By Kyle Alspach
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Posted Jun 06, 2009 @ 08:28 PM
Last update Jun 07, 2009 @ 02:31 AM
BROCKTON — Saying he’d become a distraction for Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital, longtime president and chief executive officer Norman B. Goodman announced his resignation Saturday.
Goodman, who has headed the hospital since 1990, resigned after the hospital began investigating allegations of “inappropriate behavior” against him.
Hospital officials haven’t revealed the nature of the allegations.
In a statement released by the hospital, Goodman said he was resigning to spare the hospital from “further distraction.”
“After nearly twenty years of service to the hospital, I have decided to resign rather than have the organization devote time and energy to dealing with matters unrelated to the mission of the hospital,” Goodman said in the statement.
Goodman didn’t return a phone message left at his Easton home on Saturday.
Hospital spokeswoman Karen Blomquist said details about the allegations that led to the resignation were still being withheld as of Saturday. “There is no additional information beyond what is in the statement,” she said.
The hospital is the largest private employer in Brockton with roughly 1,800 employees, and is the largest hospital in the Brockton area.
Goodman was often praised by supporters for getting results, but described by critics as a domineering manager.
The 103-day nurses’ strike in 2001 and the severing of ties with longtime hospital partner Boston Medical Center in 2005 — which led to an exodus of doctors from the hospital — were two controversies that saw Goodman at the center.
Goodman earned $950,780 in pay and benefits in 2007, the highest salary of any hospital CEO in the region, according to nonprofit financial records.
Prior to his resignation, Goodman had been on a leave of absence amid the allegations and investigation, first reported by The Enterprise last Tuesday.
In the statement, board of trustees chairman Patricia Roland said the hospital “will undertake a comprehensive search for new leadership.” Roland could not be reached for comment by phone Saturday.
For now, the hospital’s senior management team, with guidance from the board of trustees, will continue to manage the day-to-day operations of the hospital, according to the statement.
Kyle Alspach can be reached at kalspach@enterprisenews.com.
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