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Hutcheson Medical Center on Gross Crescent Circle in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.Staff File Photo
Despite employing a full-time communications director, Hutcheson Medical Center on Wednesday announced a short-term contract with Waterhouse Public Relations to bolster the ailing hospital's media strategy.
"We want our story to go to the right people in the right format," said Bill Cohen, vice chairman of the Hospital Authority of Walker, Dade and Catoosa counties. "And we're committed to transparency."
Exact figures for the Waterhouse contract were not immediately available Wednesday night. Cohen said "not a whole lot of money" was involved, so Erlanger Health System, Hutcheson's overseer, already "activated the plan."
In April, Erlanger agreed to manage Hutcheson after the latter defaulted on a $35 million bond and reported several monthly operating losses of $1 million or more, a trend that continues today.
Albert Waterhouse, president of the company that bears his name, said his firm would charge Hutcheson between $150 and $200 an hour to handle media relations and special events.
Corky Jewell, chairman of two other Hutcheson boards, said the North Georgia hospital would foot the public relations bill, adding that Waterhouse has an initial "40-hour ceiling."
The management agreement between Erlanger and Hutcheson allows the Chattanooga hospital to lend up to $20 million in credit. Pat Charles, an Erlanger spokeswoman, said Waterhouse fees would not come from that source.
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Bill Cohen, vice chairman of the Hospital Authority of Walker, Dade and Catoosa counties
Haley Johnson is Hutcheson's marketing director and media contact. She did not attend Wednesday's meeting, and her salary was unavailable. Waterhouse said his company would work "very closely" with Johnson.
Trustees were careful to avoid criticism of Johnson, but Jewell said they wanted more "positive stories" promoted in a timely manner.
Waterhouse handles media strategy for several other government clients, including EPB and Chattanooga's 21st Century Waterfront.
The public relations announcement came moments after trustees reviewed the latest bleak financial numbers. Hutcheson lost $1.5 million in August, bringing their year-to-date losses to $12.5 million.
Hutcheson's boards also passed a new budget -- the hospital's fiscal year begins in October -- that predicts a $2.6 million overall operating loss.
Chris Carroll covers federal politics for the Times Free Press. A Chattanooga native, he went to Red Bank High School and graduated with honors from East Tennessee State University. Chris investigated violent crime, municipal government and hospitals before taking the political beat. For tornado coverage, he and Pam Sohn won a first-place Tennessee Associated Press Managing Editors deadline reporting award. In 2010, Chris won the Golden Press Card Award of Merit and another deadline reporting ...
This is why you don't give people power without accountability. Hutcheson's problem is not its message. It's problem is that it is economically un viable. Setting a match to $200 an hour for consultants won't fix the underlying problem.
My question is why these solons at the top of Erlanger won't just roll up their sleeves and do the major surgery needed to reform Hutcheson's wildly out of date business plan ? The hospital didn't make hardly any money when the economy was roaring and with unemploymnet at 10% +, how can it hope to break even with all of the unreimbursed medicaid and indigent care ? Why is HMC staffed like the place is full of paying, fully insured customers when that is clearly not the case?
Let us know how that public relations effort works out for you.
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