Greeson: Spiegel setting records in a tough task

Kevin Spiegel’s got a good job. And it’s a tough job.

He’s well-compensated, of course, and there are lots of difficult jobs around that do not include that sixth figure in the annual compensation.

Still, Spiegel’s task is every bit as large as his paycheck.

As CEO of Erlanger Health System, Hamilton County’s public hospital, Spiegel operates a very private business in a very public spotlight.

He is charged with attracting and keeping the best doctors possible — something he has done at an All-American level — while making money and keeping the books balanced at a public facility.

It’s not unlike being asked to rework the Rubik’s Cube on a daily basis with your hands tied behind your back. Still, he manages to juggle the puzzles and jump the hurdles through arguably the most treacherous industry in our current society.

The stresses of modern-day medicine range from insurance haggles to lawsuit concerns to the minute-by-minute angst of saving lives and helping those in need. Being on top of that mountain means handling everything and anything between.

It’s a daily balancing act made even more challenging by the hundreds of patients his hospital faithfully serves every day and the hundreds of millions of dollars he and his staff have to oversee. Spiegel has done that exceedingly well and more.

And by doing that in recent months, Spiegel and Co. have completely flipped the script on the narrative of his operation.

It was not that long ago that Erlanger was a medical money pit. It bled money, and in a place where bleeding needs immediate assistance, bleeding money is quite painful. There was hand-wringing about its future and concerns about its financial feasibility.

Spiegel arrived in early 2013 and there were changes and growing pains. He made tough choices and looked to make hospital operations more businesslike. He was forced to cut benefits and asked for systemwide belt-tightening. His moves were questioned from inside and out.

He even reached out and landed eight figures worth of federal funds to help connect the floating dots on Third Street, inviting the government even deeper into Erlanger’s kitchen with spatulas and scalpels at the ready. Along the way there were multiple parties looking to take some credit and multiple shots — and the regrettable closed-door bonus fiasco naturally drew his enemies’ ire — but the constant has been Spiegel.

Flash forward to today, and Spiegel’s Erlanger leadership group followed a record-setting quarter to the fiscal year with another near-record quarter. After a three-month stretch that produced a record $12 million profit, Erlanger announced earlier this week it followed it up with an $11.4 million net gain. It’s the kind of turnaround that would be earning coaches annual awards and private-sector folks multiple stock options.

With that, Spiegel’s gig at times has to seem thankless.

There were complaints when the bottom line was too low, and there are questions from some now when the bottom line is high.

The naysayers deadpan their wisecracks and wonder aloud what corners are being cut to make the dramatic jumps from record-setting losses to record-setting profits.

Those questions are understandable, of course, when talking about the care of the sick. Plus, it’s always the prerogative and the perspective of each individual to look closely at our public institutions.

But let’s take a step back for a moment and just crunch the numbers and realize that Spiegel and Co. have re-written the Erlanger story and have made major positive strides.

That’s a tough job done well.

Jay Greeson’s column will appear on Page A2 on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. His sports columns are scheduled for Tuesdays and Fridays. You can read his online column the 5-at-10 Monday through Friday at timesfreepress.com after 10 a.m. Contact him at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter at @ jgreesontfp.