Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Tabb officially named new Beth Israel CEO

By Julie M. Donnelly, Boston Business Journal

The official word is now out that Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has appointed Dr. Kevin Tabb, chief medical officer of Stanford Hospital & Clinics, as its new CEO. The CEO search that led to Tabb began when former Beth Israel CEO Paul Levy stepped down in January. The interim president and CEO role has been held in the meantime by Eric Buehrens.

Tabb said he plans to evaluate the strategic plan Beth Israel has in place and then pursue it. Among the considerations are potential mergers or affiliation opportunities.

“There’s a lot going on in Massachusetts, not just the amount of merger activity, but the timing of it,” Tabb said in an interview. “We don’t have the luxury of sitting back and thinking about it for a long time. We need to move aggressively and we’re going to do that.”

Tabb would not comment on potential mergers, including early talks between Beth Israel and the Lahey Clinic, saying it’s too early since he hasn’t even started his job yet. Beth Israel announced in April it would merge with Milton Hospital by the end of the year.

Tabb said he feels the institution is well-positioned in terms of cost-containment and efficiency and said it is “extremely important” to continue to move in that direction. “It’s important to take care of patients across the continuum of care and it’s important for us to get out into the community and to involve ourselves in primary care, as opposed to the traditional academic medical center model that only cares for the very sick,” Tabb said.

Tabb said he plans to continue the hospital’s reputation for transparency. Asked whether he would release quarterly financial reports, as Partners HealthCare does, to expand that transparency, Tabb said he could not yet comment on specifics, but said he would look into that possibility.

As the CMO at Stanford, Tabb oversaw primary care, outreach clinics and the Stanford Cancer Center. Prior to joining Stanford, Tabb led the clinical data services division of GE Healthcare IT. Tabb received his MD and his undergraduate degree from Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem, Israel. Tabb was raised in Berkeley, Calif., but moved to Israel at the age of 18.

Tabb will begin his new job on Oct. 17.