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WOODLAND HILLS, CA, Feb. 2, 2010 – The Boards of Directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund today announced that Dr. David Tillman has resigned as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Bob Beitcher, an MPTF board member since 2007 and former president and CEO of Panavision and Technicolor Creative Services, has been named CEO on an interim basis.
“We are grateful to Dr. Tillman for his stewardship of the Fund. He has presided over a vast and complex health care and social service organization during challenging times with loyalty and dedication,” said Frank Mancuso and Joe Fischer, Chairmen of MPTF’s Corporate and Fund Boards, respectively.
“It has been an honor and privilege to serve the Motion Picture and Television Fund for the past 10 years as President and CEO,” said Dr. Tillman. “During this period, we have made a positive difference in the lives of many people. I am extremely grateful to have been part of that process. However, I believe the timing is right for me to resign my position. I am taking this action in my own best interests as well as in the best interest of the Fund.”
In announcing the appointment of Bob Beitcher as interim CEO, Mancuso and Fischer thanked him for his willingness to take on the position and said, “Bob has been a valued Board member and played an integral role in dealing with the Fund’s challenges. In addition, he has shown a willingness to take a leadership role in the philanthropic efforts of our organization. He will work closely with Foundation CEO Ken Scherer to engage the community in the ongoing support of MPTF through an active outreach campaign. We have also asked him to make the Long Term Care Unit his highest priority and to ensure that we continue honoring our commitment to the comfort and care of our residents as we transition them to other high quality facilities.”
In accepting the appointment, Beitcher said, “I have been in this industry for over 25 years and I love this organization, what it stands for and all that it does for our community. I am absolutely committed to doing everything I can to enhance the Fund’s ability to meet the growing need for health care and social services now and in the future, and to continuing the charitable mission of the Fund. With the support of its outstanding staff, the Fund has an exciting opportunity to address the growing needs of our industry members in innovative and progressive ways.”
The Board plans to actively pursue the search for Dr. Tillman’s permanent successor.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Hopefully, this is the first step in keeping this historic nursing home open, not only for those that are currently receiving care, but for those of us who will undoubtedly need this home in the future.
Please sign the petition, if you haven’t already: http://www.tinyurl.com/mptfhome.
One down, and so many to go. You don’t need to read between the lines of their press release, it’s right there:
He (Beitcher, the interim CEO) will work closely with Foundation CEO Ken Scherer to engage the community in the ongoing support of MPTF through an active outreach campaign. We have also asked him to make the Long Term Care Unit his highest priority and to ensure that we continue honoring our commitment to the comfort and care of our residents as we transition them to other high quality facilities.”
You are still hell-bent on closing the LTC Ken? You might want to reconsider your position and distance yourself from the likes of your compatriots who will be following Tillman into the void.
One rat has left the ship. There are others who will follow. Let’s take this victory in context and ramp up the heat to return the Long Term Care unit to it’s once world class status.
The nursing home is not closing and was never closing!
Someone who swore to uphold the Hippocratic Oath has been replaced by someone who has taken a Hypocritical Oath.
Mr. Beitcher, how can you make the Long Term Care Unit “highest priority” and “ensure that we continue honoring our commitment to the comfort and care of our residents, AS WE TRANSITION THEM TO OTHER HIGH QUALITY FACILITIES”? This statement is two-faced double talk.
No amount of PR spin can obscure the fact that ‘transitioning’ (another way to say “throwing out”) the elderly, frail residents from a home they were told would be theirs for life is “honoring” the MPTF’s commitment” to them.
I have hope that the Board will select a replacement who can successfully continue the mission of the MPTF and Retirement Home. It is possible to keep the Hospital and Long-term Care facilities open with the right leadership. Just read the earlier article about the exorbitant salaries Tillman and the other executives currently earn (compared to the Industry and reasonable standards) and you see a dramatic disconnect between personal gain and the mission they serve.
Came across this post by Nancy Biederman from last October and every word still applies 4 months later – Give it a read again, Mr Beitcher. Maybe the second time around it will sink in and you will understand the philosophy of those of us who will never give up.
October 27, 2009, 9:48PM
Nancy Biederman Says
Mr. Beitcher,
While we recognize that as a board member you must adhere to the party line, we also understand that charitable institutions make a commitment to the people and the community they serve. It is the responsibility of the board to insure that the commitment is fulfilled even at the expense of some temporary financial challenge.
Who created the “business model” that is now being blamed for the demise of the hospital and the LTCU? Is the phrase “business model” an analogy or are board leaders saying that Pickford, Chaplin, Fairbanks and others were setting up and nurturing a “business” with their years of dedicated efforts and financial contributions? Was Jean Hersholt working on a “business model” as he labored to establish what he called ‘a dream come true’ when the Hospital was dedicated in 1948? Is the award named for him given by the Academy to an individual with a successful “business model,” or is it awarded in acknowledgment of humanitarian efforts that bring credit to the motion picture industry?
It has been said that we human beings all have a desire for meaning in our lives. For many of us, that meaning is attained by preserving the legacy of a continuum of care that was the heart and soul of the Fund. Let’s pause to remember the significance of the late Lew Wasserman’s words: “Caring about people who don’t have the wherewithal to care for themselves; that’s what I want to be remembered for.”
We know there is enough money to fulfill the MPTF’s commitment to the current residents, and if, after that, the well runs dry, then there should and will be more money raised by all of us to carry on the mission. That is, of course, if MPTF believes that its obligation of ‘taking care of our own’ is worth continuing. If the mission has now been redefined as taking care of those who can afford it, then that is just further evidence of the moral bankruptcy of the existing board.