July 7, 2023 |
Photo – MHCC CEO Rex Walk – Courtesy MHCC
The new CEO of Memorial Hospital in Rawlins gave Carbon County commissioners a financial update this week. In his first appearance before the board, Rex Walk talked in general terms while promising more detailed information in the future.
At Wednesday’s commissioners meeting, Vice President of the MHCC Board of Trustees Mark Kostovny introduced Walk to the commissioners. Kostovny said the new CEO is doing a great job so far.
Walk became the hospital’s new CEO on May 22nd, after Ken Harmon resigned. In a statement issued by the hospital, Harmon said his departure was caused by “mounting stress and pressure over the past several months.” Harmon stepped into the CEO position at the onset of COVID and had to plug the holes in the hospital’s infrastructure and budget. Harmon was open with the fact that the Memorial Hospital of Carbon County had millions of dollars of unpaid patient bills. He proposed several ways to increase the hospital’s revenue before suddenly turning in his letter of resignation.
Walk said in his approximately five weeks on the job he’s observed that the hospital’s problems fall within three different categories. The interim CEO said he’s put together a list of money, staff, and operational problems that will be addressed in the future.
Walk began by addressing the budgetary shortcomings. He said the hospital’s accounting firm is still working to bring the clinic’s financial records up to date. The interim CEO said he’ll have more information later.
Walk said the reporting problems were caused when the hospital switched from its old electronic medical record keeping software to a new system called Cerner. He said a staff change at Cerner left the hospital without the technical support needed for a smooth transition.
Walk said he has a personal connection with a senior official in the company who could assist with the situation. The interim CEO said he should have the problem resolved within the next few weeks.
Walk said having the Cerner system functioning properly will help the hospital bring in more money. He said accurate reports will allow the hospital to issue more precise medical bills.
Commissioner John Johnson asked Walk if the hospital had actually not completed any financial reports since April. Walk said the reports existed, but he wanted to straighten out some errors before presenting them to the board.
Moving on, Walk said the cost of running the hospital was too high. The interim CEO said he couldn’t simply raise the price of services to make up the shortfall. He said he would review where the hospital was spending money and adjust the cost of medical care where necessary.
Walk asked the board for questions. Commissioner Johnson said Walk hadn’t given any real answers about how he was planning to address the hospital’s money problems. Walk said he has only been on the job for a little over a month. He said he’ll have concrete plans in the future. The interim CEO said he has a lot of experience turning struggling rural hospitals around.
Walk said another problem the Memorial Hosptial of Carbon County was facing was related to staff turnover. The interim CEO said he and Communications Director Stephanie Hinkle are working on ways to increase employee retention.
Walk said he is looking at implementing three programs to help generate new money for the hospital. First, Walk said he would like to allow the hospital to assign unused long-term care beds to post-operative patients. The practice is called “swing beds.” The interim CEO said he will receive outside help to ensure the program is profitable.
Walk said the three satellite clinics operated by the hospital could be reclassified to bring in additional Medicare reimbursement. He said the clinics in Saratoga, Hanna, and Rawlins will adopt the same critical access hospital model in use at the North Platte Valley Medical Center.
The interim CEO said he will confer with his staff to come up with ways to bring more satisfied patients into the hospital. Walk said having a good rapport with patients and suppliers creates better outcomes for everyone.
To generate more income, Walk said he will expand the hospital’s outpatient senior services.
Walk finished his presentation by complimenting his staff. Commission Chairwoman Sue Jones said the MHCC is extremely important to the entire county. Chairwoman Jones said she wants to see the hospital succeed and be a stable place to work. She said communication was the key to success.
Walk said he would come to the next commissioner meeting, on July 17th, with more information and with the hospital’s Interim Chief Financial Officer Wayne Colson.
