Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett said she was surprised by the abrupt leadership shakeup at Lawrence General Hospital yesterday but is optimistic it will not interfere with the continued integration of Holy Family Haverhill with the Lawrence-based hospital to create a regional health system for the Merrimack Valley.
Lawrence General Hospital President and CEO Abha Agrawal stepped down after a year on the job and just under five months after buying the Haverhill and Methuen campuses of Holy Family from the bankrupt Steward Health Care. Agrawal and Lawrence General Hospital Board Chair Rosemarie Day confirmed Agrawal’s departure in a joint statement.
“I am very appreciative of Dr. Agrawal for getting us to where we are now—a still open hospital in Haverhill,” Barrett said. “The board (of trustees) is strong so I am confident a good replacement will be found.”
Barrett said that immediately after learning of Agrawal’s decision to resign, she tried to reach Lane A. Glenn, the president of Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill who is also a member of the Lawrence General Hospital board of trustees for more information.
When contacted by WHAV, Glenn referred questions to the Lawrence hospital’s director of marketing and communications, Lori Howley. Howley did not respond to a request for information from WHAV by last night’s deadline.
Alice Mann, who represents Haverhill’s Trinity Episcopal Church on the Merrimack Valley Project, said she reacted to the news of Agrawal’s departure with “puzzlement.” When Steward Health Care entered bankruptcy last year, the Merrimack Valley Project lead the charge pressing state officials for a solution which kept Holy Family Haverhill open.
“I am waiting to see what comes next before I comment more extensively,” Mann said, adding that maintaining a functioning hospital within the city limits is as important as it has always been. The distance patients would have to drive to facilities in nearby cities is just too great and unreasonable.”
Exactly why Agrawal left a post she was publicly passionate about was not addressed in the written statement released by the Lawrence General’s Board of Trustees. A registered nurse at Holy Family and member of the Massachusetts Nurses Association not authorized to speak officially said the merger of the two facilities has not gone smoothly. “There have been plenty of complaints about the loss of accumulated sick time, personal time and other benefits by staff going from the Steward system to Lawrence General’s,” she said.
Robin Hynds, a registered nurse who served as Lawrence General’s chief operating officer, is listed as acting CEO on Lawrence General’s website.