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Transylvania Hospital CEO Speaks at State Healthcare Meeting
BREVARD, N.C., March 13, 2008—Transylvania Community Hospital President and CEO Bob Bednarek spoke this week at a state healthcare meeting that included leaders of some of the largest hospitals in North Carolina.
“The nature of healthcare is rapidly changing in the mountains of Western North Carolina,” Bednarek told a crowd of 250 healthcare and financial leaders gathered Monday, March 10, for the annual meeting of the N.C. Healthcare Financial Management Association held in Durham. “We are looking at innovative ways to attract and retain physicians in our area.”
Bednarek was included on a panel of distinguished hospital executives to discuss the challenges and opportunities hospital leaders face across the state. The panel included Joseph Piemont, president and COO of Carolinas HealthCare System based in Charlotte; Bernadette Spong, chief financial officer for Rex Hospital in Raleigh; John Currin, president and CEO of Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington; and Mike Stevenson, CEO of Murphy Medical Center in Murphy.
The panel represented the full spectrum of successful hospitals in North Carolina, explained Ken Vance, Bank of America’s healthcare practice manager for the Carolinas, who helped organize the meeting. “We had a broad-based representation of North Carolina hospitals from a large healthcare system, to an independent, urban hospital, to a smaller, critical-access hospital. Transylvania Community Hospital was chosen because it is a very well run, well-balanced organization.”
It is increasingly difficult to find a successful independent, private critical-access hospital in North Carolina, Vance said. “Many smaller critical-access hospitals in the state are being bought up by larger hospital systems. Transylvania Community Hospital’s solid financial position can be credited to the good management of the organization by its leaders, who are constantly looking forward,” he said.
The N.C. Healthcare Financial Management Association is the state chapter of the national Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). HFMA is the nation’s leading membership organization for healthcare financial management executives and leaders, with more than 34,000 members nationwide.
About Transylvania Community Hospital
Celebrating its 75th year, Transylvania Community Hospital is a nationally ranked 5-Star Hospital and a leading provider of quality healthcare services in Transylvania and surrounding counties. Based in Brevard, N.C., it is a not-for-profit community hospital founded in 1933 and is the largest employer in Transylvania County.