“I don’t wish to be a distraction from the mission of the church and believe it’s in the best interest of the Columbia Union for me to retire at this time,” Weigley said in a statement in the Columbia Union Conference’s Visitor Magazine.
The Dayton Daily News reached out to Weigley and the Columbia Union Conference for further comment. Weigley has been president of the conference for almost 18 years.
Weigley, along with former Kettering Health CEO Fred Manchur, was named in anonymous allegations sent to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office regarding claims of misuse of hospital funds. Those allegations became public last year.
Kettering Health is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church and is sponsored by the Columbia Union Conference.
The Columbia Union Conference appoints several members to Kettering Health’s board. Weigley was chairman of the Kettering Health board until he stepped down in January 2023 for family reasons, according to the conference. Weigley’s retirement announcement referenced his wife, Becky, who is receiving palliative chemotherapy for cancer.
“I need to be able to put her first and focus all of my time on her care. For nearly five decades, Becky has been a supportive partner in ministry, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to support her during this difficult time,” he said.
Celeste Ryan Blyden, the executive secretary of the Columbia Union Conference, became the chairman of the Kettering Health board last year following Weigley’s departure. Blyden has worked for the SDA Church for 30 years. She was vice chair of Kettering Health’s board since January 2022, the Visitor Magazine said.
Kettering Health uncovered financial impropriety after an internal investigation into allegations of misuse of funds and operational mismanagement, the health system said in November about the end of its internal investigation. The investigation revealed Kettering Health funds had been used for non-business purposes, according to Kettering Health.
“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 Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Kettering Health has not said what government agencies are involved, who the subject of the investigation is or how much was allegedly spent on non-business purposes.
The health system has “made significant changes to policies, procedures, and governance to ensure this type of behavior will not occur in the future,” Kettering Health previously said. It has not specified what changes were made in the wake of its internal investigation.
In order to determine the next president of the Columbia Union Conference, the conference’s executive committee formed a presidential search committee to bring recommendations back to the executive committee.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office won’t comment on whether there has been any investigation at Kettering Health as Ohio law says investigations into nonprofits are confidential.
Kettering Health is one of the region’s largest employers with more than 14,000 employees in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Development.
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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