Summa CEO Dr. Tom Malone Would Like Employees to Dress Better Than Wal-Mart Shoppers

There's been quite a stir this morning in reaction to news that Summa has instituted a new dress code policy for its some 9,000 employees. Most notably, at least according to the internet, is a requirement for employees to wear underwear, which doesn't seem to be really their business at all no matter how you feel about going commando. 

Otherwise, new rules mandate pantyhose or tights for women wearing dresses or skirts, ban facial hair longer than a half inch, visible tattoos, visible piercings (besides two earrings per ear), "extreme" hair coloring, etc. etc.

Summa CEO Dr. Tom Malone spoke to a few hundred people at an Akron Roundtable luncheon today and addressed the policy and its origins.

Via the ABJ:

When asked why the stricter employee dress code is needed, Malone joked: “Have you been to Walmart? People who left the house actually thought they looked good some days.”
“There should be a certain level of professionalism at a health-care institution that is a little higher bar,” he said.

No word on whether that higher bar prefers boxers or briefs.