Audio clip
Britt Tabor
A new chairman has taken over Erlanger hospital's board of trustees.
Dr. Dan Quarles was elected board chairman Thursday night in an 8-3 vote at the hospital's monthly board meeting.
Dr. Quarles' only opponent in the election was Dr. Charles Longer, who has served as chairman for the past two years.
After the meeting, Dr. Quarles, who is retired and was formerly associate provost at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, said the hospital faces many challenges, not the least of which are possible cuts to TennCare and the uncertain outcome of federal health care reform efforts.
"We've just got to be nimble and be able to respond as best we can and as soon as we can once we get an idea of what's coming down the road," he said. "We need to keep everybody on the board informed of what we're going to do and how we're going to do it."
Accountant Donnie Hutcherson was elected to the role of vice chairman, which previously was held by Dr. Quarles, and the board re-elected Kim White to the position of secretary. Both were unopposed.
Also at the meeting, Chief Financial Office Britt Tabor announced that the hospital has finalized the refinancing of $125 million worth of existing bonds, taking advantage of low interest rates on the bond market.
Officials converted two of the hospital's four outstanding bonds from variable-rate bonds to fixed-rate bonds, locking in a 4.706 rate, Mr. Tabor said.
The hospital's budget and finance committee did not meet this month, and Mr. Tabor told trustees that the October financial report will be presented at next month's board meeting.
NEW BOARD LEADERS
* Board chairman: Dr. Dan Quarles
* Vice chairman: Donnie Hutcherson
* Secretary: Kim White (re-elected)
Health care reporter Emily Bregel has worked at the Chattanooga Times Free Press since July 2006. She previously covered banking and wrote for the Life section. Emily, a native of Baltimore, Md., earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Columbia University. She received a first-place award for feature writing from the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists’ Golden Press Card Contest for a 2009 article about a boy with a congenital heart defect. She ...
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