Published July 2004

Health & Wellness Briefs

Todd to remain acting CEO
of Stevens Hospital
Dr. John Todd, who was named acting chief executive of Stevens Hospital in January, will continue in that post for the next two years.

The recommendation to keep Todd on as the Edmonds hospital’s acting chief executive was made June 16 by a five-member committee helping in the search for a new chief executive.

“We think continuity of leadership is absolutely critical,” said Dave Earling, who headed the group.

Todd, who previously worked as the hospital’s medical director, took over as acting chief executive of the taxpayer-supported hospital when former CEO Steve McCary was fired, with no specific reason given for his termination.

Hospital board President Fred Langer said in June that Todd had agreed to stay on, but it will be about a month before the three-member board reaches a contract agreement with him, details of which will be made public.

Todd said that from the beginning of his tenure, the hospital’s finances have been a major issue.

In May, auditors reported that Stevens Hospital, its medical clinics and other businesses incurred net losses of $2.5 million in 2003. But day-to-day business operation losses could hit $5.5 million for 2003 once all costs have been tallied.

In April, Todd asked Wellspring Partners, a consulting firm, to suggest specific steps to get on firmer financial footing.

In their initial report to the board in June, consultants said improvements could be made in several areas, including contracting for supplies and services, better collection on unpaid bills, and trimming the $2.5 million spent last year to hire fill-in nurses from employment agencies.

Stevens finances
new obstetrics clinic, hires doctor
Dr. Orly P. Steinberg in June opened a new clinic in Mill Creek, the first of two physicians specializing in obstetrics and gynecology Stevens Hospital hopes to hire.

Steinberg’s clinic, Mill Creek OB/GYN, is at 15808 Mill Creek Blvd.

Steinberg, a 1996 graduate of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, completed her residency at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

The hospital has been trying since last summer to bring another obstetrics doctor to the area in light of the shortage of obstetrics and gynecology doctors in south Snohomish County.

Sound Women’s Care in Edmonds, the only clinic in the area specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, delivers about 75 percent of the babies at Stevens Hospital. When one of its five physicians decided to leave last year, the four remaining doctors were on call for stints of 24 hours about once every four days to respond to all obstetrics and gynecological problems in the hospital’s emergency room.

Doctors at Sound Women’s Care said more doctors needed to be hired to spread out the on-call workload. In addition, the clinic was under financial strain from the costs of malpractice insurance, which were increasing up to 30 percent a year.

So Stevens stepped in to help bring more doctors to the area and will spend about $300,000 setting up the new clinic, said Dr. John Todd, Stevens’ acting chief executive. This includes malpractice insurance, which is costing about $68,000 per doctor per year, he said.

Former Marina Village Inn
to become sleep disorder clinic
The Everett Clinic and Western Washington Medical Group of Everett plan to establish a sleep disorder clinic at the site of the recently closed Marina Village Inn on the Everett waterfront.

“What better place,” said Mark Mantei, chief operating officer for The Everett Clinic. “Converting a hotel is like a perfect scenario because you want to make people comfortable.”

Mantei said he expects to establish 10 to 12 beds at what will be called the North Puget Sound Center for Sleep Disorders.

He said the clinic should be busy even though there are similar rooms available near several hospitals in Snohomish and King counties.

“There’s a growing demand for this service,” Mantei said. “Currently there’s a wait of two months for sleep studies to be conducted.”

In addition to a partnership with the clinic, Western Washington Medical Group will also convert some of the space into administrative offices, Mantei said.

The inn, which closed after Memorial Day weekend, had rooms used mostly by business travelers and also a conference and meeting facility.

The center is expected to open this fall after the remodeling work is complete. Mantei said the rooms would have to include updated fire safety equipment, video cameras and medical monitors, such as EEG equipment to track brain activity.

Everett Clinic named one of state’s
top large companies
The Everett Clinic was named one of the Washington’s top large companies by Washington CEO magazine in its June 2004 issue.

Serving more than 275,000 patients a year throughout Snohomish County, The Everett Clinic was honored for its employment practices, including leadership, communication, training and development, hiring, retention, benefits, work environment, supervision, corporate culture, and rewards and recognition.

New scholarship at EdCC
helps health-care students
A new scholarship is available at Edmonds Community College aimed at helping single parents in need of financial assistance who wish to enter a health-care field.

The Kathy McRae Health Care Endowed Scholarship was created through the Edmonds Community College Foundation in honor of Kathy McRae, who was well known for her commitment to the community, EdCC said. She died of cancer at age 57 in January.

For more information about Allied Health Education at EdCC, call 425-640-1017, e-mail alliedhealth@edcc.edu or go to http://ahe.edcc.edu online.

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