Carthage hospital board selects interim CEO

CARTHAGE — The Carthage Area Hospital board of directors has selected an interim CEO, but the candidate has not yet accepted the offer.

Natalie M. Burnham, Carthage Area Hospital Foundation executive director and spokeswoman for the CEO search, said board members met Tuesday to interview one potential candidate for the interim post.

“The board will also enter into a comprehensive CEO search,” Ms. Burnham said Tuesday. “It’s really important. We want to more forward as quickly as possible.”

She was chosen to speak on the board’s behalf after board President Brian Scott had not returned several calls to local media.

Last week, the hospital was forced to begin a CEO search after Walter S. Becker retired under pressure. Mr. Becker’s retirement is effective Dec. 31, but he remains out of the office on vacation until then.

It was unclear Tuesday whether the interim CEO candidate also would serve as interim administrator of the skilled-nursing beds or if Joseph Millard would continue to temporarily oversee those beds. Mr. Millard is the administrator of Meadowbrook Terrace, the future 60-bed assisted-living facility on Cole Road, town of Champion.

Mr. Becker had served the dual role of hospital/nursing home administrator.

Until the candidate accepts the offer, Mr. Scott is acting CEO. Richard A. Duvall remains the hospital’s chief operating officer, handling day-to-day operations.

While Mr. Duvall was named to that post a few weeks ago, Ms. Burnham would not comment if the creation of the COO position was in any way tied to Mr. Becker’s abrupt departure.

“I think it’s been talked about in the past, of his retirement,” she said. “In my conversation with the board chair, the official statement is Walter submitted his letter of retirement to the board.”

Sources have said Mr. Becker’s handling of the Meadowbrook Terrace project is one of the reasons he was asked to retire. A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Becker denied any financial woes surrounding the project, even though the hospital had to get a $3 million low-interest loan from the state Dormitory Authority to help cover the cost of construction before the hospital could be reimbursed by the Department of Health.

Mr. Becker told the Times two weeks ago that construction was starting even though a construction contract had not been signed. He also admitted that the hospital continues to have billing issues in which the facility is owed more than $15 million from former patients.

Ms. Burnham said the conversion to a new billing system has been accomplished, but didn’t know if there were specific enhancements to increase cash flow.

The billing system is just one of the many kinks the board of directors will keep working through over the next several months. The hospital remains under the radar of elected officials, as they have said they want to make sure that the facility is not in financial turmoil and that services remain uninterrupted.

State Sen. Patricia A. Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, and Assemblyman Kenneth D. Blankenbush, R-Black River, will join Mr. Scott, Mr. Millard, and Samaritan Medical Center CEO Thomas H. Carman on Friday to discuss financial issues with Carthage Area Hospital, Meadowbrook Terrace and the $34 million Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers grant that is being shared by Carthage Area and Samaritan hospitals. The Carthage hospital will receive $9 million, while Samaritan will receive the remaining $25 million to construct a 288-bed assisted-living and nursing home complex behind Washington Summit off Washington Street, Watertown.