When Michael Gentry, the new CEO of Kettering Health, came on board in July, Mewhirter took on the position of chief administrative officer at Kettering Health.
“Chief Administrative Officer Michael Mewhirter will be making a transition and leaving Kettering Health on April 1 to pursue other opportunities outside of the organization,” Kettering Health said in an organizational statement to the Dayton Daily News. “We are thankful for his numerous contributions to the system during his nearly nine years of service, especially his efforts and diligence as interim CEO, which aided in maintaining focus on our mission during our leadership transition.”
Mewhirter could not be reached for comment. Mewhirter has spent nearly 20 years working in health care administration in both financial and presidential roles. Prior to being interim CEO at Kettering Health, he also worked as the CFO of the hospital system.
Kettering Health’s internal investigation into the allegations of misuse of finances found evidence of financial impropriety, the hospital system said in a statement last month. The investigation revealed Kettering Health funds had been used for non-business purposes.
“Kettering Health will be seeking repayment of these funds from the individuals involved and sharing information related to our investigation with the appropriate authorities,” the hospital system said in a statement on Nov. 7.
The senior executives and board members that were implicated in the investigation are no longer with the organization, Kettering Health said. Kettering Health also did not name the people the investigation found to have conducted the improper spending or how much was spent.
Kettering Health later amended its statement to replace “senior executives and board members” to “individuals” when saying: “Individuals implicated in the investigation are no longer with the organization.”
In addition to Fred Manchur, Dave Weigley, former chairman of the Kettering Health board, was also named in complaints to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. Weigley is still president of Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, which sponsors Kettering Health and has previously declined to comment on Kettering Health’s internal investigation.
Kettering Health has made changes to its governance policies in the wake of the internal investigation, the network said, but officials won’t specify what those changes are.
“We are fully cooperating with the relevant government authorities and part of the reason that we won’t be commenting further is to allow these entities to make their further announcements at the time of their choosing,” Jimmy Phillips, vice president of marketing and communication, told the Dayton Daily News last month.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office has declined to confirm whether or not an investigation into those allegations has taken place, though records requests for any communications sent to Manchur from the attorney general’s office have been denied on the basis that “any potential charitable investigation and its records are not public.”
Mewhirter’s departure will be one of the latest changes in leadership occurring since Gentry has been on the job.
Brenda Kuhn, who held previously roles of chief quality officer and chief nursing officer at Kettering Health, became the interim president of Kettering Health Dayton, previously known as Grandview Hospital. The previous president of the hospital was Richard Manchur, the son of Fred Manchur. Richard Manchur was named president of Kettering Health Dayton in 2019 and has since left the network.
Kettering Health announced Gentry would be the new CEO of the health system in April and would start in July. Gentry was previously a health system executive in Virginia.
Kettering Health has 15 area medical centers and more than 120 outpatient locations throughout Western Ohio, as well as Kettering Physician Network, which includes more than 700 board-certified providers.
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