Rep. David Hawk calls for resignation of Ballad CEO Alan Levine month after heated exchange
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Barely a month after a heated exchange with Ballad Health CEO Alan Levine at a crowded event, State Rep. David Hawk is calling for Levine’s resignation.
Hawk cited that incident as well as what he called “anectodal stories for years” of Levine bullying healthcare professionals, employees and others.
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Hawk wrote to Ballad board member and East Tennessee State University (ETSU) President Brian Noland Feb. 29 that Levine, “may have been the right person to lead Ballad Health in its infancy, but in my opinion, he does not have the demeanor to lead Ballad Health into the future.”
Hawk’s letter followed up on a Feb. 7 meeting with Noland, who is on Ballad’s board of directors. That meeting came five days after a Feb. 2 incident between Levine and Hawk at a major Kingsport Chamber of Commerce event.
Hawk wrote that Levine approached him and complained about recent comments Hawk had made to News Channel 11 about Ballad. He said the discussion became very heated, and that when Hawk tried to get him to “walk away,” Levine “took both of his hands, put them on my shoulders and turned me to face him because my gaze had gone away from his.”
Ballad Health declined requests for an interview with Levine and didn’t provide a statement — other than to send a copy of Noland’s March 5 written response to Hawk. But midday Wednesday Ballad board member Keith Wilson contacted News Channel 11 to offer what he said was his eyewitness version of the events.
Wilson said he was at a nearby table and saw the two in what was already a heated exchange, so he went and stood next to Hawk and across from Levine in hopes things would calm.
“David was visibly upset and shaking his finger in Alan’s face,” Wilson said, adding that Hawk’s contention Levine placed his hands on Hawk “didn’t happen. That’s a fabrication.”
Hawk, though, said the issue of physical contact is not at the root of his issue with Levine and his decision to call for his resignation. He said he’s heard “numerous stories, anecdotal stories of events just like this happening between Ballad Health and other individuals,” and that it was “confirmed in my eyes, in front of my face with this confrontation with Mr. Levine.”
Hawk said a demeanor he described as prone to “bullying” when faced with disagreement or criticism isn’t the right fit to lead a hospital system that’s supposed to be as regulated as Ballad and to provide a proven “public advantage” due to its inpatient monopoly status.
“I’m sure there’s the right person out there who has the demeanor to work with the health care professionals that we have in Northeast Tennessee, as well as the hospital system that we have in Northeast Tennessee now, to bring a public advantage to all of us and create better health outcomes in our region,” Hawk said.
Confrontation at Chamber dinner
The Feb. 2 dinner took place a day after News Channel 11 reported on a bill in the Tennessee General Assembly that would repeal the law that led to the creation of Ballad Health.
News Channel 11 interviewed Hawk about the bill to get an area representative’s perspective. He dismissed it as having no chance of passage, but said the health system has room for improvement.
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“Ballad Health is far from perfect, and they should be more accepting of constructive criticism from other healthcare professionals in the region,” Hawk said at the time. “I’m also hearing from constituents … about their health outcomes, and most of the time I’m hearing negative outcomes.”
Hawk wrote that at the dinner Levine approached him and asked “why I had not brought my concerns to Ballad Health officials, before speaking to the media?” Levine also, according to Hawk, asked for the names of people who had shared concerns about Ballad.
David Hawk Ltr to Brian Noland by Jeff Keeling on Scribd
Hawk wrote that he declined, “citing the fact that many of these people feared for their jobs and livelihoods if they publicly came forward” and had confided in him as an area representative.
Following what Hawk described as Levine’s threats to “smear my name,” Hawk wrote that he turned to look away from Levine and that Levine then “put both of his hands on my upper arms, and turned me to face him.”
Hawk wrote he then said Levine should walk away and when he didn’t, began to say so “quite loudly and several times,” eventually drawing the attention of Ballad legal counsel Julie Bennett. Hawk wrote that Bennett “was seeking to walk Mr. Levine away from the situation that he had created” even as Hawk continued to encourage this. Bennett, he wrote, “was ultimately successful” in getting Levine to walk away.
Levine came back a few minutes later to apologize, but Hawk wrote that, “(b)eing in no mood to hear from him at that point,” he asked him to walk away again.
Ballad board member: It didn’t happen that way
Ballad Board member Keith Wilson told News Channel 11 he was seated at a table next to both Levine’s and Hawk’s and that he witnessed a good portion of the confrontation, but he gave a far different account. The former newspaper publisher said Levine and Hawk “each came out of their seat and came together and sort of were talking in the aisle.”
After seeing Hawk’s angry gestures, Wilson said, he walked over to stand next to Hawk and across from Levine. He hadn’t heard any of their previous exchange but said when he got close he heard Hawk saying, “that’s (BS), that’s (BS), that’s (BS).”
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Wilson said Levine turned and went to his seat, as did Hawk. Julie Bennett wasn’t near Levine at that time, Wilson said and didn’t steer him away from the exchange.
Instead, Levine went to her a few minutes later and talked, “and I understand that he went over to offer an apology for his part of whatever was transpiring and went over to where David was seated and put his hand on his shoulder, tapped his shoulder to get his attention,” Wilson said.
“David turned around, and I could see that David was still quite angry.”
When News Channel 11 asked Wilson a few minutes after his description of Hawk’s alleged outburst whether he’d heard any of the two men’s exchange at all, later whether that was the only thing he heard, Wilson added that “David yelled, ‘this isn’t over,’ and then he went and sat down. I thought, ‘wow, what in the world?’ I have no idea what precipitated the whole discussion, but that’s what I observed.”
News Channel 11 interviewed Hawk Tuesday and Wednesday, and he reiterated the gist of the letter’s account, including that Levine allegedly physically touched him.
“Obviously, perception is in the eye of the beholder,” he said. “I know exactly what happened. I know exactly how the confrontation started over the article that WJHL.com had printed.”
How Noland entered the picture
Noland was in Nashville on other business when Hawk asked him to meet. Hawk told News Channel 11 Tuesday that meeting also included Reps. Tim Hicks (Gray) and Rebecca Alexander (Jonesborough) as well as ETSU’s government affairs liaison Bridget Baird.
Hawk said he did not hear back from Noland after the Feb. 7 meeting. In his Feb. 29 letter to Noland, he shared “a condensed version” of what happened at a Feb. 21 meeting between Northeast Tennessee legislators and Levine, Bennett and two other high-level employees as well as a Ballad lobbyist.
Hawk wrote that his concerns “were completely dismissed.” At that point, “my suggestion was that Mr. Levine needs to resign,” he wrote.
Hawk said he chose to write to Noland because of their previous meeting about the matter and his frustration with the results of the Feb. 21 meeting.
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Noland’s one-page response said he interviewed people who were present at the Feb. 2 event and saw the exchange. “While these discussions confirmed that an animated exchange had occurred, there was no corroboration of the direct physical contact between you and Mr. Levine,” he wrote.
But Noland’s letter didn’t appear to completely absolve Levine.
“It is acknowledged that the time and place of the conversation between yourself and Mr. Levine was not ideal,” he added, writing that he’d discussed the matter with Levine and other Ballad board members.
Brian Noland Ltr to David Hawk by Jeff Keeling on Scribd
“(I) can assure you that all parties are committed to creating an environment that yields more conducive interactions in the future,” Noland wrote. He encouraged Hawk to address his issues with Ballad staff “so that they may have an opportunity to appropriately respond in a manner which is respectful and informative.”
Does it really tie in to the overall system and ‘public advantage?’
Hawk said he believes the same culture he claims has taken hold at Ballad also has an influence at the state and regulatory level.
The state must “actively supervise” Ballad through its Department of Health and attorney general’s office and must conclude at least annually the system is continuing to provide a public advantage and meeting the “Terms of Certification” that govern that.
“We talk about demeanor, my fear is that because of political connections that Ballad Health officials have and will continue to come down to Nashville, down to the Capitol and exert undue influence over the COPA monitor or the Tennessee Department of Health or the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office and really rewrite the terms of certification.”
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He said he’s hopeful about the tenure of Dr. Ralph Alvarado, who’s led TDH for 14 months after replacing Dr. Lisa Piercey.
“I think he’s beginning to dissect the COPA and understand what it is, and is going to have a greater influence on the terms of certification specifically and hopefully in quality outcomes and quality measurements of our health outcomes in the region.”
The COPA’s Terms of Certification will undergo some preset changes soon. They include giving the system more leeway to close hospitals, sell them or otherwise make significant changes to services.
At the same time, the Tennessee legislature is continuing to loosen the state’s certificate of need (CON) laws. Those laws can have the effect of limiting competition as entities wanting to open significant new health care services must show the services are needed.
Changes could potentially open the door for any type of medical facility — including a hospital — to open without requiring a CON.
“I don’t think Mr. Levine has the demeanor to handle a situation where other entities are wanting to come into the market to bring and improve health care in the region,” Hawk said. “I think he would continue to try to squash competition.”
Hawk said he was convinced the decision to seek state action immunity so Wellmont Health System and Mountain States Health Alliance could merge was a good one “given the information we had at the time.”
He’s not sure what’s best at this point.
“I think that we need to have broad discussions about where we are as a community and Northeast Tennessee and is this the direction we want to go forward…
“I think that we need to open up that conversation to be very frank and and very transparent about these discussions.”
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