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Renown CEO Tony Slonim fired after internal investigation

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Renown Health CEO Tony Slonim was terminated from the hospital today. 

“Following the completion of a thorough investigation of concerns raised to the Board of Directors, the Board determined that Renown Health, its patients and staff required new leadership. Accordingly, Dr. Slonim has been terminated with cause as CEO of Renown Health,” unnamed Renown officials wrote in a press release. 

Anthony Slonim, MD, DrPH, FACHE, president and CEO, Renown Health. Image courtesy of Renown.
Anthony Slonim, MD, DrPH, FACHE, former president and CEO of Renown Health. Image courtesy of Renown.

Renown officials did not respond to calls and emails but instead sent a news release announcing a “CEO transition.”

An email spread internally at the hospital last fall reportedly led to the investigation. An outside attorney working with the hospital’s compliance committee said he could not comment on the case. He instead directed inquiries to Renown’s Suzanne Hendery, who did not answer her phone today.

Correspondence provided to This Is Reno shows the attorney requesting information after the lawyer’s law firm was hired to assist with the investigation in January.

Anonymous “open letters” sent last fall highlighted various allegations. 

They were sent to the news media, Renown’s board of directors and the hospital’s audit and compliance board. 

One sent in December alleged that “Renown Health’s current Chief Marketing Officer, Susanne [sic] Hendery, blatantly forged a Renown employee document to unlawfully have her husband (Daryl Hendery) receive his COVID-19 vaccination, prior to his lawful administration date…

“Tony Slonim was aware of this violation, and while it was a scenario in which one’s employment should have been immediately terminated, Suzanne is still gleefully employed, traveling the country with CEO Slonim to national conventions, and pushing out the same old marketing materials on a local level.”

Another email stated, “The intent of this letter is to inform you of mishandling, misappropriation, and inappropriate conduct within the organization of Renown Health.” 

It alleged a number of high-level employees – including the hospital’s compliance officer, eight chief financial officers and other executives – 34 in total – were no longer with the organization “since Tony’s reign.”

There were 13 “high level, key executives” gone within a 10 month period in 2021, the email alleged.

Another email sent to Renown’s board of directors said, “the community is questioning your reasoning behind the $650k+ bonus to Tony Slonim (in addition to his $1M+ base salary). It appears after the first message sent to the Renown Health Board, the organization itself has decided to answer, by offering a new perk to non-management employees – a $100 gift! 

“This miss is on the heels of an extravagant weeklong trip for Tony Slonim and CMO Suzanne Henry [sic] to swanky Miami, Florida, to talk about the importance of investing in marketing at a national marketing conference,” the letter continued. “It seems the importance of marketing has been lost on the organization considering we continue to run the same commercials repeatedly, while also paying for costly trips across the country.” 

Millions of dollars, it alleged, were spent on severance packages for past executives who were terminated. 

One of those past executives was reached by phone. They would not provide comment, citing a confidentiality agreement upon severance from the position. 

If you have information about Renown and this investigation, we would love to hear from you. Contact us here: https://thisisreno.com/contact/

Bob Conrad
Bob Conradhttp://thisisreno.com
Bob Conrad is publisher, editor and co-founder of This Is Reno. He has served in communications positions for various state agencies and earned a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2011. He is also a part time instructor at UNR and sits on the boards of the Nevada Press Association and Nevada Open Government Coalition.

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