Fairview Health CEO leaves

The head of Fairview Health Services, a major Minnesota health system under investigation for bill collection practices, is leaving.

The Fairview board held a special meeting Wednesday night and decided not to renew the contract of CEO Mark Eustis. He will retire at the end of July, after serving as head of Fairview for five years.

The action comes as Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson pursues a highly critical review of Fairview's contract with its debt collector -- Accretive Health. Swanson accused Accretive of violating privacy, debt collection and consumer protection law and using aggressive tactics to collect payments from patients at their bedsides, including while in the emergency room.

Accretive has denied the allegations. But Swanson has also been strongly critical Fairview's contract with Accretive, saying it put tens of millions of dollars of a charitable organization's assets at risk and usurped management's control of the organization.

Fairview has since ended its relationship with Accretive. Fairview board chairman Chuck Mooty will serve as interim CEO starting Aug. 1 until a successor is named.