By Bill Berkrot and Toni Clarke
NEW YORK (Reuters) - When word reached company headquarters that former HealthSouth Corp. (HLS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Chief Executive Richard Scrushy had been convicted of bribery in June, employees celebrated by jumping into the fountain they were once forbidden to touch.
"It was their way of saying it's a new era," HealthSouth's current CEO Jay Grinney told the Reuters Health Summit in New York on Tuesday.
The fountain was symbolic of the many opulent artifacts amassed by Scrushy that Grinney found appalling.
"I have some bookcases that I've been told were made in Italy and cost several hundred thousand dollars. That is ridiculous," Grinney said.
Scrushy's lavish spending for the executive suites, including expensive artwork and imported carpets, was reminiscent of the $6,000 shower curtain and $15,000 umbrella stand that convicted former Tyco (TYC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) CEO Dennis Kozlowski bought with company funds.
"Health services companies ought to have a pretty austere corporate offices in my opinion," said Grinney, who is looking to sell HealthSouth's enormous campus while keeping its corporate headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama.
"My idea of an office is one where everybody has the same type of equipment," said Grinney, who favors steel bookcases and modular equipment.
Before Grinney could attend to more plebeian decorating for his office, he first had to bring the nation's leading operator of rehabilitation hospitals back from the brink of bankruptcy. Continued...
© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved.
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