James Johnson, Franklin Hospital’s chief financial officer, has been cast in a dual role.
The hospital's board of directors named Johnson as its chief executive officer. It's a job he will do while continuing his work as CFO.
Johnson will be paid $140,000 a year for one year as both CEO and CFO. The one year agreement could be extended if both sides — the board and Johnson — agree.
The agreement was announced on Wednesday following the election of new board members. Retired judge Robert Lewis took over the chairmanship from Brent Young. The board held a special meeting earlier this month to interview two candidates for the position.
“The other candidate was wanting to only do a six month interim position and not looking at it any longer,” Young explained. “We thought we would be in the same position in six months. Jim has showed us he has made some good decisions as CFO and we think he’ll make good decisions in both roles down the road.”
Young added, “He seems to be well thought of by the public, the board and those in attendance.”
Johnson said he is looking forward to his new responsibilities and believes he can serve the district well in both roles.
“I’ve got a strong CFO background and our controller, Rikki Bonthron, is going to help out with a lot of the financial functions. If the board wants to do an employee contract after one year, we can move forward,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the hospital’s finances have improved ever so slightly since he was hired as the CFO in March.
“With a few adjustments, we ended up losing $295,000 for the year. Basically, the hospital has broken even the last few years and we’re trying to move forward. We’ve just got to manage our operations to make sure we’re making money.”
By the end of July, the state owed the hospital $906,000. No payments have been received this month, Johnson said, adding the backlog is a combination of Medicaid claims in which vouchers have been issued, but not paid; and the state’s self-insurance plan administered by HealthLink.
The board also approved the formation of a committee to look into the long-term goals of the hospitalist program. Hospitalist Dr. Richard Rethorst is heading up the committee. Young and Judge Lewis will represent the board on the committee, which will also include four hospital employees and four physicians. Sesser Mayor Jason Ashmore will represent the western part of the county as an at-large public member. Lewis is also seeking a public member from the West Frankfort area. Young said he hopes the committee can have its first meeting by late next week.
Representatives of the Point Man organization, which monitors hospital governance, say the board’s actions this week are moves in the right direction for the hospital district.
“I think the committee will be a positive influence … it may change the dynamics of the hospital,” said Rocky Morris with Point Man. “The CFO taking over as CEO is hard to judge because we don’t know the guy. I think at this point, with know how the cards have been dealt, it could be a productive move in the future.”
Morris said the change in officers should also have a positive effect.
“We’ve got new leaders with a new vision. We’ll keep our fingers crossed and try to move forward,” he added, noting there are some important board vacancies to fill. He’s hoping good candidates apply and the Franklin County Board will consider quality candidates when making the appointments.
Young, who served as board chairman for 3 ½ years, was nominated for re-election. However, due to family and business commitments, he declined the position. Lewis served as the board’s vice chairman before taking over for Young.
