Saturday, Sep. 06, 2008

Prosser hospital chief retiring after 10 years

Laura Kate Zaichkin, Herald staff writer

PROSSER -- Jim Tavary says Prosser Memorial Hospital will thrive under a new administrator.

The chief executive of nearly 10 years resigned last week and will leave at the end of November for a community hospital in Wisconsin.

"We love Eastern Washington. It's always hard to leave people behind," Tavary said Friday.

But he added, "I do believe (the hospital) requires new leadership."

Tavary admitted he and other hospital leaders were faced with challenges and controversy this year.

The hospital's ambulance services operated in the red after losing full reimbursement for Medicare beneficiaries. And many in the community were upset by the proposed sale of its aging nursing home.

But hospital leaders say Tavary will leave behind a legacy of growth for the rural hospital.

"He has been a person of vision and has definitely left his mark on this hospital and this community," said Jack Schroeder, the hospital district's board chairman. "I think the community's going to miss him. He's been a positive force."

Since Tavary came to Prosser Memorial in 1999 from a hospital in Arizona, he has added staff, services and a fundraising arm for the hospital.

Net patient revenue last year was about $23.6 million -- more than three times what it was in 1999, according to hospital data.

Hospital staff also has more than doubled, with more than 240 employees this year compared with 115 full-time employees in 1999.

Tavary says he came to Prosser with the mindset that the hospital could "not only survive, but thrive."

"I think we've accomplished a lot," he said.

Tavary was instrumental in developing surgery and physical therapy programs, as well as hospital-affiliated specialty and family practice clinics.

"Today we provide so much more than we did 10 years ago," he said. "People really had to go out of town to access sub-specialty services."

Tavary says he looks forward to starting at Ripon Medical Center, which is in a resort town about 50 miles south of Green Bay.

That hospital is about a year away from building a replacement hospital, which is an opportunity many hospital CEOs don't have in their careers, he said.

"It's an opportunity to start anew again," Tavary said.

But Tavary says he's leaving "a bunch" of unfinished business behind, including the capital campaign to expand the hospital's emergency department, finding dependable funding for the ambulance system and the master facility plan, which could include an expanded obstetrics department and surgery center.

"I absolutely believe that will take place in the next few years," he said.

And the Prosser board voted last week to put on hold the fate of the hospital's Transitional and Long Term Care facility.

The hospital was in the process of negotiating to sell the facility to Eagle Healthcare Inc., a move criticized by some hospital staff and community members.

Those who objected to the sale picketed at community forums and circulated a petition calling for the resignation of Tavary and Schroeder.

And some personally attacked Tavary, posting signs at his home and embarrassing him at church, Schroeder said.

"Although he's appreciated by the board and his subordinates, this vocal minority has caused heartache for him and his family," Schroeder said. "It's sad when a very small minority decides they're going to get somebody. And they did it."

Tavary said leaving Prosser Memorial had been something he and his wife considered before the criticism began, but the personal attacks "without question pushed us over the edge in the decision-making process."

"At the end of it we were pretty exhausted personally and professionally," he said.

Prosser resident Dianne Jung, who picketed against the sale of the care facility and called for Tavary's resignation, says she does not condone the personal attacks, but, "I think the change needed to be made."

"Without calling him names, I would just say he behaved unprofessionally," said Jung, 66. "The man has asked for it. His actions definitely hit a core nerve in the town of Prosser. ... "

"People have gotten fed up. Some people did not know where to go or how else to express themselves," she said.

Schroeder says the accusations of misconduct are "blatant lies."

Tavary says he's "disappointed" with those who made personal attacks, but "it certainly isn't representative of this community."

The search for a replacement CEO is under way, but there is no timeline, Schroeder said. The board expects to look at candidates from in and outside Prosser.

"We are going to replace him with somebody who is comparable with vision and energy," he said.

Tavary said, "I think it will be the absolute centerpiece of this community in the next five to 10 years. I won't be disappointed."