The path forward for Fulton Medical Center and its clinic was made clearer Tuesday morning at a town hall meeting conducted by the hospital's new owner.
"I always believe in doing the right thing, surrounded by good people," new owner Jorge Perez told a large group gathered in Fulton City Council chambers.
The hospital will be associated with Rural Community Hospitals of America, which manages small rural hospitals. RCHA is in the process of changing its name to EmpowerHMS, according to company officials in Kansas City.
"We're two companies in one," Perez said before the formal gathering started. "The National Alliance of Rural Hospitals and EmpowerHMS. HMS stands for hospital management services."
Mike Powell, Fulton Medical Center's CEO, will continue to be employed by the hospital's former owner, NueHealth (also known as NueTerra, of Leawood, Kansas). Isabel Schmedemann started her new job as FMC's new CEO on Monday, she said, while still performing her former duties as chief nursing officer.
She said the hospital remains open - it never closed. Also, 120 former employees are on the payroll, some of whom had resigned after last month's announcement the hospital was closing Sept. 22.
"We're ready, bring it on," Schmedemann said, adding she had planned on starting another job but changed her mind. "Some (employees) have already come back. I came back."
EmpowerHMS also is associated with the National Alliance of Rural Hospitals, which Perez chairs. Mike Murtha, president of NARH, also spoke at Tuesday's gathering.
"Rural hospitals are constantly in a state of crisis across the country, and this has to stop," he said, adding rural hospitals by nature drive rural economies. "We're aggressive and we're tough - tough as woodpecker lips."
Also at the gathering was J.T. Lander, a vice president with EmpowerHMS.
"We are very honored to be in the position of keeping a hospital in Fulton," he said. "We've never closed down a hospital; we've got 20 of them. We have never taken away a service offered at one of our hospitals.
"This hospital is a community hospital; it belongs to you."
Mike Alexander, who was introduced as president of EmpowerHMS, commented about the size of the gathering, which included many hospital employees, Callaway Chamber representatives and ambassadors, as well as city and county officials.
"Look around. You're here because you're excited you're not going to lose your hospital," he said. "It means more than most people realize."
Alexander said he's spent 30 years working in rural hospitals.
"We manage rural hospitals in communities like this," he said. "It's what we do. It's our ministry."
Under the new ownership, the hospital will remain a for-profit entity, according to Alexander, calling Perez "a man with a vision."
"We're not here to get rich and make money," Alexander said. "We do need to make money so we can stay here and survive."
Perez, who said he was currently looking at deals with four other hospitals, also talked about the for-profit model in health care.
"I've been a big preacher of saying health care should not be for profit," he said. "Something like health care should not be for profit. Unfortunately, my company is for profit so we can grow it."
Aaron White, pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Fulton, asked Perez if he would consider a community advisory board with the hospital.
"Communication is something that seems to have been lacking," White said.
Perez said he would be open to that, along with suggestions for a new name for the facility.
Schmedemann was upbeat about the new ownership and her new role.
"Today is a day of new beginnings," she said. "It's a day of hope and a day of promise."
She said she hopes employees who left the hospital will return, and that word spreads about patients with good experiences at the hospital and clinic, which will retain several doctors. She also said she hopes EMS and paramedics recommend the facility to patients they are transport via ambulance.
"I promise I will lead with my heart and I will give the community the best of me," Schmedemann said. "I promise to be a visible leader, both inside and outside of our hospital."
For now, the geri-psych unit is undergoing painting and will reopen next Monday or Tuesday. The rest of the hospital is open for business.