Erlanger hospital, like most public institutions, can be an easy target. It was not that long ago when that target was huge – and flashing red. And a bunch of the arrows shot at the East Third Street hospital’s management and board of trustees were warranted.
That was pre-K; before Kevin Spiegel and his team came to town.
It’s been a little over 30 months since Spiegel took the helm. He was hired away from Memphis and handed a ton of red tape, matched only by the red ink dripping from the hospital’s financials.
In fiscal year 2012, Erlanger’s losses were near $17 million; in March alone, the hospital lost $4 million.
Unlike its competitors, Erlanger’s business has to be conducted in public – financials, strategic initiatives and the like. The sunlight often becomes the spotlight.
That glare can be blinding. Erlanger lost money quarter after quarter. The future looked bleak; the bottom line bottomed out. Doctors were leaving and patients were following them. Bondholders came knocking.
“It was even worse than people knew,” one of Spiegel’s inner circle told me this summer when the whispers of the financial 180 were starting to build steam. “Kevin has worked a miracle.”
The 2015 fiscal year financials will become official this week, and Erlanger will record a record-setting profit of $37 million. Last year, the first full year of Spiegel’s leadership, the hospital netted more than $18 million.
Yes, both of those numbers have been bolstered by federal funds in the neighborhood of $17 million, and that grant will continue for another year. What started as a needed lifeline two years ago may become seed money for a promising future.
Jay GreesonSpiegel and his execs – plus hundreds of doctors, nurses and patient-care experts, as well as housekeepers and bookkeepers – have built a rock-solid foundation, so much so that the hospital is expanding.
We know about the talks of the visionary plans for children’s facilities. But did you know that Erlanger recently added its fifth air ambulance to its fleet? The helicopter is stationed in Winchester, Tenn., and completes an expansive circle covering the Tennessee Valley.
It certainly has not been an easy turnaround, and the credit certainly does not only belong at the top.
Every hospital is an amazing place, not captured in a singular adjective, no matter the thickness of your thesaurus.
I’ve spent more time at Erlanger in the last eight weeks than I have in the previous eight years, and to watch these professionals care and cry and believe and bolster the weak and most fragile among us is inspirational.
It’s that emotional investment that gave hope to Spiegel’s vision. Sure, the leadership has been undeniable, but the steps to this turnaround have been fueled by the sweat and the tears of everyone on staff.
Coaches use a phrase “buying in,” especially when they are at a new job. It means simply that the team is willing to do whatever is necessary to get better.
Erlanger had a heavy dose of “buying in,” and with Spiegel at the helm, now it’s getting a record amount of cashing in.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6434.