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Old and new leaders at hospital board meeting
Besides a review of financial and other reports for Moore-Few, Barone and the hospital itself, Monday night’s meeting of the Nevada Regional Medical Center’s board of directors saw a hearty farewell extended to the outgoing leadership and a welcome to the new CEO, Wesley B. Braman.
Board chair, Steve Russ presented plaques to Mike Harbor, outgoing chief financial officer and Kevin Leeper, outgoing chief executive officer.
Russ read each plaque aloud. “In recognition of Mike Harbor for your generous commitment of time, support and inspiration to our mission. Thank you from your friends at NRMC.”
“In recognition of Kevin Leeper, for outstanding vision, dedication and commitment to excellence. Thank you from your friends at NRMC.”
There was sustained applause as Russ handed each their plaque. Harbor and Leeper reached out to shake the hand of the board chair but he gave a bear hug to each, adding personal words of gratitude.
Earlier in the meeting, at the close of their respective reports, Harbor and Leeper expressed their thanks and farewell.
Revealing a bit of his Alabama twang, Harbor said, “I would like to thank y’all. You’ve been a great board to work with, very supportive to me and to this hospital … and I think the future will be brighter and the hospital will be successful.”
At the close of his report, Leeper said, “Thank you to Quorum and thank you to the board for giving me the opportunity the last three years. … I needed another year to get my game plan executed and rolled out. But I thank you for your support. Individually and as a group, you’ve been a great board to work with. This hospital and all its people mean a lot to me and as I put in my written report, going forward, I hope to track your progress. Thank you.”
Just as the NRMC board began its meeting at 5:30 p.m., so did the Nevada City Council as it approved an emergency ordinance, which in section one authorized the hospital board to “execute agreements for professional management of the hospital.” This refers to a two-year contract with Freeman Health Systems of Joplin to manage NRMC.
Back in July, when the council passed an earlier bill concerning the hospital, it clearly stated the hospital is to be managed by the NRMC board of directors. Section two of Monday’s ordinance reaffirms this by stating, “The council deems it necessary to clarify and confirm the authority of the hospital board outlined in this emergency ordinance.”
Attending Monday’s NRMC board meeting from Freeman Health Systems of Joplin were Paula Baker, chief executive officer, and Wesley B. Braman.
As of Thursday, Nov. 2, Braman will serve as NRMC’s new chief executive officer; currently, he is vice-president of business development for Freeman.
While a financial and systems review is being performed within the first 90 days, as required by the Nevada City Council and in turn, by the hospital’s bond trustee, Braman will use the time to familiarize himself with personnel, systems and current management issues.
Once the report and recommendations are issued, it will be Braman, working with the city council, bond trustee, NRMC board of directors as well as the leadership of Freeman, who will implement the agreed upon recommendations.
Leading the financial side in the upcoming review of NRMC will be Michael J. Leone, who has served as controller at Freeman since 1995.
In the financial world, an accountant handles basic record keeping and financial reporting while a controller manages several different financial activities as well as supervises people.
A chief financial officer understands how business operations and finances interact with each other and can be managed to achieve optimal results, A CFO must understand capital structures, business funding, be able to manage cash, understand financial and non-financial risks and their mitigation as well as know strategy, see the big picture and be able to make decisions.
In separate comments, Tuesday morning, outside the offices of Leeper and Harbor, Braman said, “Once Mr. Leone and really, a whole team of people from Freeman, working with those here at NRMC, have completed the 90-day review and made their recommendations we will then determine if [Mr. Leone] will handle the finances from his office in Joplin or if we will name a separate person to work here in Nevada.”
Braman added that either way, Leone will spend part of his time in Nevada, working with staff at NRMC.
A separate interview with Braman will be featured in the Nov. 4 (Saturday) edition of the Daily Mail.
Among other things, Baker was on hand to receive reactions from board members to a coming marketing campaign. She distributed a page with the NRMC and Freeman logos in the top left and bottom right corners respectively while the center contained the words, “Partnering and healing TOGETHER.”
This design would be used in possible billboard and print ads. The board liked it when Baker said, “Freeman, of course, would assume the expense for it. … We thought this (design) achieved a couple of objectives. One, to show that you all are very much an independent hospital and that we are collaboratively working together.”
In reporting on the hospital’s finances for September, Harbor’s written report shows the hospital lost $259,642 while for the first quarter of its fiscal year, it lost $195,181. This compares to last year’s first quarter loss of $1.4 million. Bond days cash on hand moved from August’s 6.9 to 6.6 in September.
“A trend is defined by at least seven mathematical points going a certain direction and we’ve seen eight months of revenues heading in the right direction. Early next year, our revenues will cross and for the most part, will remain higher than our expenses which will enable the hospital to grow its cash and meet its needs.”
“Are we paying our bills on time?” asked board member Bob Beaver.
“Yes,” said Harbor. “Except for a few cases where we have special arrangements, we age bills about three weeks, which means we pay most things inside a month.”
The meeting opened with Steve Branstetter, administrator of the Long Term Care unit (Moore-Few and Barone Nursing Care Centers), again providing positive financial news.
Said Branstetter, “Moore-Few showed a profit of $4,961 for the month while Barone had a profit of $21,742 for a total profit for Long-Term Care of $26,703. We ended the month with 234.2 days cash on hand.”
According to the distributed balance sheet, that level of cash amounts to $3.2 million.