Porter resigns as Riverview CFO, VP

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[Hooray]

It's about time. Porter nearly ran his last hospital into bankruptcy in Cincinnati and was well on the way to doing the same thing at Riverview. Lack of knowledge and laziness are not a good combo.

[A LOT MORE HERE]

A lot more here then just Jim Porter. Take a hard look at the board of directors and Pat Fox and then look at your hospital bills. Hopefully, the State Board of Accounts and Hamilton County officials will take a hard look also.Porter was forced out and the books and billing practices should be checked out by state officials as a matter of course.I wander who the next scapegoat will be.This is your hospital Hamilton County. Or is it?

[BigDawg65]

Ya, what is going on over there? Seems like all the decesions are made in back rooms. Then when all these people get booted out because they aren't good folks they end up over at St V's or Clarian North.....

Would be interested as to what the Strategic Plan is to keep Riverview vaiabl with the growing presence of the big folks all around.

This needs more coverage and discussion.

We have three County Councilers running for re-election. Let's ask them to fill us in.

[BigDawg65]

Sorry I think that should have been Councilors....

[Riverview Employee]

Jim Porter is a fine and decent man. He was a great leader for the financial division at Riverview. He will be missed by those of us who worked with him. He was totally a scapegoat for the hospital not making our budget in 2007. But, let's see, our open heart surgery volume is down the last two years, our surgery volume is down the last two years, our clinical departments are using an information system that they were not ready to use but the IT department forced down their throats in 2006, ready or not. None of that is Porter's fault. He was Pat Fox's sacrificial lamb. Why and how she still has a job is the question. Doctors are leaving Riverview. That's the CEO's responsibility. She's lost Bolin, Friedman, Hayes, Tawil, Trusler and Nelson in the last couple of years, and no new doctors have come in to replace them. No wonder volumes are not at the budgeted levels. The Board of Riverview needs to be looking at her performance.

Our Board of Trustees does not know what they are doing. They're all up in arms about an increase in how much charity care we are providing at Riverview. Aren't we a community hospital? Aren't we supposed to be providing charity care? What do they expect when we open a new emergency room and a new community clinic. Clinics and ERs draw uninsured people who cannot pay their bills. Our charity care increased in 2007, not because of anything Porter did, but because we were seeing more and more people who cannot pay their hospital bills.

I hope he lands at a local hospital, because I, and many others who work here, will go to work for him if he stays in the area. We miss Jim Porter, and wish him well.

[Sticks and Pucks]

Hooray wrote:

It's about time. Porter nearly ran his last hospital into bankruptcy in Cincinnati and was well on the way to doing the same thing at Riverview. Lack of knowledge and laziness are not a good combo.

You have no idea what you are talking about. His former employer in Cincinnati is trying to bring him back.

You are obviously someone who does not know Mr. Porter, or someone who worked for him who actually made you work. I have worked for Jim at Riverview, and I think the world of him. He is a great leader, an intelligent person, and obviously, someone who is taking the fall for the inadequate abilities of our CEO, Pat Fox. Hopefully our Board will soon see that she is the problem, not the answer, and the board will kick her butt out on the street. I get sick every time I see that woman at work, which isn't really that often, because her office is usually dark, since she's out of the hospital more than she is in it.

Our board needs to wake up. Have you seen that our market share is declining? We were told a couple of weeks ago that we're not only losing market share and losing doctors, but that we soon won't even consider Westfield part of our market, because we are losing that business to St. Vincent and Clarian. It's only getting worse for us, not better. I know I'm keeping an eye open for a job outside of Riverview. I think all Riverview employees should. If you work at Riverview and you are reading this, ask your manager about how we're losing market share and losing Westfield. They should be able to tell you.

[Death by her own hand]

A LOT MORE HERE wrote:

A lot more here then just Jim Porter. Take a hard look at the board of directors and Pat Fox and then look at your hospital bills. Hopefully, the State Board of Accounts and Hamilton County officials will take a hard look also.Porter was forced out and the books and billing practices should be checked out by state officials as a matter of course.I wander who the next scapegoat will be.This is your hospital Hamilton County. Or is it?

Yeah well the competition is breathing down your neck Riverview.
Can you say "ForSale" slowly and with conviction?

[CFO Candidate]

I found this thread by googling Riverview hosptial. I am thinking of pursuing the CFO job. Wow I may have to rethink, sounds like huge strategic and leadership issues.

[Riverview Employee]

CFO Candidate wrote:

I found this thread by googling Riverview hosptial. I am thinking of pursuing the CFO job. Wow I may have to rethink, sounds like huge strategic and leadership issues.

Yep, I'd stay in Tennessee if I were you. It's not much fun around here anymore, now that Jim is gone. We're all looking for new jobs now. He was a great guy to work with. He should be taking over for the CEO, not her showing him the door. Check back in a year when the CEO gets canned. I'm sure a whole new leadership team will be put in place when that time comes.

[WatchDog]

Employee problems @ Riverview.

Employee problems @ Prosecutors Office.

Employee problems @ Janus Developmental.

All have one thing in common Dr.M.Carter

[Who is Dr M Carter]

WatchDog wrote:

Employee problems @ Riverview.
Employee problems @ Prosecutors Office.
Employee problems @ Janus Developmental.
All have one thing in common Dr.M.Carter

Please elaborate. Who is Dr. M. Carter? Working at Riverview, I have never heard of Dr. Carter.

[Close to the situation]

A LOT MORE HERE wrote:

Take a hard look at the board of directors and Pat Fox.Porter was forced out.I wander who the next scapegoat will be.This is your hospital Hamilton County. Or is it?

Porter is so obviously a scapegoat here. We all know that our patient volumes were not what they were projected to be in 2007. So our CFO gets canned? How crazy is that? How about looking right at the CEO and the Board. How many more doctors is Pat Fox going to run out? In the last couple of years, we've lost Bolin, Terpstra, Friedman, Trusler, Tawil, JonesSinger, and others whose names escape me right now, and I'm sure more to come. All we hear about lately is a cardiology project for 2008, which is a joke. Our cardiology program is falling fast. Friedman left Hamilton heart, and now we're told that our heart surgeon Dr. Paris is retiring in a few months. But we're going to pump millions of dollars into building a new cardiologydepartment. Who the hell will be the doctors who put any patients here? Porter was doing all he could to help us in billings and collections, and we're making some really good improvements. We have a director in our department who knows what he's doing, thanks to jim hiring him. This place just isn't the same any more. Our board of directors needs to take a long hard look at Pat Fox.She may be a great smiling face in the community, but nobody who works here has an ounce of respect for her.Maybe our board will actually do the right thing for once, and show her the door. I just wish Jim was still here so he could take her job as CEO. We'd all be better off if that happened.

[Very Upset Employee]

I guess the board doesn't like the numbers for the hospital, since they fired our controller yesterday. So let's get this straight ... we didn't make our numbers in 2007 because our volumes were down. we don't have the same cardiology volumes that we previously had. we've lost at least two orthopedic surgeons, so our surgery numbers are down. so they fire the CFO and the Controller? Are you kidding me? what is the CEO doing for growing our business? the numbers don't lie. Our hospital is heading into the tank, and the competition is coming. Let's see what doctors we lose in 2008. the rumor around here now is that the docs from HamiltonHeart are going to leave, and who can blame them. hopefully Pat Fox will be replaced as CEO, so we can have a leader who can help our hospital back in the right direction.
If you don't like the results, fire the CFO and controller. what a crock. Those two were doing more for us than most of the so-called leaders at this hospital. Can't wait to see people who reported to these two guys start to leave. It's coming.

[Former employee]

First Jae Ebert left. Then Porter. Now I hear that Randy Cox has left. This is three VPs leaving in 2008.

Doctors are leaving Riverview. We just had our doctor in Westfield leave to go to Cicero and work for Tipton Hospital. Before that, our doctor here in Westfield left to go to Community Hospital.

It should concern the Board of Directors of Riverview, and the county commisioners who select the Board, that Pat Fox is doing such a poor job. Doctors are leaving. Hayes. Bolin. Trussler. to name a few. Leaders are leaving. And Pat Fox stays on?

I know Jim Porter very well. Pat Fox threw him under the bus, as the saying goes. Sure would be fun to see him end up at the new hospital that clarian is building at exit 10!

open your eyes and see that Pat Fox is the failure as the ceo of riverview.

[RiverThrough]

The highest recorded crest in feet of White River in Noblesville on March 25, 1913. Flood stage is 14 feet and the usual level is 6 to 8 feet.

I found this information to be very helpful in my understanding of the story, thanks IndyStar!!

[makes no sense]

scapegoat. plain and simple. pat fox threw him under the bus.

[A Good Financial Mind]

I know Jim. He's an intelligent guy, and fun to work with. His next employer will be getting a great leader with a good financial mind. This is Riverview's loss.

[Agree]

A Good Financial Mind wrote:

I know Jim. He's an intelligent guy, and fun to work with. His next employer will be getting a great leader with a good financial mind. This is Riverview's loss.

Couldn't agree more. Jim and I worked together at Mercy. He was the leader among his peers, and really helped us bridge the gap between finance and operations. His work on supply expense alone was tremendous. He knew more about healthcare finance than our boss did!

[HFMA employee]

We're proud to have Jim as a Fellow in the HFMA. Jim has been a valuable contributor to healthcare finance for a number of years, and will continue to do so. The situation at Riverview is an example of a bad thing happening to a good person.

[Purdue Class 72]

Love him in 2006 when the numbers look great.

Fire him when the volumes go south.

Doctors are leaving. Open Heart surgeries are declining. AHN docs are going to be bought by Clarian, so those patients will be gone. The Board wasted their $$$ buying the unnecesary Kahlo property.

Seems to me that the change needs to be the CEO.

Question - why does Hamilton County still own a hospital? We have 2 hospitals in Carmel, a new one coming to Fishers / Noblesville. Shouldn't the county sell Riverview? Our county government does not need to own a hospital.