This is part two of a five part series. View the full series.
FORT OGLETHORPE – During a meeting in Atlanta 4 1/2 years ago, an attorney pulled a hospital administrator into a hallway to make an offer.
Don Oliver, a lawyer representing Walker County as well as the Hospital Authority board that represents Hutcheson Medical Center, asked Roger Forgey to become the hospital’s CEO. Oliver feared the hospital was on a path toward bankruptcy, and he believed Forgey could steer Hutcheson toward the proper course.
Or at least, he was better than the other options.
“Not our first choice,” Oliver says now. “Not what we needed. But the best shot based on what (Erlanger Health System) was willing to do.”