Woodin says he’ll head back to the Northeast

Former M.V. Hospital CEO leaves Alaska hospital.

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Joe Woodin, who was fired from MV Hospital in June 2017, has resigned after a year at a job in Homer, Alaska. –MVT File photo

Updated April 22

Joe Woodin, the former Martha’s Vineyard Hospital CEO, resigned from his position as CEO of South Peninsula Hospital in Homer, Alaska, on Tuesday, he confirmed with The Times.

According to a hospital press release, Woodin resigned due to “unanticipated circumstances that prevent him from remaining in the position.”

In a telephone interview with The Times Monday, Woodin said the situation is completely different from his departure from the Island hospital. South Peninsula had been losing money, and Woodin said he helped it turn a profit for the second year in a row. “They’re doing a big turnaround,” he said.

He leaves the Alaska hospital with a signed settlement and a recommendation from the hospital’s board of directors. Woodin told The Times he is looking to move back to the Northeast.

“I’m happy, and they’re in great shape,” he said.

Woodin lasted a little more than a year at the Alaska hospital, and unlike Martha’s Vineyard, where he had purchased a home, he was renting in Alaska: “I was never planning on staying here for life. It’s too far away.”

David Groesbeck, the president of the South Peninsula Hospital board, told The Times the parting was amicable. “Joe was here for a little over a year. When we brought him on board, we brought him in as a change agent. That’s an exhausting undertaking,” Groesbeck said. Woodin helped the hospital get into healthier financial shape, he said. “Our finances were troubling at best. Joe is a high-energy individual who was able to bring our finances so that we are solvent. At the same time, he undertook a number of other initiatives.”

Woodin, who was fired as CEO of Martha’s Vineyard Hospital in June 2017, reached a settlement with the Island hospital in September.

Woodin had filed for arbitration, claiming wrongful termination. In March, in court filings in Dukes County Superior Court, hospital attorneys claimed Woodin was in default on a $250,000 promissory note he signed with the hospital.

Woodin’s departure from Martha’s Vineyard Hospital prompted community groups to begin asking questions about the Island hospital’s transparency.

In January 2018, Denise Schepici, a longtime seasonal visitor of the Island, took the reins of Martha’s Vineyard Hospital after a search that included the use of a private consultant.

Woodin said he leaves Alaska on different terms than he did when he departed the Vineyard. He said he plans to do some exploring in Alaska, and would particularly like to visit Barrow, the northernmost city in the country.

Woodin says he’s already been approached by recruiters, and will likely continue to work in hospital administration. “I’ve learned a lot,” he said.

Prior to his experience on the Vineyard, Woodin was a hospital administrator at Gifford Hospital in Vermont for 16 years.

Groesbeck, who at one time lived on Cape Cod, said he understands why Woodin would want to head east. Alaska is not for everyone.

“It takes forever to get here. My wife and I joke that no matter how we do it, it takes 20 hours to get back,” he said. “It’s a different pace in Alaska.”

Editor George Brennan contributed to this report. Updated with comments from Woodin and the hospital’s board president.

 

11 COMMENTS

    • The relevance of this is that he was fired from a position here on MV with much complaint from the citizenry demanding transparency from the Board. He then accepts a position in Homer Alaska and now is gone again. It is not a stretch to assume that there is something quite wrong with his management style.

      • “unanticipated circumstances that prevent him from remaining in the position.”
        We don’t know what that means…don’t be too quick to say there is something wrong with his management style. Maybe he has family illness or maybe he just doesn’t enjoy the cold, snowy Alaska as much as he thought he would. IDK the man, never met him, I’m just saying let’s not judge him too harshly, we don’t have all the facts.
        I think this article should not have been printed, it seems like they are trying to gossip about someone who doesn’t live here or have any impact on the island anymore. His case was settled with MVH, let the past be the past.

  1. Becker’s Hospital Review has published that MV Hospital and Mr. Woodin reached an “agreement” in October, 2018. What was the settlement?

  2. Problem is, Andrew, I appreciate your position but nothing in ANY article so far speaks to the reasons for leaving the MV job or Alaska. I too would like to know.
    In the meantime, the MV Times presents an article which might as well be “The Continuing Adventures of Joe Woodin”. There is no substance, a complete waste of time for the readers.
    They should have put down their Cumbys coffee and made a few calls around Alaska, filed some FOI requests, to find out. It’s called investigative reporting.
    All they did was click into a Homer newspaper and present that as “reporting”.

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