Mesa View Regional Hospital’s new Chief Executive Officer Kelly Adams has been on the job about 90 days. Thrown into the fire on short notice, he quickly took hold of the reins and brought about a new community spirit in Mesquite.
“I’m very encouraged with the first 90 days under my belt,” Adams told the Mesquite Citizen Journal in an exclusive interview. “I have found Mesquite very welcoming. The citizens and the government of this town are eager for additional health care in this community. The hue and cry I’ve heard over and over again is ‘please help us. We’re tired of going to St. George or Las Vegas for our healthcare. Please bring more physicians and services here so we can stay local.’”
Adams said he and the hospital staff will be making several announcements along those lines of bringing more services to Mesquite in the upcoming months.
Unlike most CEOs who spend the first week or so poking through the organization they will be leading, Adams spent virtually his whole first week meeting various business leaders, community members, and public officials throughout Mesquite.
“I want to thank Rob Fuller first for introducing me to the community leaders and others,” he said. Fuller is MVRH’s Business Manager and a longtime resident of Mesquite. “What a valuable asset to have someone who is so long-term in the community and who can get me in front of the decision makers quickly.”
He said it was important to him to spend his first week meeting people because “a hospital is a very important asset to a community. The community needs to know that if they go to the hospital there is someone there that they can trust and someone they know. I want them to know that we employ and contract and work with competent physicians and competent staff.”
The introductions he received that first week served the community well as the federal government began its efforts to provide COVID-19 virus vaccinations across the country. Adams has been one of the leaders of the Mesquite Operation Vaccination task force that helped create the local vaccine outlet.
“It’s been very difficult for all hospitals to navigate the waters of the COVID-19 pandemic environment,” he said. “It was apparent to me when I arrived that the community needed help with the vaccine effort. We quickly put together a tri-party legal agreement with the City and the Eureka Casino that covered all three organizations. Everyone has been so helpful and came together as one.”
He said, “It was very interesting to come here and run a hospital and put together a massive project like the vaccine program, all at one time. But there were a lot of willing participants. Our operation should be written up as a study on how to do a community health project correctly.”
Adams said the COVID-19 pandemic has been an extreme challenge for the hospital’s staff overall. “Think about how difficult it is for our folks to have someone pass away without a loved one being able to be by their side. That’s hard to take,” he said. “From a hospital point of view, we’re seeing very few virus positive patients now.
Adams explained that the financial bankruptcy Mesa View’s parent company Quorum Health Care experienced in early 2020 was a ‘planned’ action that relieved the company of financial burdens and put the organization in a much better financial stance. “It only lasted 90 days but it made the parent company much stronger in terms of operations,” he said. “Mesa View was never in bankruptcy jeopardy. It’s always been a strong asset for the parent company, Quorum. It is allowing Quorum to give me more resources to advance health care delivery in Mesquite.”
Adams said that because Mesa View Hospital is considered a ‘critical access’ rural hospital, it has better protections against being closed. “Across the country last year, 50 rural hospitals closed. They closed for a variety of reasons. Federal programs work to keep critical access hospitals whole. That doesn’t mean we’re going to make a ton of money. But it keeps us whole and it keeps us stable. That’s what we’re after.”
It didn’t take Adams long to knock down rumors that Mesa View may be swallowed up by larger hospitals, namely Intermountain HealthCare in Utah. “I’ve heard those rumors and they are in the rearview mirror. They and others were looking at this organization at one time. I can tell you there is no truth to those rumors going forward.”
He reiterated that the future of Mesa View Regional Hospital is to “grow services here and keep people here. That will be a very positive thing for the community,” Adams said.
When it comes to planning those future services and future growth, Adams relies heavily on research, data, statistics, analysis, and facts. “We are looking at the epidemiology of the community. What kind of diseases are here that we need to treat? Once we established that, we looked at where the diseases were being treated. Were they being treated locally or to the north or to the south?”
Adams said it’s not just a quantitative but qualitative study. “As a CEO I back into that and say how can we answer those needs with the right kinds of specialists and services. As I look at the out-migration of potential patients I ask how we can stem that migration.”
He’s very conscious of keeping the patient as the ‘centerpiece’ of discussions among hospital staff, physicians, nurses, and community members. “It’s very easy to get distracted away from the patient,” Adams said. “But it’s most important to keep the patient right in front of us at all times.”
So, while the first 90 days on any job for anyone can be an interesting and stressful time, for Adams, it’s been another interesting adventure in a long line of successes in his 40-year career.
Patti Chaney says
I was hoping Intermountain Healthcare would buy out Mesa View Hospital. I worked for Intermountain in Salt Lake City for over 20 years. Intermountain is a well ran organization with protocols and policies that lead to excellent patient care and outcomes. Also, Intermountain’s employee retention is much better than that of Mesa View Hospital.
Robert Gollwitzer says
I’m hoping that maybe they could help us Veterans for service since we can’t seem to get the Van leaving from the ELK’s to the VA Hospital in Las Vegas up & running. Thanks.
Brenda Ward says
Find a way to keep your doctors.
Patti Chaney says
Intermountain keeps its doctors.
Margo Linden Hood says
Doctors are a joke. They don’t care or follow thru. Mesa View is just a bandage fix. +I have a neighbor who just had a very bad experience, with a Doctor leaving her in a room and never coming back. No one new where she went. Any good Doctor leaves, so what is the problem. I was wishing that Intermountain Health or someone would purchase the hospital. The Clinic is a joke. Any good Doctor leaves it.
Dan says
Per an executive at IHC Mesa view was too in the red to be purchase. This article sounds like some serious smoke up the …. , can’t believe anyone anymore.
Didn’t Mesa view just go through a BK or are we have to of forgotten that already?!
IHC was smart not to make that move. I know they are interested in growth within the city, as long as the city doesn’t mess it up again. Somethings wrong with the people in this town
Mesquite Citizen Journal says
Dan,
The answer to your question is in the article – “Didn’t Mesa view just go through a BK or are we have to of forgotten that already?!”
Please read the article again.
Thanks,
Barbara Ellestad
Publisher/Editor
Stephanie Jackson says
Our doctors seem to not want to do business with Mesa View Hospital. When there are x-rays or lab work needed they would rather schedule this work in Las Vegas or St George. Why?
I have been advised to get a hip x-ray and blood work (having to do with an annual exam) for nearly a year. Mesa View’s answer to scheduling is: no x-rays can be scheduled… come in and wait (during a pandemic)!
For a hospital losing money and personnel it males little sense to hinder services to their potential clients by making it more difficult to obtain these services. Changes are needed.
Michelle says
We have had amazing doctors come to work here in the last 8 years. They are usually here for about one to two years, rarely longer, and then they are burned out by ridiculous hours and schedules along with broken promises made at the start. It’s like a revolving door of the really good doctors.
Ellen Middleton says
Great article. Welcome to the new CEO. We have been in Mesquite over a year. I have only positive experiences with both the hospital and the clinic. Including diagnostics and X-ray during the pandemic
No appointment necessary for X-ray and they are very timely. Certain times of day are busy but the afternoons seem less busy. Appointment for Mammogram a breeze. I feel I have been able to stay on top of routine preventive care in spite of the pandemic. Thank you Mesa View and staff. Not to mention the excellent execution of the vaccine rollout.