Health briefs

New CEO at MARMC

FARMINGTON, Mo. — Just three weeks after 14 full-time and four part-time jobs were cut at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center (MARMC), the new Chief Executive Officer at the hospital said he does not expect there to be more layoffs, but admitted he has to find out more about the facility he now leads. The layoffs were said to be part of the hospital's restructuring of its operations and were announced on Aug. 1. Some of the affected employees were offered other open positions within the hospital.

This is Bryan Hargis' first job with Capella Healthcare, which bought MARMC in March from Community Health Systems. He comes to Farmington from a similar job at Jennersville Regional Hospital, a 59-bed, acute-care facility located in West Grove, Penn. He's spent more than 20 years in health care and is happy to return to his roots in the Midwest. He is from Aurora, Ill., and said this is the closest he has lived to his hometown since he left it in 1980.

He said before taking the job, he asked Capella if they intended to own MARMC for a while and he said they told him they are "in it to stay."

Hargis, 48, is a certified public accountant who got his start in business as a teenager when a Mercedes dealer took an interest in him as he participated in a Distributive Education program. He has an undergraduate degree in marketing from Arizona State and an MBA from Auburn University in Alabama.

CHS purchased MARMC in 2006 and sold it to Capella, along with eight others last March. Two interim CEOs have led the facility until Hargis was named to lead the hospital. MARMC was founded in 1951 by four osteopathic physicians. The hospital had been struggling financially since 1999, according to hospital officials.

"Our financial health is improving," said Sue Evans, MARMC Board. "We are in the black and we are very encouraged."

She said she has been pleased with Capella's ownership of the hospital saying they appear committed to the hospital's success and with keeping it very much focused on the community. Capella is a privately-held, for-profit company with head quarters in Franklin, Tenn. MARMC employs about 450 people and is licensed for 98 beds.

Physician attends chiropractic training

Dr. Tiffany Brey, a chiropractor who practices at Dixon Chiropractic Center at 589A Highway 146 in East Cape Girardeau, Ill., recently completed a four-day training session in Florissant, Colo. Along with about 80 other chiropractors from across the United States and Canada, Brey participated in training covering various topics ranging from the art, science and philosophy of chiropractic to wellness care for families. This event also included advanced training on the use of the Insight Subluxation Station.

Community health care executive completes business management program at UCLA

Families and individuals who receive medical services from Cross Trails Medical Center will be the ultimate beneficiaries of specialized management training completed by the organization's Chief Operating Officer, Chrissy Warren, one of this year's 80 graduates of the Johnson & Johnson/UCLA Health Care Executive Program. The intensive two-week program, conducted at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, is designed to enhance the management and leadership skills of community-based health care organization executives.

Participants are selected through a competitive application process and all expenses and materials are fully funded by the program. Eligibility is limited to organizations that are currently funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an operating division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that assures the availability of quality health care to low-income, uninsured, isolated, vulnerable and special needs populations and meets their unique health care needs. HRSA-funded health care organizations provide comprehensive primary and preventive medical care to more than 9 million patients and clients each year at more than 3000 sites nationwide.

New optometry practice opens

DEXTER, Mo. — Dr. Jennifer Howard has opened her optometry practice at 223 N. Walnut Street in Dexter. It is called Dexter Family Eye Care, LLC.