March 24, 2006

Last night, the board of directors of the Mendocino Coast District Hospital announced that they were going to hire a management company to run the hospital and that the current CEO, Bryan Ballard, would stay on for 30 days to assist in the transition.

The board's action followed closely on the announcement of a $669,000 loss in February. This loss showed conclusively that the "restructuring program" approved last summer was a failure. In explaining his decision, board member Don Tucker, said that it had become apparent that, despite Ballard's efforts and many contributions, he had lost the confidence of the staff and the community, making it impossible for him to provide the leadership needed to save the hospital. Making the decision to bring in new management must have been personally extremely difficult for the board members, most of whom have worked closely with Mr. Ballard since he was hired and who have steadfastly supported his management They deserve the appreciation of us all for putting the best interests of the hospital and the community above their personal feelings.

The Hospital Resource Council supports hiring  a management company. A management company can provide all of the services associated with affiliation (executives, specialist consultants, group purchasing, outside oversight, board and community education) without  ceding any local control. Some of these companies are large enough to have available executives and staff that can step in quickly. This combination seems like a good fit for our hospital.

Within the next month the hospital will be interviewing and selecting a company to provide management services (including the CEO and possibly the Chief Financial Officer) for our hospital. The presentations made by candidate firms will be public.

The future of the hospital will be greatly affected by the choice of firm. We will keep you informed of presentations. I encourage you to attend.

The action by the board marks a milestone in efforts to save our hospital. We extend our thanks to all of those inside and outside of the hospital who have worked to inform the board and the public of the problems and the need for change.

Much remains to be done, but we have started!

Sincerely,

Vince, Richard, Tom, and Mike
the Hospital Resource Council