Hendersonville Business
Eighteen months ago, at the close of its 2015-16 fiscal year, Pardee Hospital reported a $15 million loss. Last month, the hospital’s finance committee reported that January revenue of $62.4 million set a single month record for overall income and that Pardee and its physician practices had achieved a strong first half of the current fiscal year.
Pardee UNC Health Care’s new heart center, its new cancer center, urgent care clinics and a spike in flu cases all contributed to a financial resurgence. Pardee CEO Jay Kirby told the hospital Board of Directors in November 2016 that investments made in 2015 and 2016 would pay off in the months ahead.Here is the Lightning’s interview with Kirby on the financial picture.
How has Pardee rebounded from the loss 18 months ago to much better financial position today?
“We are growing in a number of areas. Orthopedics. Southeastern Sports Medicine. We upgraded the operating room and increased access. Cardiac catheter volume is up 130 percent. We’ve always been strong there, and it’s good to see continued growth. We’ve had great growth in cardiology and then oncology. Our radiation oncology and medical oncologists are as busy as they’ve ever been. Those three service lines drive a lot of our business. We had a high-spike flu season, which increased our volumes in urgent care, in ER and throughout the house. We had days where we normally see 75 or 80 in our urgent care. We would see 120 to 125. It was a very steep spike this year, whereas in the past it was a long rainbow bell curve. Clearly, it’s a very busy time.”
In October 2016 Pardee started Pardee Cardiology Associates. How has that gone?
“Really, quite frankly being able to get folks into the cardiologist in 24 to 48 hours instead of having to wait four to six weeks has really helped us take off. … When we started this, we were doing about 80 caths a year. We’re on target this year to do 320. We’ve had patients show up in our ER that are having active heart attacks. During the daytime when we have Dr. Balcells and Dr. Das, we can move them straight from the ER directly into our cath lab and unblock it without having to have an ambulance ride.”
How is Pardee situated to serve new residents?
Jay Kirby “With so many people come here to retire, so many people living longer, you better do three things well in a community like this. You better have orthopedists to take care of their hips and their knees, you better have a cardiologist to deal with their cardiovascular system and you better have oncology because as we age the incidence and prevalence of cancer goes up as well. As our community grows and we expand schools and roundabouts and parkways and power plants, our hospital has to grow too.”
The hospital invested heavily in 2016 in Epic, the computer network, and Carolina Values, a UNC Health Care project. How did that work?
“UNC Health Care Pardee and all hospitals engaged a consultant to identify ways to cut duplication and waste, save money in buying supplies systemwide, share resources, combine back office functions. Carolina Values was a great investment in improving our operations. If you look at our revenue cycle, our days in AR (accounts receivable) is at an all-time low. Our gross revenue on a monthly basis is at an all-time high.”
After Pardee lost $15 million in the fiscal year 2015-16, you told the board that investment in Carolina Value, Epic, hiring new physicians would pay off in the long run. That might have sounded like spin at the time but you turned out to be right.
“I would say lucky. I would tell you there’s no special recipe. If you recruit highly qualified, well-trained doctors and give them the tools and resources and get out of the way, this is what you get. The success you’re seeing today, bringing physicians, such as radiation oncologists, vascular surgeons, general surgeons, expanding primary care, opening new urgent care, creating a cancer center that’s a destination, and then giving them tools such as Epic to talk together to manage care. It’s no secret sauce. We spent a lot of money in 2015, on Epic, on Carolina Value, on 24 new providers. What you’re seeing today is the fruit of those investments. I’m just fortunate that the board and the commissioners had the patience to go through that time but more importantly had the foresight to make those investments.”
You put a lot of emphasis on improving productivity at the urgent care centers.
“Used to be, not just Pardee, but hospitals across America had core competencies in how to run ERs. So hospitals relied on our ER group to run our urgent cares and they ran them — guest what? — just like an ERs. We don’t need to run them like ERs. We need to run them like physician practices that create a lot of increased efficiencies. We created a physician and P.A. model. (The medical personnel are) not all physicians and they’re not all ER physicians. The real benefit there is the fact that we will see 46,000 people in two urgent cares (in Hendersonville and Fletcher). That’s 46,000 people that might have ended up in our ER or someone else’s ER. We’re getting ready to open one up in Mills River (in June) and if that goes well we’ll be looking for other sites as well. Because people want accessible, affordable, convenient care and that’s what those urgent cares do.”
Any plans for the property Pardee bought across the road?
“No, we’re keeping our powder dry on that.”
Did Pardee see any patient revenue from the Mission-Blue Cross Blue Shield standoff?
“Sure, we saw a short-term blip. That was an unfortunate situation all the way around. … As unfortunate as it was for all involved, I do think it introduced Pardee to people as an alternative. I don’t believe people are coming here for their primary care. But it did bring some folks from Hendersonville to Pardee who would not have come in the past and I think we’ve held on to a little bit of that.”
Is the positive trend for revenue continuing?
“Average daily revenue continues to grow. In our community because we have the seasonality, our busiest time of year is this time of year, as people become more active, as people come back to Western North Carolina when they live other places. The second half of this year will be more profitable than the first half of this year.”
What’s the next big project?
Continued growth and development of our cardiovascular program. We want to be able to bring advanced care closer to not just Henderson County but to our region and that includes Transylvania, Polk and Rutherford counties and that means round-the-clock stent service where folks will not have to travel for care. We want to grow into our investment in those areas.
Do you see another wave of health care reform that will change the landscape again?
“Who knows what’s going to come out of Washington or Raleigh. But I can tell you that people are going to continue to get sick, people are going to continue to need care and Pardee hospital’s going to be there to provide it. Sixty-eight to 70 percent of the dollars we put in First Citizens Bank over there comes from the federal government.”
Anything else?
“Two things that are really exciting is we continue to expand access to primary care. Dr. (David) Ellis (chief medical officer) and his team have added four providers to Laurel Park, one to Etowah and more to Fletcher. Second, we’ve all heard that Wingate is going to expand their P.A. program, to 20 I think it is. We’re expanding our family practice residency with Blue Ridge Community Health Care up to five a year, so we’ll have 15. Pardee Surgical Associates is now training second and fourth year general surgery residents here through MAHEC and we’re also training four psychiatrists. So MAHEC, UNC, Wingate have all recognized that we’ve got quality medical staff, we’ve got great outcomes. This is where they’re bringing their students to train. We’re helping grow workforce. We’re a whole lot more than just a little hospital.”
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Henderson County Business
Pardee UNC Health Care will host a certified nursing assistant job fair on Wednesday, March 14, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the hospital’s Orientation Room, at 800 N. Justice Street. Pardee is offering sign-on bonuses of up to $3,000 for qualified candidates.
Interviews will be held onsite. For more information, contact Pardee Human Resources at 828-696-4209. Pardee UNC Health Care is a not-for-profit community hospital founded in 1953 and is managed by UNC Health Care. For more information, visit www.pardeehospital.org.
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Hendersonville Business
A Local Vendor Celebration at Fresh Market on Saturday is featuring some 20 dairies, coffee roasters, breweries and sweets makers offering samples and a special giveaway.
Vendors participating are Mills River Creamery, Burntshirt Vineyards, Ms. Mary’s, Poppy Popcorn, Boar and Castle, Little Black Dressing, West End Coffee, Dynamite Roasters, Apple Wedge Cider, French Broad River Brewery, Sierra Nevada, Wicked Weed, New Belgium, High Wire Brewing, Boojum Brewing, Mountain Foods, Carolina Bison and Postre Caramels.
The event at the supermarket at 223 Greenville Highway is from noon to 4 p.m.
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Mills River Business
The top executive of Raumedic is moving from Germany to Mills River, where he will oversee a new marketing push in the medical technology market.
Martin Bayer, until recently sole board member of Raumedic AG, was appointed chairman of the entire group in February. He moved his office to North America, where he will be serving as president and CEO of Raumedic Inc. in Mills River. After completing the construction of an administration and production building in North Carolina, the company with Bavarian roots now is looking to quickly establish itself on the world’s largest medical technology market, while pursuing a globally consistent market cultivation strategy.
“I look forward to devoting myself to this task, and being on site will provide me with the best conditions,” Bayer, 56, said in a news release. Under Bayer’s leadership the medical technology company has more than doubled its sales the past 10 years, growing the number of employees from 360 to over 700 worldwide. Given this growth and his new office in the U.S., Bayer points out how crucial it is that collaboration with his colleagues in Germany continues to run smoothly. To ensure this, regular video conferences with the Helmbrechts headquarters have already been scheduled.
Additionally, Martin Schenkel, a seasoned member of management, was newly appointed as member of the board of Raumedic AG. As chief operating officer, Schenkel is responsible for production at all Raumedic sites. In his new role, he is now also the man in charge of the company headquarters, reporting to Bayer. In the process of reorganization, the management team of Raumedic AG will be further expanded in the next months. Read Story »
Hendersonville Business
RALEIGH — The Hendersonville Lightning received eight awards during the North Carolina Press Association’s annual Winter Institute, including recognition for its coverage of the murder of Thomas Bryson, the fight over Hendersonville High School, news obits of prominent community figures and editorials.
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Flat Rock Business
FLAT ROCK — Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards has opened a tasting room in Flat Rock Square that will offer wine-pairing dinners, pairing classes, tapas and small plates and events.
The new venture has something that the popular tasting room and the new Appalachian Ridge Cidery on Chestnut Gap Road lack — a commercial kitchen.
Saint Paul Flat Rock in Flat Rock Square (formerly the Singleton Centre) serves five white wines, six red wines and four dessert wines. Occupying the corner location with an upstairs deck, the tasting room has something that the home location lacks — a commercial kitchen. The Dragonfly restaurant previously occupied the space.
“We wanted to do something a little different than the tasting room,” said Meredith Ward, the 25-year-old daughter of Saint Paul founder Alan Ward. The new venture is just getting started but has plans for events, cooking classes and pairing dinners. It serves locally roasted coffee from Hendersonville-based ShareWell Coffee Co.
Wines include charconnay, the award-winning Laurel Hill Vidal Blanc (best in show in the biggest state wine contest), Chestnut Gap, Jasper and Petit Verdot, with prices ranging from $6 to $15 a glass. Wine is for sale by the bottle, too.
“We hope to partner with some of the local Flat Rock businesses to do some events,” said Ward, a 2010 graduate of Hendersonville High School and graduate of N.C. State University in social work. An on-call social worker for the county DSS, she works seven days and seven off. Read Story »
Henderson County Business
Marco’s Pizza, the newest competitor in the growing list of pizzerias in the area, has opened and is doing a strong business already for takeout, delivery and dine-in of its pies, wings, subs and salads.The first chain restaurant to open on Seventh Avenue in decades, Marco’s has been growing fast regionally, opening five locations in the Upstate South Carolina. The Hendersonville store at 310 Seventh Avenue East is its first in Western North Carolina and more are planned.The menu features build your own from 22 toppings plus eight specialty pizzas including All Meat, Hawaiian Chicken, White Cheezy, Chicken Fresco, Deluxe, Pepperoni Magnifico and barbecue chicken, from $6.99 to $19.99; six subs ($5.99); ($5.50 for 6, $10.99 for 14); antipasto, chicken Caesar, Greek and chef’s salads ($6.49) and baked cinnamon squares ($4.99) and double chocolate brownies ($5.99) for dessert. Marco’s does not serve beer and wine. It offers delivery a few miles from the store, for an $2.99 charge.Manager John Podhany said the new restaurant, which opened a month ago, has been drawing steady and sometimes big crowds. He’s still learning the rhythm of Hendersonville diners.“One day (on a Sunday) they were lined up the door” before noon, he said. “The next week they didn’t come until 12:30.”Located next door to the new Triskelion Brewing Co., Marco’s expects to do plenty of takeout orders from taproom customers. Hours are 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-midnight on Friday and Saturday.
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Hendersonville Business
Those who thought Cook Out had pulled plans to open a restaurant in Hendersonville can breathe a sigh of relief.The cheeseburger, barbecue and milkshake drive-thru specialist, another fast-growing purveyor in the highway interchange market, has pulled a permit for its store at 2548 Chimney Rock Highway next door to the Golden Corral and across from drive-in competitor Sonic.The Lightning first reported the Cook Out lease of the property from Boyd L. “Bub” Hyder in December 2016. Fourteen months later, Mlb Construction Services is ready to start work. A car wash that occupied the property has already been cleared. The contractor plans a 4,000-square-foot building worth $1.4 million, according to a building permit.Started in Greensboro in 1989, Cookout has more than 200 locations in the Carolinas and eight other states in the South. The privately held company is known for its “never frozen” burgers, chicken sandwiches and hotdogs grilled “outdoors style” and a menu of 40 milkshake flavors, including chocolate cherry, mocha, peach cobbler, fresh watermelon (in the summer), egg nog (in December), walnut, peanut butter banana and candy bar flavors. Unlike many of its competitors, Cook Out ranges beyond grilled burgers and hot dogs to offer barbecue sandwiches, BLTs, hushpuppies and chili cheese fries.A Cook Out spokeswoman said it doesn’t take contractors long to put up the building. The Cook Out on U.S. 64 East will be open “definitely by the end of the year,” she said.
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Henderson County Business
Q. I read where Asheville Savings Bank has merged with First Bank. Which local bank has kept their name the longest?
As far as I could figure, only one bank has kept the same name for more than 25 years — First Citizens Bank but it didn’t start that way. It was First Federal until 1991. For the record, State Employees Credit Union is the oldest credit union in town. BB&T, a relatively new arrival to the county, is one of the oldest banks in the state. Chartered in 1913 in Wilson, BB&T, formerly Branch Banking and Trust, got its name from co-founder Alpheus Branch. Here are some that had recent name changes. Wells Fargo was Wachovia Bank. Bank of America was NationsBank and before that NCNB. Entegra Bank was Macon Bank. SunTrust Bank was First Union Bank and before that Northwestern Bank. HomeTrust Bank was Clyde Savings and Loan. Finally, TD Bank (Toronto-Dominion) was Carolina First Bank, and before that MountainBank. I found five “newcomer” banks that have not changed names: Carolina Alliance Bank, PNC Bank, RBC Bank (Royal Bank of Canada), United Community Bank and Woodforest Bank. Nashville-based Pinnacle bank merged with Bank of North Carolina last June and they closed the branch here. They have a branch in Asheville but no plans to open another Henderson County bank. Asheville Savings Bank has been serving WNC customers for 82 years but that will all change on Monday, March 19, when the old signs come down and bold red and white First Bank signs are unveiled in front of 13 former Asheville Savings banks. Headquartered in Southern Pines, First Bank has been around since 1935 and counts 104 locations statewide. The time and temperature on Sixth and Main will now be courtesy of First Bank.
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This footnote may be of interest to moviegoers. The Oscar-nominated movie “The Post” is based on the 1971 publication of the Pentagon Papers — a report that exposed the private views within five administrations that the war in Vietnam was unwinnable. One key player who escaped being mentioned in the movie was Assistant Secretary of Defense John T. McNaughton, who worked for Robert McNamara (played by Bruce Greenwood in the film). Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst who photo-copied the top-secret documents in 1969, once worked for McNaughton. Lightning readers may recall that McNaughton died in the mid-air collision of Piedmont Flight 22 over Hendersonville in July of 1967, just a month after he was assigned to collect and review the Pentagon Papers. Because of his close friendship with McNamara, many perceived McNaughton to be a war hawk but some have since written that he began to be opposed the war in Vietnam. Because he had considerable influence with Pentagon decision-makers, some historians have wondered if McNaughton’s tragic and untimely death prolonged the war.
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