Erlanger lays off CEO at hospital

    Peachtree – Mark Kimball, chief executive officer of Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital, was one of 11 employees laid off by Erlanger Health System on Friday.
    Erlanger Health System issued a release late Monday announcing Stephanie Boynton will be the new hospital CEO, in addition to her duties as CEO of Erlanger Bledsoe Hospital & Sequatchie Valley. Boynton, who has been with Erlanger for 19 years, was the interim CEO of the hospital when Erlanger acquired it in 2018.
    The release did not mention Kimball but said Matt Thomas would continue as chief financial officer, while Teresa Bowleg would continue as chief nursing officer. Matthew Huff was the vice president of operations and physician services, but he was no longer listed on the hospital’s leadership team website Monday.
    Kimball had no comment to make on the decision when contacted Monday. On Wednesday, Kimball aid the hospital was a volume-based business when discussing staff furloughs and revenue decreases due to the coronavirus pandemic.
    “Where we have gotten hit pretty good was our outpatient volume, or ED volume for instance. A normal ED day for us is about 50 patients a day. And so, I would say a month and a half ago we were seeing around 20 patients a day,” Kimball said. “We’re back up into the mid-30s to 40s.
    “People were just staying away from medical centers. And so, those numbers are starting to return. They are not where they need to be.”
    He said local revenues were about 70 percent of usual.
    “Our numbers keep growing. They just keep growing, which is a very positive sign,” Kimball said. “But as you know, right now, we do have employees who are furloughed. It’s simply a volume-based business. As the demand for those services continue to rise, we will continue to bring people back to full-time work.”
    Kimball, who Erlanger’s website said has 20 years of leadership experience with several prominent health-care systems throughout the Southeast, was hired as the hospital’s CEO shortly after Erlanger purchased the former Murphy Medical Center in April 2018. Since then, he has been involved in the community through the Murphy Rotary Club and Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce.
    Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital is a 25-bed critical access facility serving seven counties in western North Carolina, north Georgia and eastern Tennessee.