TUESDAY, June 9, 2026 |
Photo – MHCC Emergency entrance – Bigfoot99 file photo
Memorial Hospital administrators report continued improvements.
Rural hospitals across the country are struggling with low insurance reimbursements, limited patient volume, and challenges in recruiting providers and specialists. Memorial Hospital of Carbon County is not immune to those same pressures. Years of declining revenue, long‑standing building infrastructure issues, and repeated CEO changes left the Rawlins medical center in significant financial trouble. A failed ballot measure to create a special hospital district funded by a property‑tax mill levy in 2024 did not improve the facility’s outlook.
Last April, the Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees appointed Kerry Ashment as permanent CEO. Ashment has 26 years of executive healthcare experience. Under his leadership, the hospital appears to be stabilizing.
In light of those long‑standing issues, the Board of Commissioners has asked Memorial Hospital of Carbon County administrators to provide monthly updates on the operational and financial performance of the medical center. Speaking during the June 2nd Board of Carbon County Commissioners meeting, Memorial Hospital CEO Kerry Ashment emphasized the importance he places on transparency. Without a clear understanding of what the hospital is doing, Ashment said people assume staff are being dishonest.
Ashment explained that all four elevators in the 54‑year‑old hospital building are failing. In November, the Office of State Lands and Investments approved a $500,000 Mineral Royalties Grant for elevator repairs and improvements, with the county providing the required 50 percent match of $250,000. While the hospital waits for the funding to be released, the elevators continue to break down, with Ashment saying the most recent fix will cost $40,000.
The Board of Commissioners noted the difficulty of bringing elevator technicians to the area and discussed entering into an elevator service contract with Memorial Hospital to ensure the facility can have technicians respond when problems occur.
Continuing his presentation, Ashment said Memorial Hospital obtained an American Rescue Plan Act grant to replace rooftop HVAC units, which must be completed by the end of the year.
Ashment also announced that the facility has changed hospital‑management and advisory firms from Ovation Healthcare to TruBridge. Hospital administrators were dissatisfied with Ovation’s performance and chose to terminate the contract last December.
In place of Ovation’s billing and coding services, Ashment said Memorial Hospital has brought that work in house to improve accuracy and increase the reliability of reimbursement payments.
Ashment said Memorial Hospital is also changing its radiology reading service from an Idaho‑based company to Casper Medical Imaging. He said the new partnership should result in improved response times for patients.
Chief Financial Officer Joy Coulston provided an update on the medical center’s finances. Coulston reported that when she was hired last June, the total of accounts waiting to be billed, referred to as Did Not Final Bill, was roughly $2.8 million. After focusing on improving that balance, she said the amount of unbilled accounts dropped to $1.3 million. Despite a recent increase in the number of Did Not Final Bill claims, Coulston said the hospital is still in good shape given recent billing‑system improvements.
On a positive note, Coulston said the number of clean claims, or bills approved by insurance providers without changes, has been steadily increasing with the help of TruBridge.
Coulston reported that in April, Memorial Hospital saw a $16,492 revenue increase.
In January, Coulston said the number of days the facility can operate without any income, referred to as cash on hand, was at 36. By April, that number had dropped to a little over 20. The chief operating officer attributed the decline to greater spending.
Coulston said she is working on a budget for the hospital, something the facility has not had in the past. Once the Board of Trustees approves the budget, administrators will share it with the Board of Commissioners.
