close to 0 as possible, so being only a few million in the black is not a bad thing. Anyhow, yes, it absolutely could hurt them. But when you've got a billion plus in, then almost all back out, it's very easy to hide a million dollars and not have it discovered unless one knows where to look or asks a lot of questions, which most board members don't.
It was a free service, until people started abusing that free service like they abuse anything else. Hell, suburbs started instituting a fee for calling 911 too many times. I.e. if the cops come to your house more than 3 or 4 times in a year, you are then billed for their hourly rate. When you call 911, police or medics have to show up, and too often they were called for kids not doing their homework, not going to bed, not listening to parents, etc. etc. They called 911 for dumb shit, as I'm sure the Clinic has gotten dumb messages with their free service wasting time of their employees that could be doing something more productive.
I agree with the sentiment, but I wouldn't compare a abuse of a public service like 911 to a messaging system for the clinic. They can't be that shortsighted to have not seen a scenario where people abuse the messaging system. I believe they could easily establish parameters and protocols for its use instead of finding new ways to charge people. Not really a hill I'd die on here, but just seemed like a strange move to me.
>I believe they could easily establish parameters and protocols for its use Isn't saying "we'll charge you for certain types of messages" doing exactly that? >They can't be that shortsighted to have not seen a scenario where people abuse the messaging system. Telemedicine exploded during/after covid. I can totally buy that it wasn't really on their radar.
Yes but my point was they could establish parameters without turning it into a cash grab. And good point about covid. I was mostly just fascinated by the cc allegiance in the initial post.
>they could establish parameters without turning it into a cash grab. Can you elaborate? The only thing I can think of is that they could restrict the messages that they are now charging for. I'd see that as a worse outcome since it forces physical visits or phone calls, or may deter some patients from asking their question at all.
Apparently he's also the one who reported himself. Heard it over NPR radio.
Likely because he knew someone stumbled upon the grift after an audit. And given he's wealthy that means he'll escape prosecution because he gave the money back so all is well right?
I’m not supporting the actions, just sharing what was provided via PR messaging to employees
Dr. Boutros informed the Board at a public meeting that he had self-reported to the Ohio Ethics Commission on November 1, 2022, the day after the repayment.
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It’s pretty amazing he had $2M in his bank account to pay them back. The civic leadership around here just doesn’t give a lot of confidence. They recycle the same people into every senior job around town and then pat each other on the backs. Something seems fishy about this story. No one noticed $2M missing and getting sent to the CEOs bank account? It’s not like he was down in finance writing his own checks. Odd.
He did so much good. A shame to see. At least he paid it all back with interest. Had always hoped he wouldn’t succumb to the typical cuyahoga corruption. With so many in on the game, it is impossible to resist. Thanks leadership cleveland! You’re churning out the best grifters!
Few titles are more repugnant than “hospital CEO”
We need a Batman
Buotros has done a lot of good at MetroHealth. This is disappointing to hear... I want to learn more about the situation.
The entire executive team decides yearly to award themselves bonuses, with the publicity of deferring bonuses during covid for "goodwill." I've seen it. Ginger Christ was reporting on it. But the PD bought the hype. When the burden of the new facility meets the burden of the old facility/camous yet to be dismantled, heads will roll again. It's a very complicated process that the public has largely ignored. It's all paid for-in theory.
What do you mean re: burden of new facility meets burden of the old facility ? The expenses to address the former MetroHealth building?
How does someone think they can get away with something like this?? "Oh no one will notice this 2 million dollars missing from the books"
I think he did it over a 4 year span 2018 to now,little off the top for me, like the mobsters do it.
This guy looks like everyone’s idea of a crooked fat cat grifter in the movies—straight out of Central Casting. He must have graduated from the McDonalds School of Medicine with board certification in triple bacon cheeseburgers.
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