Provena Covenant's New CEO Enters A Difficult Situation in Champaign in May 2003
But Takes Steps To Demonstrate Clearly That 'Leaders Lead'...
Engineering A Dramatic Turnaround In The Relationship
Between The Community Group And The Hospital
Read the
Fall 2004 Article About This Dramatic Turnaround
"...talk alone is not enough;
actual policies toward patients need to change."
Hear Audio
Of Provena Covenant's 2005 CEO Articulate His Philosophy About Hospitals
In the
Context of Exempt Status“...the
exemption to pay property tax is, in my estimation, a contract and the contract obligates
the two hospitals to continually be held accountable for how they are dealing with or, in
this case, enjoying that exemption…These are assets, these are resources of the
community—no different than the school system, no different than anything else and
they’re only as good as the community wants them to be.”
Mark Weiner, CEO, Provena Covenant Medical Center
Spoken at a public health care forum in Champaign, Illinois 4/28/04
held by the Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois |
Provena Covenant Medical Center's CEO, Mark Weiner and CFO, Cheryl Harmon,
are honored at a recent dinner hosted by Claudia Lennhoff, Executive Director
of the community group Champaign County Health Care Consumers.
For several
years prior to 2003 a community group had been asking both hospitals in the
Champaign-Urbana area (Provena Covenant Medical Center and the Carle Foundation Hospital)
to change pricing, billing and collection practices in respect to the uninsured,
underinsured and otherwise medically indigent populations. Relations
became strained
as the community group issued reports, held press conferences, etc. to the point where the
controversy became quite public, eventually leading the Champaign County Board of Review
to investigate both hospitals. In the summer of 2003, however, the top management at
Provena Covenant changed and -- notwithstanding that that event was too late to prevent
the Board of Review from filing a recommendation to the State of Illinois Department of
Revenue for revocation of Provena Covenant's property tax exemption -- relations between
the community group and that hospital began to improve, to the point where today a
collaboration is taking place in a number of important areas.
 Hear Claudia Lennhoff, Executive Director,
Champaign County Heath Care Consumers,
describe how the turnaround started in the summer of 2003 and its implications for all
hospitals.
Read the July 8, 2004 Update
Letter to James Unland From Claudia
Lennhoff
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