12 People You Need to Know in 2013: William Mahoney

William Mahoney is no stranger to hard work. With four children at home, Mahoney worked overtime to get his bachelor’s degree, which he earned in just two and a half years.

“When you’ve got people who need to eat and you need to get your education, you get it as fast as you can,” Mahoney says.

While earning his master’s degree at the University of Missouri, he worked 40 hours a week and added two more kids to the mix, he says.

Amid all that hard work, his future began to come into focus. Mahoney’s mentor at Mizzou, Billy Richburg, suggested he pursue a career as a hospital CEO and Mahoney hasn’t looked back since.

Now CEO and president of Skaggs Regional Medical Center in Branson, Mahoney still has plenty of hard work ahead of him. He is leading the hospital through many changes as it becomes a subsidiary of CoxHealth and is renamed Cox Medical Center Branson, effective Jan. 1, 2013. It is a change, Mahoney says, was needed.

“When I came in here, this hospital was on the brink of being taken over six months before,” he says of the hospital that posted five straight years of operational losses prior to seeking an agreement with Cox.

While improvements came, he remained concerned about the fate of the hospital in light of the Affordable Care Act, the economy and the ongoing challenges of recruiting quality physicians.

“A year ago December, roughly, I went to the board and says, ‘Do we want to be independent or relevant?’” he says. The board’s decision came down on the side of relevancy and the hospital sought a partner.

After discussions with a number of other hospitals, the board decided to team with CoxHealth, which Mahoney says shares Skaggs’ commitment to serving the region.

The hospital’s affiliation with CoxHealth will afford it greater resources, buying power and recruiting incentives, Mahoney says. It also means the hospital will be able to provide more health education programs for Taney County, including smoking cessation programs.

“This is a way we can help people. Our mission is to improve the health of the people we serve,” he says.

While Mahoney’s role will change — he will report to CoxHealth President and CEO Steve Edwards — he says he is looking forward to the new relationship.

“He’s a genuine person and someone I admire, so I’m looking forward to working with him,” Mahoney says.

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