Salem Memorial Hospital’s board of directors voted 4-2 Tuesday night in closed session to extend the contract of Rural Health Group for one year with a 30-day out, according to minutes from the meeting.
The motion was made by Willie Strader and seconded by Judy Thompson. Voting yes were Strader, Thompson, chairman A.J. Seay and Wanda Tatom. Voting no were Ray Bruno and Mike Swyers.
The same motion was brought up earlier in the closed session and ended in a 3-3 tie, with Tatom voting no the first time. Procedures allow for a motion to be presented twice, but not three times, according to the release.
A second closed session motion was made by Swyers to hire another consulting firm (he presented no name of a consulting firm) and to hire William Giles as a temporary CEO. It was seconded by Bruno. The vote failed 4-2 with only Swyers and Bruno voting yes.
SMH hired Rural Hospital Group in February of 2022. RHG and its partners have worked with over 800 hospitals in 42 states, a large percentage being rural providers. RHG was founded to help keep health care accessible to rural communities through professional management. RHG leaders have extensive experience developing and operating hospitals in rural settings.
RHG was brought into SMDH by the Board of Directors for an initial period of 90 days to assist the hospital in responding to the financial crisis sweeping the rural hospital industry which has partially been caused by the ongoing global pandemic.
