YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
Less than two years after his promotion to CEO of Citizens Memorial Hospital, Gary Fulbright is set to retire from the Bolivar-based rural health care system he’s worked at for nearly 40 years.
Fulbright, 64, said he plans to retire Dec. 31. He was hired as controller in 1982 before his 2003 promotion to chief financial officer. In January 2020, he succeeded Donald Babb as only the second CEO in the organization’s history.
Babb retired at the end of 2019 after 38 years as CMH’s leader.
Fulbright said he’s considered retirement for the past six months. While much of his tenure as CEO has been during the coronavirus pandemic, he said that didn’t factor into his decision. Spending more time with family was his big influence.
“I’ll be turning 65 later this year,” he said. “We’ve got a couple of twin grandsons. This will give me a little more time to spend with them.”
Succeeding Babb as the health care system’s leader was never intended to be a long-term stint, Fulbright said. The boards of directors for CMH and the CMH Foundation, of which Fulbright is executive director, were informed of that intention before his promotion, he said.
“I was upfront with the boards that I wanted to do it on a somewhat short-term basis,” he said. “I wanted to have a good transition from our previous CEO, which we’ve been able to do.”
Patrick Douglas, CMH Board of Directors chairperson, said retirement discussions had been ongoing for several weeks.
“I kind of knew this was something that was on the horizon,” he said, noting he’s known Fulbright for around 30 years. “We knew when we set out, it was not going to be many years. He has around 40 years of service here and has had an exemplary career.”
Start the search
The hunt for Fulbright’s successor begins this month for the hospital and foundation boards, Douglas said. A consultant or executive search firm will be hired to conduct a national search, but he said no hiring timeline for the firm or future CEO has been set.
“No time to waste as far as I’m concerned,” Douglas said. “We would like to have as much lead time as possible so that we can get the word out and identify candidates. We want to be open to any candidate, whether they are within the organization or not. We will not limit who we would consider.”
While the boards went through a CEO hiring process two years ago, Douglas said CMH has been fortunate to only have to undertake it twice in four decades.
“When the last time came around, Mr. Babb had put his blessing as a successor on Gary,” he said. “His words carried a lot of weight with us for obvious reasons. We felt a lot of comfort in that.
“We won’t have the same amount of mileage with any candidate, whoever it may be, that we’ve had with Gary. It will be more difficult.”
The new hire will fill the CEO and executive director roles, as Babb and Fulbright have done, Douglas said, declining to disclose the position’s salary range.
System accomplishments
Fulbright said he’s proud of CMH’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, noting it has given over 20,000 vaccinations in the past few months among its eight-county service area.
“We’ve been proactive on that trying to encourage the community and our employees and our long-term care residents, especially, to be vaccinated,” he said.
During the pandemic, the hospital system experienced a revenue bump in 2020, reaching $522.1 million, up slightly from $514.9 million in 2019. However, its employee count dipped to 2,088 from 2,157 in 2019. Fulbright said he generally was pleased CMH maintained as many employees as it did amid ongoing hiring challenges in the industry.
Jeremy MacLaughlin, director of human resources, told Springfield Business Journal in March that CMH is frequently hiring and had 150 openings in nursing, housekeeping, billing and other jobs.
CMH is amid a five-year plan that will keep its minimum wage – currently at $10.50 per hour – ahead of the state mark, according to past reporting. The state minimum wage increased to $10.30 per hour in January, and it’s set to reach $12 in 2023.
The health care system also plans to expand this year as a $3 million clinic is under construction in Willard. It’s on target to open in November, Fulbright said, adding it will be the 14th medical center for CMH.
One construction project that likely won’t be in motion this year is previously announced expansion plans for the Bolivar hospital. Fulbright said the work includes an expanded emergency department, but the project remains in the planning phase amid the pandemic.
“That would be over the next few years,” he said of a new timeline for the estimated $26 million expansion. “We’re just looking at the plans right now.”
Looking ahead
With the exits of Babb and Fulbright, they take with them nearly 80 years of institutional knowledge combined. During their tenures Douglas said the executives have had a vast understanding of the financial and personnel operations of the hospital and long-term care facilities.
“That is going to be incredibly difficult to replicate,” he said. “Most people are exposed to one side or the other. I would argue there are very few that are exposed to both at the level that we have with Gary.”
Still, Douglas said one of CMH’s strengths is many of its managers and executives are long-tenured. Those include Renee Meyer, a nearly 30-year employee who succeeded Fulbright as chief financial officer, and Michael Calhoun, promoted last year to chief operating officer. Calhoun has worked at CMH for over 20 years.
“In terms of day-to-day functioning, I’m not at all worried,” Douglas said. “We’ve got such strong managers and executives that I’m not losing any sleep over execution in the near term.”
Even with over seven months still left on the job, Fulbright said he already knows it’s going to be tough to walk away from where he’s spent the vast majority of his career. Still, he’s confident in his decision.
“Probably most people would have some mixed feelings about it,” he said. “But it seemed like it was the right time for me.”
Guest columnist Donnie Brawner says many entrepreneurs stray from their original business ventures, which is often a recipe for success.
