Benjamin Schwartz is mending fences at Corewell Health East

The years leading up to Beaumont Health’s merger with Spectrum Health in February 2022 were rife with discontent for the South eld-based health system. Under CEO John Fox, the metro Detroit system faced continuous cost-cutting e orts that soured management’s relationship with sta , leading to an exodus of top physicians and more. Fox wanted to right-size the system’s budget as reimbursement shifted and waned, putting nancial pressure on the system. The end goal was a transaction, one advantageous to Fox but also for Beaumont. However, three deals collapsed under the critical voices of sta ers and the crush of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top management at Beaumont was ushered out in the merger with Spectrum, which created Corewell Health, and the new system looked to bring in a leader to mend relationships. Corewell hired Benjamin Schwartz as president of Corewell Health East, which includes Corewell’s hospitals in metro Detroit. Thegynecological oncologist was a longtime administrator at New York’s largest health system, Northwell Health, where he most recently served as senior vice president and regional physician executive.

BY | DUSTIN WALSH

 You were effectively hired to fix the broken relationships with doctors and staff, yes? How is that going?

First of all, I think you very accurately described some of the tumultuous history here. Some of that was about trust that was broken. There was a time being a “Beaumont doctor” meant something very special to the physicians here, but many of those high-caliber physicians left because of the struggles they were having with the health system. I am super proud to report that we have physicians from all over the country, some that left here, that are coming back. We have very, very talented doctors who work in our facilities that feel their relationships with our leadership is a breath of fresh air. They have a new voice now and they are able to speak up and maybe get some of that old shine back. It’s important that we mend those relationships, not just with our providers, but also with our communities. I have met with government leaders, religious leaders and families in this community that have been unbelievably loyal to us throughout. They have a strong voice now again and we’re starting to earn back their trust. Health care is meshed in the DNA of the community and we don’t stand on an island on our own. Getting back to earning the trust of our providers, nurses, team members but also the communities we serve is imperative.

 You were rising up the ranks at Northwell and you’re a native New Yorker. Why come to metro Detroit?

Rumblings

I think the decision to move to Michigan was born out of conversations with Tina Freese Decker, our CEO. I enjoyed hearing about the challenges of health care in Southeast Michigan. She had a vision and there was an opportunity to be impactful. But, if we achieve success here, I think the solutions we find are portable to other parts of the country, because a lot of the challenges are similar. I was born and raised in New York, yes, but I knew of the reputation at Beaumont Health. I knew there were programs here that were second to none nationally and to be president, that was an opportunity I couldn’t look away from. And the quality of life here is amazing.

 What challenges?

In American health care, there’s a lot to celebrate. Systems, generally speaking, have become really sophisticated when it comes to handling the sick in need of really good care. We’ve become really, really high quality when it comes to those spaces. But there’s lots of room for improvement. Historically, hospitals would compete to see how many joint replacements they could do. Now, we’re spending the same on preventing joint replacements. We’re starting to focus on outcomes, not procedures. And, because Southeast Michigan is so wonderfully diverse, one size does not fit all. It’s very hard to resist the temptation to a one-sizefits-all strategy in health care, because it’s efficient. It’s a major priority for us to focus on the best care in these communities with a comprehensive