Ellen Zane / Tufts-NEMC
Ellen Zane - Leading Change at Tufts - NEMC

Healthcare in Massachusetts

The health care environment in Massachusetts at the time Ellen Zane took over Tufts-NEMC was tenuous, at best. Boston was a hub of medical activity and thought to be one of the best in the nation when it came to advances in medicine and caring for patients. Unfortunately, there was more to the issue than just how well the hospitals cared for the patients they saw each day. There was trouble brewing underneath all the perceived joy of being able to save lives and protect patients, and that was something of which many hospital staffers were unaware. The only people who were "in the know" were those who were focused on the bottom line and who were high up in the hospitals and other medical facilities in Boston and throughout the entire state of Massachusetts. The biggest….

This left the company a shell of its former self, possibly even without the staff to deal with the problems it faced.
Faced with heavy losses, the company was having difficult with its financing. The state attorney general had stepped into the situation to ensure that Tufts-NEMC could meet its bond covenants. It would be reasonable to expect that securing future financing would be either impossible or difficult. The company was in the process of re-creating the administrative departments that it had lost as a result of the merger. Some cost-saving improvements were on the table that would hopefully bridge much of the losses, but at this point the company is still slated to lose money in 2003 even if all projections materialize at their most positive. Staff reductions are also underway, which is a risky proposition. It brings the company out of its financial difficulties, but reduces operating capabilities.….