On Thursday, the hospital board voted 5-1 to extend CEO Joseph Webb’s contract for three more years.
Webb has been the CEO of Nashville General Hospital since 2015. The contract extension came as a bit of a surprise, with the board saying that it would, “figure out the details in a later meeting,” in regard to pay, benefits, and duties.
Webb is currently working under a six-month contract, and the Hospital board will meet June 11 to finalize the details when his performance evaluation will be completed.
“I don’t think we’ve been very fair to our CEO,” said board member Richard Manson. “There is no legal restriction that says we have to wait to make Dr. Webb our CEO. I don’t want to wait for some evaluation. His evaluation is right in front of us”
After the meeting, Webb said it had made him a little uncomfortable to lead the hospital without job security and that he found it “reassuring” that the board had solidified his position.
“I’ve been here for three and a half years, and if my performance doesn’t speak for itself, then I really haven’t made much of an impact,” Webb said.
Dr. Webb joined Nashville General Hospital with over 25 years of proven expertise in managing for-profit and not-for-profit healthcare organizations.
With Webb’s leadership, health outcomes and the patient experience at NGH have improved greatly. Because of those improvements, General Hospital has been able to decrease the costs of caring for the community by keeping people in better health—thus reducing the community’s need to utilize the emergency room.
At the close of the meeting, Chairwoman Dr. Jan Brandes announced her resignation from the board knowing that the hospital is now on “more solid ground” than previous years. “It has been my privilege, and with this, goodbye to all of you,” said Brandes. “Now I can just sit back and watch this institution do great things.”
Nashville General Hospital is Nashville’s original community-based hospital. Joint Commission accredited, NGH readily accommodates a wide range of needs from emergency services and acute care to ancillary and ambulatory services. NGH continues to maintain its strong commitment to the healthcare needs of Nashville and Davidson County’s underserved, while also providing care to all segments of the community.
