The keynote speaker for the 2014 Ethics Event, Sandra Coletta, told a remarkable story of the mistakes we make and how we must learn to mend our errors humanely. President and CEO of Kent Hospital in Warwick, Rhode Island, Coletta entered the institution in 2008, in the midst of a minor crisis. Two years previously, due to miscommunication in the emergency room, a man named Michael J. Woods died. Michael’s brother, Hollywood actor James Woods (Shark, Casino) consequently sued Kent Hospital for the wrongful death of his brother.
Coletta explained that within her first few weeks at Kent, a PR representative notified her of the lawsuit because of the negative press the hospital was getting. She admits that she did not ask enough questions at the time she was informed of this lawsuit, one of her regrets. The suit was then left to the PR team and the lawyers, and did not involve Coletta herself as much.
Then Coletta changed the game. Despite her lawyer’s advice, she attended the court sessions. She learned more about the case. She began to ask the questions she should have asked long ago. What she learned shocked her. The hospital had made no attempt to contact the family after Michael’s death. Coletta asked for an unconventional one-on-one meeting with James. When she met him, her first words were, “I’m so sorry for what happened to your brother.” She was not taking responsibility for the hospital’s failure, but merely expressing her condolences for the loss James had suffered. That was the first time anyone from Kent hospital had apologized to the Woods family. Thus began the new relationship between James Woods and Kent Hospital.
Sandra Coletta explains that since her apology, she has been asked many times why she did what she did. Her response never changed. She states, “”I just did what my mother taught me to do.” At this point in her life, Coletta realized what her true values were and they came out in that moment that she extended an apology to James. She did it because it was the right thing to do.
Her moral compass led her farther in the quest to right the wrongs of Kent Hospital. She realized that any decision would have negative consequences, so she made what she felt was the right choice. James Woods agreed to settle the lawsuit and Kent Hospital started construction of the Michael J. Woods Institute. The purpose of the institute is to better patient care, and was followed by a total revamping of the infrastructure of the hospital. Coletta’s goal is to create a new hospital culture, in which patients are treated in the best way possible, regardless of their socioeconomic status. Kent is at the forefront of this new movement, with Coletta’s core values leading the way for better patient care.