Anderson takes on health care, Medicaid

Jim Anderson is taking on the big issues in health care in the next phase of his career.

On July 7, the longtime president and CEO of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce will begin work as the vice president of marketing and public affairs at CoxHealth. The new job comes just seven days after he wraps up his chamber post and just a couple of weeks after a June 19 farewell party that drew hundreds of businesspeople from Springfield and around the state.

“I haven’t had a new job in 26 years,” Anderson said. “I’m a newbie. Does that make me scared? No. But I am anxious and apprehensive because I am the newbie. I will tell you that Sunday night, the sixth of July, I bet I don’t sleep much that night. I’m going to be like the kid going to kindergarten on the first day.”  

Anderson is using his years of experience shaking hands, making friends and leading the chamber to be a spokesman, an internal adviser and a lobbyist for the Springfield-based health care system that employs roughly 10,000. One of his key duties will be to work behind the scenes with state and national lawmakers to expand Medicaid and bolster Medicare reimbursements.

CoxHealth president and CEO Steve Edwards said hiring Anderson fills multiple needs for the health system.

“It’s marketing, communications and public affairs, which is a broad way of describing both our outreach and advocacy work,” Edwards said. “There are people in place who lead those areas, and they will all report to Jim.”

Edwards said Anderson’s position is a mixture of jobs held by former administrators Laurie Duff, who served as vice president of corporate communications, and Patrick Walsh, the vice president of marketing and planning.

Edwards first reached out to Anderson about coming to CoxHealth in November 2012, after Walsh had left, based on the suggestion of a mutual friend – Springfield banker Rob Fulp – that Anderson could be open to retiring from the chamber. Anderson originally turned down the offer, but Edwards said he kept the job open.

“I didn’t replace that position, in part, to save money, and, in part, because I thought someone like Jim might come along,” Edwards said.

Anderson, who had been tight-lipped publicly about the move, unveiled his plans via a June 23 news release issued by CoxHealth. Anderson said last week he made the decision to join CoxHealth around Christmas – about two months before he announced his retirement from the chamber.

“My plan always was to retire from the chamber at 66, and this just accelerates that, I suppose,” said Anderson, 64, adding he long expected he would take a transitional role before he stops working altogether.  

He said his respect for Edwards attracted him to the position.

“Steve is a former officer with our board of directors, so I knew Steve well during the three years he served on our board,” Anderson said, noting he also served with Edwards on other local boards, such as the Springfield-Greene County Health Commission.

Toward the end of 2013, Anderson said he decided the time was right and he didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to work for CoxHealth and Edwards.

Just after the New Year, Anderson said he sat down with former chamber Chairman Brian Fogle, current Chairman Jeff Schrag and Chairman-elect Tom Hilmes to let them know his decision.

“I said, ‘I’m not going to leave this chamber in a lurch,’ so we mapped out what is now, frankly, happening,” Anderson said, referring to the CEO selection process led by executive search firm Waverly Partners LLC.

At CoxHealth, Anderson’s duties include stumping for Medicaid expansion.  

“I call it Medicaid transformation because I think you have to do some reforms to the system before you can expand it,” Anderson said. “There are folks in the House and Senate who have sort of carried the water on this issue. In the Senate, it is Ryan Silvey, from Kansas City. He was the budget chairman. … In the House, it’s Jay Barnes. He’s a representative from Jefferson City. I’ve worked with Jay and know him well. I think these are two folks that people in the House and Senate look to.”

He said what’s needed is a dialogue between the governor’s office and leaders in the House and Senate to achieve expansion, which has been estimated to bring up to $2 billion in federal dollars per year to the state.

“I’m optimistic, post-election year, that there is an opportunity and potential to do that,” Anderson said. “Am I giddy that it’s going to happen? No. It will take a lot of work. But I do think there is an opportunity to compromise, which would result in Medicaid transformation.”

At the national level, Anderson said he expects to advocate for Medicare reimbursements. CoxHealth Chief Financial Officer Jake McWay said via email he projects the hospital’s Medicare reimbursements to decline by some $100 million during the next five years.

When it comes to outreach, marketing and advocacy, Edwards said Anderson’s community connections are invaluable. He said the new position at CoxHealth, for which the salary was not disclosed, also should allow Anderson to step back from full-time duties when the time is right.

“I think someone like Jim with his connections and background can make contributions deep after the typical retirement period. That could mean that in the future he might be working on our behalf for legislative issues, but maybe no longer has full-time responsibilities,” Edwards said. “When that time comes, we are very open to that discussion.

“In five years, I don’t see him worrying about the details of operations.”[[In-content Ad]]