THURSDAY, April 30, 2026 |
Photo – MHCC – Bigfoot99 file photo
Memorial Hospital administrators shared a positive financial outlook with the community.
Yesterday morning, Memorial Hospital of Carbon County held a quarterly business breakfast where members of the community were invited to learn about the state of the Rawlins medical center. Chief Executive Officer Kerry Ashment began with good news, saying the number of days the hospital can pay its bills using only existing cash, called days cash on hand, has been increasing. Ashment said the gain is small but shows improvement.
Despite the revenue improvements, Ashment reminded attendees that Memorial Hospital still has four sources of prior financial obligations, which he referred to as “legacy debt.” The hospital CEO said the facility is still paying off its electronic health record provider, Oracle Healthcare. Ashment added that Memorial Hospital, like all medical centers, is required to maintain a system to electronically transmit medical records.
The second source of “legacy debt” is Memorial Hospital’s former medical advisory group, Ovation Healthcare. Ashment said hospital administrators, in general, were dissatisfied with Ovation’s performance and chose to terminate the contract last December.
Ashment said Memorial Hospital is still working with Ovation on the facility’s three‑year improvement plan and specific contractual obligations.
The CEO continued, saying Memorial Hospital also owes the Wyoming Department of Health close to $1 million from a prior loan taken out when the facility was short on cash. When asked if administrators would seek debt forgiveness from the state, Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Hinkle said Memorial Hospital is committed to repaying the loan.
The fourth and final source of “legacy debt” is Macro Helix, a Georgia‑based 340B program management and software firm. The 340B program is a federal drug‑discount initiative that requires drug companies to sell outpatient medications to hospitals and clinics at sharply reduced prices. CEO Ashment said that after discovering Macro Helix was overcharging the hospital for 340B services, administrators chose to contract with another company.
Ashment said Memorial Hospital will finish paying Macro Helix by the end of May, leaving the facility with only three remaining sources of “legacy debt.”
When Ashment took over as CEO roughly one year ago, Memorial Hospital was over $9 million in debt. After selling the Rawlins and Saratoga clinic buildings, Ashment said that amount was reduced by nearly half.
Ashment emphasized that Memorial Hospital of Carbon County is not closing. The CEO said recent financial improvements show the Rawlins medical center will remain open indefinitely.
Ashment said he will look into adding additional medical services as Memorial Hospital continues to pay down its debt. The CEO said his goal is to restore the community’s trust in its local hospital.
