Just three weeks after 14 full-time and four part-time jobs were cut at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center (MARMC), the new Chief Executive Officer at the hospital said he does not expect there to be more layoffs, but admitted he has to find out more about the facility he now leads.

“I am going to see what’s going on,” said Bryan Hargis, who started his job Monday. “I do not envision more layoffs, but I have to get my feet on the ground.”

This is Hargis’ first job with Capella Healthcare, which bought MARMC in March from Community Health Systems. He comes to Farmington from a similar job at Jennersville Regional Hospital, a 59-bed, acute-care facility located in West Grove, Penn. He’s spent more than 20 years in  health care and is happy to return to his roots in the Midwest. He is from Aurora, Ill., and said this is the closest he has lived to his hometown since he left it in 1980.

“This community seems wonderful and that plays out with the hospital and staff,” he said. “This is a well-kept plant and the people are so nice.”

He said before taking the job, he said he asked Capella if they intended to own MARMC for a while and he said they told him they are “in it to stay.”

Hargis, 48,  is a Certified Public Accountant who got his start in business as a teenager when a Mercedes dealer took an interest in him as he participated in a Distributive Education program. He has an undergraduate degree in marketing from Arizona State and an MBA from Auburn University in Alabama.

“As a CPA, I audited some health practices at the start of my career and I gradually made a transition from auditor to health care, which I see as a noble calling,” he said. “I am at the tail end of the Baby Boomers and I thought demand would grow for health care. I am finding that to be true.”

CHS purchased MARMC in 2006 and sold it to Capella, along with eight others last March. Two interim CEOs have led the facility until Hargis was named to lead the hospital.

MARMC was founded in 1951 by four osteopathic physicians. The hospital had been struggling financially since 1999, according to hospital officials.

“Our financial health is improving,” said Sue Evans, MARMC Board. “We are in the black and we are very encouraged.”

She said she has been pleased with Capella’s ownership of the hospital saying they appear committed to the hospital’s success and with keeping it very much focused on the community.  Capella is a privately-held, for-profit company with head quarters in Franklin, Tenn.

MARMC employs about 450 people and is licensed for 98 beds. The layoffs were said to be part of the hospital’s restructuring of its operations and were announced on Aug. 1. Some of the affected employees were offered other open positions within the hospital.

Donna Hickman is a reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact her at 431-2010, ext. 138 or at dhickman@dailyjournalonline.com.

You must be logged in to leave comments

*Member ID:
*Password:
	Forgot Your Password?

Not a member? Register now.

E-mail updates

Get news update delivered to your inbox

E-Mail:
First:
Last:
Zip:

Archives Web Site Marketplace Obits Babies Jobs