Ron Telles Launches New Era at WhidbeyHealth



While no one broke a champagne bottle over the podium, there was a feeling at Monday’s board meeting that some welcome and meaningful changes are going to accompany the hiring of Ron Telles as CEO.

The initial shocker came from the board, which had a few weeks ago announced its intent to make Telles the permanent CEO at this meeting. Instead, the Board voted to hire him for a year, at his current salary until July 1, and then at a rate of $330,000 per annum for the remainder of the year. President Wallin also indicated there would be no performance incentives in the Telles contract. 

This seems prudent, as it will give the board time to assess his administrative talents, and it will allow ample time to conduct a nationwide search for a permanent CEO, should the board deem that advisable. 

The next encouraging signal was that Telles almost immediately declared “We have to be accredited.” He indicated, however, that before going through that process, they needed to get the hospital’s finances and revenues stabilized.

Telles wasted no time in establishing his mantra: “Leave no money on the table.” There was considerable discussion about WH maximizing its revenues. About closing the care gaps. It was stressed that correct coding and billing are essential to achieve optimum reimbursement. 

It seems that the government has a ton of incentives and bonuses attached to its programs (Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) – to win these funds, you’ve got to get the metrics up. Chief Quality and Transformation Officer Linda Gipson indicated that WH measures and sends out 400 metrics every month. 

By the way, we need not be overly concerned that Telles lacks administrative experience as long as he has veteran staffers like Dr. Gipson and Chief Nursing Officer Lisa Sanford to rely on. 

I know nothing about many of these strategies meant to bump up the revenue, but it appears WH has the right people in the right places to utilize all of the incentives that are available. 

I’ll discuss “swing beds” in a separate post – it’s yet another revenue-producing idea that WH is just beginning to exploit – and it’s a dandy service for Island patients.

One of Telles’s graphs stood out. WH bottomed out in January in number of surgeries performed, at fewer than 120; just a year ago that number was over 260. The February and March numbers were considerably better, though still lagging well behind the 2018 totals.

One observer at the meeting commended the board on the positive things that were happened in just the past 30 to 60 days – including more openness and transparency than he had seen before. I concur whole-heartedly. 

As the meeting of almost three hours (one hour was non-public) wound down, one final surprise was in store. The Board will be considering changing its public meeting time from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. This has been a constant and widespread criticism for at least the last five years. 

Should that change come to pass in the coming months, it would be another victory for those who have sought more openness in how this community hospital is run. We might never be told the full story on the Geri Forbes departure, but at least the hospital’s leadership is taking some baby steps toward welcoming the public to the table. 

The USS Ron Telles was smoothly launched on Monday. He’ll soon be navigating some stormy seas, but there was a clear sense among the employees in attendance that WH had changed course and was heading in a good direction.  

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