Good Samaritan Hospital CEO resigns after scandal

DeSchryver leaves after facility gave Los Gatos teachers vaccine before they were eligible

The head of Good Samaritan Hospital has resigned weeks after the San Jose medical center came under fire for allowing Los Gatos teachers to receive coronavirus vaccines before educators were eligible.

CEO Joe DeSchryver submitted his resignation Tuesday morning “to pursue external career advancement opportunities,” a spokesperson for the hospital’s parent company, HCA Healthcare, said in an emailed statement.

“We are grateful for his leadership at Good Samaritan Hospital over the past four years and the remarkable job he has done, including the intense past year marked by COVID-19,” spokesperson Antonio Castelan said. “We are sad to see him go and wish him well in his future endeavors.”

DeSchryver, who previously worked for Tenet Healthcare Corporation, is expected to remain at the hospital for a few months as HCA conducts a search for a new chief executive.

Castelan said “there have been no resignations or disciplinary actions in regards to the vaccination of Los Gatos teachers.”

In January, a month before Santa Clara County said teachers were eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, Good Samar

itan invited teachers from the Los Gatos Union School District to register for the scarce shots by claiming to be health care workers. Emails obtained last month by this news organization through a public records request indicate the special access was facilitated by a Good Samaritan-affiliated doctor whose relative works at the district, and that the invitation was tied to the district’s fundraising efforts earlier in the pandemic to donate meals to health care workers at the hospital.

News of the deal caused frustration, especially among elderly residents eligible for but struggling to find the vaccine. Santa Clara County responded by withholding vaccine supply from the hospital and the hospital ultimately shuttered its vaccine clinic.