A task force made mostly of Allen County Regional Hospital board of trustees members will consider whether to stay with the hospitals current management group, HCA, or entertain other offers.
The task force was appointed Tuesday evening at a meeting of the ACRH Board of Trustees. Chairman Patti Boyd set the task forces first meeting for May 16, which will be done during an executive session.
The group will review the current management contract with HCA, including a timeline under which changes could be made. The current arrangement allows for contract review after five years (which began June 30, 2013), with a first renewal after two years and a second renewal after five years. Last year, the board of trustees voted to renew the two-year agreement in order to buy themselves time to review the matter before the next renewal comes due.
If the board were to change management companies, it would take significant time to transition all the various contracts overseen by HCA, said Tony Thompson, chief executive officer of the hospital. HCA pays the salaries for three top administrative positions: Thompson, Chief Financial Officer Larry Peterson and Chief Nursing Officer Patty McGuffin. HCA also negotiates numerous contracts on the hospitals behalf.
HCA operated the former Allen County Hospital under a lease agreement from 2006 to 2011, after taking over Midwest Health. When the new hospital building opened in 2013, HCA joined as the management company.
But Jim Gilpin, board of trustees member, said hes heard complaints about HCA and wants to hear presentations from other hospital management groups.
Ill be candid about my bias, Gilpin said. The best thing we did in the last 10 years was separate from HCA. Theyve only got three hospitals and a number of institutions that are rural like us. I question if its a good fit or if some other group could be better.
Thompson said HCAs size allows it to negotiate better deals on contracts and purchasing arrangements than smaller management groups or independent hospitals. The benefits from its purchasing power shouldnt be overlooked, he said.
Still, Thompson said he supported the task forces mission to study all options. He noted most of the trustees were not part of the initial contract negotiations with HCA five years ago. Only Boyd and Sean McReynolds served on the board at that time, along with the boards legal counsel, Alan Weber.
The board is doing its due diligence, Thompson said. Particularly the new trustees, if they dont know all the things HCA is bringing to the table and can compare that to what might be brought to the table by others, they dont have a perspective. Thats important.
Those appointed to the committee include: Trustees Boyd, McReynolds, Terry Sparks, Loren Korte; Weber and Thompson.
Boyd said she hesitated to join the task force because her term on the board, along with that of McReynolds, ends Dec. 31. Others, though, said their previous experience would provide essential institutional knowledge to guide the newer members.
Your voices in that group can provide veracity and accuracy as to whether HCA has really delivered according to our ambitions, Gil-pin said.
Boyd said perhaps she and McReynolds could make a graceful exit from the task force at some point in the process.
The board also discussed whether to include members other than trustees and administrators. They decided they could seek information from outside entities such as physicians and hospital staff as needed.
