Wente retires from Southeast Missouri Hospital

James Wente looks reluctantly ahead to retiring from what he says is the best job he's ever had. The chief executive officer of Southeast Missouri Hospital said he realizes he needs to leave now while he's still in good health and able to help Southeast's board of directors find the right replacement to fill the job he's leaving.

Wente announced in July that he will retire effective July 31, 2009. After then, he will be CEO Emeritus for another year.

In between, the hospital board, led by James A. Rust, will conduct a national search for his successor, through a professional search firm which has not yet been selected, Wente said. The process should take several months of examining dossiers, conducting interviews, and selecting the right fit for the shoes Wente is leaving to be filled.

A graduate of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Wente joined the administrative staff of Southeast Missouri Hospital in 1975 as assistant administrator and chief financial officer. In 1988 he was promoted to associate administrator, and in 1991 he became the CEO.

His accomplishments include expanding the size of the hospital, its medical staff and its assets. He has overseen 10 major expansions, the most recent being the West Campus Medical Office building. Under Wente's supervision, 520,000 new square feet have been added to the hospital and another 352,095 square feet have been renovated, according to hospital information.

"Jim has done a terrific job as President of Southeast Missouri Hospital," Rust said in a news release. "Under his leadership Southeast became the first heart and cancer hospital in downstate Missouri. His progressive style of leadership has positioned Southeast as the region's leader in heart and cancer care."

Rust added that it was also under Wente's guidance that Southeast in 2004 earned the Magnet Nursing Services Recognition Award, the highest honor a hospital can receive for patient care. Southeast was the fourth hospital in Missouri and the first outside a metropolitan area to receive the award, and today is among only seven hospitals in Missouri and 287 health care organizations out of 6,000 in the country to hold this award.

In a prepared statement, past board chairman Mike Kohlfeld said, "Jim has overseen some of the most complex and challenging times you could possibly face in this industry. Southeast has not only survived; it has thrived. Jim has been a work horse who put his heart and soul into the hospital."

Looking back, Wente said there really isn't anything he wanted to accomplish but didn't — at Southeast. What has been disappointing to him though is that through his involvement with the Missouri Hospital Association and other groups, he has not been able to see an improved access to health care and its affordability in the country.

"There are still about 47 million people who do not have access to care, who are under-insured, who are uninsured," he said. "That represents about 15 percent of the population. I just think that's a shame to have the wealthiest country in the entire world still not able to come up with a solution to that particular problem."

No other business, Wente said, could write off 65 percent of its sales and remain in business, yet Southeast and other hospitals do every year. Medicare and Medicaid, government-supported programs, reimburse medical care providers below cost, and the difference is made up from insurance companies, private pay customers or is written off. The cost of doing business is made more expensive by the introduction new technology and the people involved with it. The innovations and the people who provide them work medical wonders, but must be paid for.

When Wente took over the helm in 1991, Southeast employed 1,114 people, according to figures the hospital provided. Today, the hospital staff numbers 2,169, of which more than 40 are employed physicians. In 1991 there were 133 physicians on the medical staff; today there are 218 active and associate physicians. Overall, Southeast is the largest employer in the Cape Girardeau area, Wente said.

Wente says he doesn't think of everyone who works at Southeast as staff; they're as much like family as his own family. Physicians he has helped recruit and board members through the years have become personal friends as well as business associates; so have members of the hospital staff.

"I think my memories are going to be focused around people," he said. "It's the quality of the people, the dedication of the people, from the board members, to physicians, to employees and volunteers, I'm going to miss."

It's been a job he's thoroughly enjoyed over more than 30 years.

"I may even miss some of the problem-solving," Wente said. "Health care administration is a very challenging, multifaceted leadership job. One of the things I won't miss is some of the stress that comes with it. This job requires meeting the needs and expectations of a whole variety of constituents and they all have a different perspective of how to solve some of the issues. You have to try to bring those groups together and work to come to a solution. It's fun, but sometimes it can be very challenging thing to do."

But not as challenging as the job the board has: finding Wente's successor.

"From my point of view the selection of a chief executive officer is probably the most important job any board has," Wente said. "Over the next few months there's going to be a very serious and responsible effort that goes into finding the right person for this hospital. I'm looking forward to Southeast Hospital continuing to grow and meet the needs of this area."