Vermont Gov. Phil Scott today said he has appointed former Rutland Regional Medical Center CEO Tom Huebner to “monitor and assist” financially troubled Springfield Hospital.
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Huebner, 65, spent 27 years at RRMC, including seven years at vice president of services and 20 years as CEO. Additionally, he has served on the board of directors for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems and the American Hospital Association.
At the direction of Governor Scott, Huebner will represent the Governor’s Office and is charged with assessing the situation and working with the board and administration of Springfield Hospital to ensure there is a plan in place to restore the hospital’s fiscal stability.
“This is a very serious situation that requires immediate attention, experienced leadership, the oversight and collaboration of state government, and a competent and fully transparent response,” Governor Scott said. “Tom will work with officials in Springfield and ensure that they complete a thorough assessment and communicate fully, clearly and regularly to patients, employees, the community and the state as they determine what went wrong and how to fix it.”
Governor Scott has also asked Huebner to recommend ways for state to assist Springfield Hospital through the Agency of Human Services, the Green Mountain Care Board, the Department of Health, the Department of Mental Health or other agencies and departments as appropriate.
“I appreciate the Governor’s attention to this serious situation,” Huebner said. “I look forward to helping the community restore the financial integrity of this important institution in a way that is transparent and accountable.”
Governor Cites ‘Serious Situation’ at Springfield Hospital, Appoints Monitor Tom Huebner (Courtesy photograph) Staff Report Wednesday, December 19, 2018 Springfield VT Phil Scott Springfield Hospital Related stories Springfield Medical Care Systems Working to Get in Stable Condition Springfield Medical Care Systems CEO Resigns Money & Employee Morale Put Springfield Hospital’s Health in Question Springfield, Vt. — Vermont Gov. Phil Scott today said he has appointed former Rutland Regional Medical Center CEO Tom Huebner to “monitor and assist” financially troubled Springfield Hospital. “This is a very serious situation that requires immediate attention, experienced leadership, the oversight and collaboration of state government, and a competent and fully transparent response,” Scott said in a news release. “Tom will work with officials in Springfield and ensure that they complete a thorough assessment and communicate fully, clearly and regularly to patients, employees, the community and the state as they determine what went wrong and how to fix it.” The 65-year-old Huebner was CEO of the Rutland hospital for 20 years, and also has served on the board of directors for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems and the American Hospital Association. The chief executive officer and chief financial officer of Springfield Hospital both abruptly resigned this month, and VtDigger reported today that the head of the Green Mountain Care Board believes Springfield administrators may have failed to include important information in their latest budget presentation to the regulatory board. “The picture was painted to be a little bit more rosier than it actually was,” Kevin Mullin, a former state senator from Rutland who is now the chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, told the Valley News last week. Springfield Medical Care Systems administrators this summer projected a $2.5 million deficit for the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, following a loss of $3.8 million in 2017. Posted at 2:55 p.m. Wednesday Scott taps former Rutland hospital chief to oversee Springfield recovery By Colin Meyn Dec 19 2018, 4:04 PM | 1 comment Tom Huebner Tom Huebner, the CEO of Rutland Regional Medical Center, speaks as Kevin Mullin, the chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, looks on. Photo by Erin Mansfield/VTDigger Gov. Phil Scott has appointed Tom Huebner, who stepped down in March as the head of Rutland Regional Medical Center, to “evaluate, monitor and assist Springfield Hospital as it confronts serious financial challenges.” The governor’s office released a statement announcing the appointment Wednesday afternoon, a week after Springfield’s CEO, Tim Ford, abruptly resigned in the wake of Valley News and VTDigger reports on the dire financial situation at the medical group. Get all of VTDigger's health care news. You'll never miss our health care coverage with our weekly headlines in your inbox. Physicians, community members and local business owners said the [hospital was leaving bills unpaid. In some cases, doctors had to buy their own supplies and heating oil. Hospital employees were having trouble getting health care because their insurance payments weren’t coming through. The hospital also switched emergency room contractors, severely cutting physician hours and leaving a few dozen people out of work. “This is a very serious situation that requires immediate attention, experienced leadership, the oversight and collaboration of state government, and a competent and fully transparent response,” Scott said in the statement. “Tom will work with officials in Springfield and ensure that they complete a thorough assessment and communicate fully, clearly and regularly to patients, employees, the community and the state as they determine what went wrong and how to fix it,” he added. Huebner worked at Rutland Regional for 27 years, 20 as the chief executive. He also serves on the board of directors for Blue Cross Blue Shield, and previously served as the New England representative to the American Hospital Association. An image of Springfield Hospital’s entrance on its website. In an interview Wednesday, Huebner said he had already spoken with representatives of Quorum Health, a consulting firm that has been hired to help turn around the financial situation, about his role and planned to meet with them in the coming days. “They have done a smart thing in hiring Quorum Health to bring in the resources to do a deep dive and evaluate the situation,” he said. “Everybody wants the organization to survive and uncertainty is not helpful to anybody in this situation.” Kevin Mullin, the head of the Green Mountain Care Board, said Tuesday that Springfield executives had not been forthcoming about their financial situation during their presentations to the regulator earlier this year. He said the care board was looking over the transcripts of their budget testimony, which was delivered under oath, to determine whether any misrepresentations occurred. At the moment, he said, there was no evidence of misconduct by anyone at the hospital. Mullin said he would be pushing for new rules that penalized organizations that failed to make such disclosures in the future. Kevin Mullin Kevin Mullin, chair of the Green Mountain Care Board. File photo by Erin Mansfield/VTDigger Human Services Secretary Al Gobeille said he was still trying to figure out why Springfield’s CEO and CFO were abruptly shown the door. He also said that once the immediate concerns were addressed, a conversation needed to take place about why there wasn’t better communication between the hospital and regulators, and whether reporting rules need to change. Huebner said hospitals were already required to provide a great deal of information, and that the first question should be whether Springfield followed existing regulations. “Surprises are bad for everybody and most importantly for the community and for the patients,” he said. “So if we need to do things to make sure surprises don’t happen in the future, sure, what I’m wondering is if the current rules were followed in the first place.” Huebner said he had been traveling, serving on boards and “doing what retired guys do,” since leaving Rutland Regional. “When the governor and secretary of the agency of human services calls and asks if you might help out in a situation that’s very important to the state and the community, if you can do it you say yes,” he said.
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This IS EXCELLENT to me with Gov Scott appointed Tom Huebner Springfield Hospital CEO. Tom Huebner worked at RUTLAND REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER CEO decades ago; he WILL do the job, too!
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