Founder returns to Alegent

Alegent Health has asked one of its founders to replace Chief Executive Wayne Sensor and steer the hospital system through a difficult period.

Richard Hachten, who helped found the Alegent system in 1996 and departed as its president in April, will serve as Alegent's interim president and CEO.

Hachten — reached in Oregon, where he is having a home built — said he will return for up to 24 months but doesn't intend to compete for the chief executive role beyond that.

He planned to arrive in Omaha tonight and said he hadn't yet determined whether further changes in executive positions were necessary. He said it would not take long for him to decide who would be on his leadership team.

Sensor resigned late this week, effective immediately. He could not be reached for comment Friday.
Physicians who practice at two Alegent hospitals — Immanuel and Bergan Mercy Medical Centers — cast formal votes of no confidence in Alegent leadership last month.

Some physicians said they had been left out of decision-making by Alegent administrators, believed Alegent was moving to a system where it used primarily its own employed physicians, and thought Immanuel's role as a general hospital was being diminished.

Some of that dissatisfaction undoubtedly had an impact on Alegent revenues. A group of orthopedic surgeons left Immanuel this year and relocated to Methodist Hospital in Omaha.

Physicians also said some cardiologists had been alienated by Alegent and, when given the choice, were having their patients' heart surgeries performed at Methodist rather than at Bergan Mercy.

Hachten said he was aware of problems at Alegent but was surprised when Leslie Andersen, board chairwoman, asked him Thursday to come back as interim head. Alegent oversees numerous hospitals in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa and employs close to 9,000 people.

“I'm honored to have been invited to return in this capacity,” Hachten, 64, said. “I just believe in Alegent in my heart and soul.”

Hachten, Sister Norita Cooney and Charles Marr brought several hospitals together in 1996 to form Alegent Health.

During an interview Friday, Andersen declined to say whether the board asked Sensor to resign or to cite specific reasons for his departure. She called it “a matter between Wayne and the board.”

Sensor replaced Marr as CEO in 2004. Marr, who retired at that time, was criticized by physicians for excluding them from decisions. Sensor said at the time: “I've staked my professional career on finding meaningful ways to involve physicians. They're the ones who are putting hands on our patients.”

Hachten said Friday he had no set strategy to repair hard feelings. He said he hoped the trust that he had earned with physicians through the years would help. He intends to promptly meet with physician leaders and managers to re-establish good relations, he said.

Dr. Gamini Soori, medical director of the cancer center at Bergan, said that when Sensor first became CEO, he regularly sought ideas from doctors and other staff.

Soori said Sensor and top leaders would conduct brainstorming sessions with physicians on key decisions such as how best to coordinate cancer or cardiac care among Alegent hospitals.

But those sessions ended several years ago. Since then, Sensor and his executives have made decisions on their own, said Soori, former president of the medical staff at Bergan.

Hachten should reinstate those sessions if he wants to repair relationships between the Alegent administration and physicians and other staff, Soori said.

Dr. Patricia Helke, a member of the medical executive committee at Lakeside Hospital, agreed that restoring those sessions is essential to building trust.

“Right now, people are upset and angry,'' she said. “The best way to alleviate that is to try to bring them back and ask their opinion.”

Dr. Richard Lund, a kidney specialist, said Hachten could improve relationships by no longer recruiting doctors and specialists who aren't needed. That has been a concern from other independent physicians who serve Alegent hospitals.

Lund said his independent group of kidney specialists and another private group have served patients in Alegent hospitals for more than 15 years and were able to handle the patient load.

After Alegent hired its own kidney specialists about three months ago, Lund said referrals to his practice dropped slightly.

Lund said he doesn't mind competing against the Alegent specialists, but he would be concerned if Alegent were to offer financial incentives to its own doctors to refer patients to Alegent specialists. Alegent leaders have said that hasn't occurred.

Dr. Harvey Hopkins, president of Immanuel's medical staff, said he was pleased that Hachten is being brought back.

“I've worked with him in the past and he's an excellent person,” Hopkins said. “He's very familiar with Alegent.”

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