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Mount Carmel Names New Interim CEO Following Dosing Investigation

The campus of Mount Carmel West in Columbus on Jan. 30, 2019. [Gabe Rosenberg / WOSU]
The campus of Mount Carmel West in Columbus on Jan. 30, 2019.

Mount Carmel Health System announced Michael Englehart will take over as interim CEO on July 25.

Englehart has worked for Mount Carmel's parent company, Trinity Health, for about a year. He oversees thousands of doctors in his role as senior vice president for medical groups and ambulatory strategy. Before joining Trinity, Englehart was the head of one of the largest Catholic health systems in Illinois for two years. 

“For the community, people and colleagues we serve in Ohio, Mike has the proven leadership to help Mount Carmel move forward," said Michael Slubowski, president of Trinity Health.

Former CEO Ed Lamb resigned a week ago, while the hospital fired 23 employees following an investigation into excessive dosing of dozens of patients. 

"These last months have been difficult for our healthcare system, and, in times such as these, new leadership has the ability to facilitate healing and help restore the trust of the community," Lamb said in a hospital statement.

Timeline: The Mount Carmel Scandal So Far

Lamb's resignation was the latest fallout from the firing of William Husel, an ICU doctor and anesthesiologist who is accused of giving higher-than-normal amounts of painkillers to 35 patients. All the patients died after receiving the doses.

Mount Carmel suspended Husel from patient care in the fall and fired him in December. Husel faces 25 counts of murder, one of the largest murder cases in Ohio's history. He is scheduled to go in front of the Ohio Medical Board next week to appeal the suspension of his medical license.

A Franklin County judge on Thursday set a date of April 27, 2020 as the start of Husel's criminal trial.

Since announcing Husel's firing in January, Mount Carmel placed dozens of employees on leave and launched an internal investigation into the doctor's conduct and its own pharmaceutical practices.

The health system has been named in dozens of wrongful death lawsuits filed by the families of Husel's patients. Several of those suits have been settled out of court, with the hospital paying out millions of dollars so far.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid last month clearedMount Carmel West of safety issues, preventing the hospitals from losing federal funding.

Copyright 2019 WOSU 89.7 NPR News. To see more, visit WOSU 89.7 NPR News.

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