A national physician leader with Northeast Ohio ties who championed Summa Health’s impending sale to Health Assurance Transformation Company has been sidelined, raising concerns about a deal that already had critics fretting over Summa’s future.
In a surprise announcement late last month, HATCo said Dr. Marc Harrison is stepping down immediately as chief executive officer of the for-profit company but will continue to provide expertise to fellow co-founder Hemant Taneja — the CEO of venture capital firm General Catalyst, HATCo’s owner.
In a statement that was light on details and heavy on jargon, General Catalyst Partner and Chief of Staff Molly Blaauw Gillis said Harrison would serve in an advisory role now that the strategy for HATCo has “appropriately evolved.”
“This revised structure provides stronger connectivity and collaboration with the GC ecosystem and flywheel while allowing Marc to provide his clinical point of view on macro trends in our industry as we enter this next very important phase of our journey to make health assurance a reality for all,” Gillis said in the statement.
Daryl Tol, who served as the head of General Catalyst’s health assurance ecosystem, is stepping into the role of HATCo’s president. The CEO position won’t be filled.
From the start, Harrison had been the public face of HATCo, providing reassurance to a skeptical community with the confident-yet-compassionate style of a veteran physician. He openly acknowledged his own experiences with the health care system as a patient diagnosed twice with cancer.
Harrison, a former Cleveland Clinic executive, told the Beacon Journal shortly after the deal was announced that HATCo plans to “make meaningful investment into the community and into a system as opposed to taking resources out.”
With Harrison taking a backseat, will those now driving the deal have the same philosophy?
Summa President and Chief Executive Dr. Cliff Deveny said the leadership change “does not reflect a change in direction, but a deepening of the strategy and commitment to Summa Health.”
We hope Summa’s leaders and HATCo stay true to earlier pledges to not allow a drive for profits to overshadow the need to take care of people.
One thing has not changed: The sale still means nonprofit Summa will convert to for-profit status, with financial accountability to unknown investors.
The Summa and HATCo teams expect the acquisition to close during the fourth quarter of 2025, Summa spokesman Mike Bernstein told the Beacon Journal via email.
With Harrison’s depature, we believe it’s even more critical that steps are taken to ensure Summa remains a community asset and continues to put patients first under its new, for-profit ownership structure.
We call on the state Attorney General’s Office to track the deal’s implications on Summit County’s largest health care provider with the same level of thoughtful scrutiny it showed before approving the sale.
After a lengthy review, the AG’s Office in June granted conditional approval for the sale as long as 10 additional requirements are met, including a $15 million increase in the purchase price “to reflect fair market value.”
It’s reassuring to know HATCo will be required to file annual reports with the AG’s Office for 10 years, ensuring some level of continued transparency and accountability to make sure HATCo’s promises are being kept.
We’re also encouraged by what we’ve learned so far about the nonprofit community health foundation that will be formed from the proceeds of the sale.
The Trailhead Community Health Foundation of Greater Akron will make grants for community health needs in Summit, Stark, Portage, Medina and Wayne counties.
The 11 inaugural board members announced last month include a diverse group of community members with experience with nonprofits, health care, the banking industry and medical education.
The foundation holds great promise to address issues that keep some of our neighbors in Greater Akron from living a truly healthy life.
We hope the Summa-HATCo deal lives up to its promises, too — regardless of who’s in charge.
This piece was written by Akron Beacon Journal Executive Editor Cheryl Powell on behalf of the editorial board of the Beacon Journal. Editorials are fact-based assessments of issues of importance to the communities we serve. These are not the opinions of our reporting staff members, who strive for neutrality in their reporting
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: There’s a new person in charge at HATCo. What does that mean for Summa? | Editorial
Reporting by Akron Beacon Journal editorial board / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
