Davie Lloyd out as Weems CEO

Davie Lloyd has left her position as hospital CEO, although officials at Weems Memorial Hospital are not confirming whether she was removed or voluntarily stepped down.

Staff at the hospital were notified Friday of Lloyd’s departure. Hospital officials said Cindy Drapal, the hospital’s chief nursing officer (CNO), will take over as chief administrative officer.

Lloyd, 39, was hired in July, at an annual salary of $145,000, to succeed Weems CEO Chuck Colvert. She most recently served as CEO of Fleming County Hospital, a 52-bed not-for-profit county hospital in Flemingsburg, Ky. that was managed at that time by Quorum Health Resources, a hospital management firm headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn.

County Commissioner Cheryl Sanders, who was critical last month of Lloyd's initial performance, said she was notified last week of Lloyd's departure.

Sanders had asked for Lloyd's removal during the commissioners’ Oct. 18 questioning of Mark O'Bryant, CEO of Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. TMH has an affiliation agreement with Weems, which employs the hospital’s CEO and CNO, although both salaries comes from Weems operating revenue.

Sanders said Friday she had no further discussions with TMH officials since last month's county commission meeting, when she agreed to amend her motion for Lloyd's removal so as to grant TMH until Jan. 3, 2012 to satisfy the commissioners' concerns about Lloyd's performance.

TMH said it plans to provide support to Drapal as part of an affiliation agreement with Weems to provide management oversight for the hospital.

The Weems board of directors will meet Dec. 1 at the hospital to develop a plan for selection of new leadership for the hospital.

In a prepared statement, the Weems board said it "is focused on immediate resolution of important strategic efforts that will strengthen the quality of patient care and the financial success of the hospital."

Warren Jones, a TMH spokesman, said TMH administrators are assisting in reviewing financial systems at Weems and in developing plans to improve accounting processes.

 “We’re working with the Weems board and the county commission to determine what the next steps are, and what we do with the leadership with Weems,” said Jones. “There’s a lot of communication that has gone on and I think that communication bodes well for the future, that there will be open lines of communication.”

The hospital remains without a chief financial officer, after Kim Davis was let go shortly after Lloyd came on board. But financial experts from TMH have been taking a hands-on role in preparing Weems for a financial audit due by the end of January.

At the Nov. 15 county commission meeting, Geri Forbes, administrator of regional development for TMH, reported that TMH officials had become “more involved on a daily basis” with the hospital’s finances, with the upcoming audit their highest priority.

“I don’t want to pay off stiff penalties on this,” warned Sanders, and Forbes reassured her the work was proceeding ahead of schedule.

“We’ve gotten great cooperation from staff at Weems,” said Forbes. “The technical deadline is several months away, and the level of reports and schedules being prepared will be of great ease of use.”

Clerk of Courts Marcia Johnson reported Weems has about $481,000 in funds, although most of that is in certificates of deposit, money market accounts and grant funds, with less than $60,000 in cash on hand.

In her Nov. 15 report to the county commission, Lloyd said there was “great concern” among rural hospitals that if the Congressional “supercommittee” charged with deficit reduction failed to reach consensus, there would be an automatic 2 percent reduction in Medicare payments.

She said the hospital was moving forward with implementing new rules requiring a transition to electronic health records (EHR) by 2015, or risk reductions in Medicare payments. “We must start it in 2012 because if we don’t have a system in place we reduce reimbursements,” said Lloyd.

She said Weems had received a $25,000 grant to help with the pharmacy dispensing part of the transition, but that the overall cost of the EHR transition, to an Internet-based system, would be over $400,000.

She said Weems has made an initial payment of $50,000 to Razor Insights, a certified provider that the hospital board selected to implement the EHR project over a four-year contract. Weems will pay $96,000 annually after the hospital has reached the government-mandated threshold of “meaningful use.”

Lloyd estimated that Weems should be realistically able to recoup between 70 and 75 percent of the cost of the entire EHR project.

“Most contracts are for one year so because it is for four years, it shows commitment, that they have skin in the game,” she said. “Whether they will stick around (after that) depends on whether they are making money.”

Lloyd said Razor will not require payment until Weems receives its incentive payments. “They’ve met with staff to assure they were comfortable because if you don’t have buy-in from staff if doesn’t matter how much money you spend,” said Lloyd, noting the company plans to conduct through training in the new technology.

Dr, Pat Conrad, from the group that staffs the emergency room, has replaced Dr. Stephen Miniat as the medical staff representative on the Weems board, Lloyd reported. Apalachicola cardiologist Shezad Sanaullah serves as the hospital’s chief of staff.

Lloyd also reported the hospital’s average daily inpatient census is three patients, with an average of 15 people visiting the emergency room each day and 10 receiving outpatient care.