MIDDLETOWN, NY | Updated June 23, 2017 | jnani@th-record.com
Original article can be found at : http://www.recordonline.com/
After weeks of public silence from Middletown Community Health Center leaders in the wake of late paychecks to employees and the departure of its CEO, leaders said Friday that outside help is needed to get its financial house in order.
At an employee forum held at the organization’s Orchard Street offices on Friday afternoon, MCHC board member John Klassen said Newburgh-based Cornerstone Family Healthcare has been asked to come in and look at the finances, federal compliance and board leadership over the next 30 days. Cornerstone, a fellow federally qualified health center, will produce a report of what’s been lacking and how to remedy it.
Stefanie Hubert, chair of MCHC’s board of directors, said the organization will learn from its mistakes.
“Today we’re starting a new chapter,” Hubert said.
In addition, MCHC has hired an outside billing company, enacted a hiring freeze and will enhance its prescription medication program to lower costs and generate more revenue. The organization has also contacted the state Department of Health about closing two of its offices — in Washingtonville and Montgomery — though interim CEO Sybil Medina said that has not been finalized.
The forum came two days after Theresa Butler left as CEO and about six weeks after frustrated employees received late paychecks twice. Butler had been CEO for almost 12 years. Both employees and local elected officials said they’ve been kept in the dark for weeks about MCHC’s future, and they feared for the health center’s future. In May, the state Department of Health announced a $2 million line of credit to the organization.
Klassen said communication with employees and the community will improve and that new leadership and outside guidance are meant to help steer the organization back on track.
“We felt the health center was a sinking ship,” Klassen said. “You can’t operate a people-business hiding in a tower.”
With 13,200 annual patients, nearly 200 employees, nine Orange County locations, one Pennsylvania office and a $15 million annual budget as of 2014, MCHC has a 40-plus year history as a safety net for its mostly low-income clientele.
For some employees, frustration and doubts still lingered. One employee feared she would be laid off after 17 years. Many expressed passion, sometimes through tears, for their patients and MCHC’s mission.
But others seemed to have tepid faith that the changes marked a positive step for the community health center. Dental site manager Samantha Cottrell said the forum helped.
“I think this really lifted people’s spirits,” Cottrell said.
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