An Interview with Rita Culvern
By Janine C. Hagan and Rita Culvern
Rita is the Administrator/CEO of 37-bed Jefferson Hospital, Louisville, Georgia. She was appointed CEO of Jefferson Hospital in 1990. Rita has since accomplished a complete fiscal turnaround and has consistently improved annual cash reserves. She/Jefferson Hospital, is the recipient of Georgia Rural Hospital Association’s 1996 Hospital of the Year award. Rita currently serves as Vice Chair, Jefferson County Economical Development Authority. She is also a member of the Georgia Hospital Association’s Board of Trustees. Rita and her husband Joe have two children and two grandchildren.

Rita Culvern at Desk Janine: Rita, it is obvious how much you love your position as a hospital administrator. I am awed by the state-of-the-art technology, cutting-edge communication, and a vision for the community that the hospital serves. Can you give us a quick mental picture of the hospital and of your vision/mission/purpose?

Rita: Janine, given the environment of decreasing reimbursement payments from Medicare and Medicaid as well as commercial insurance payers to hospitals and other healthcare providers, it is amazing that community based hospitals are still in business, much less alive and thriving! Jefferson Hospital, a 37-bed facility, has made a concerted effort to formulate long range strategic plans that would meet the healthcare needs of our community.

Jefferson County’s population is 60% African American. There is a high incidence of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, coronary artery disease and cancer. Our county has a high unemployment and high poverty rate and poor access to transportation. Jefferson Hospital made a determination that our community needed us to provide the best quality primary health care right here at home.

By avoiding mission creep and concentrating on primary care, we were able to “hunker down,” save a little money and then reinvest into our healthcare system. We built three Rural Health Clinics in each of the three larger towns in our county (each town’s population was about 2,800). We recruited hometown medical students to come home and practice medicine. As these clinics prospered, we reinvested into new equipment and technology for the hospital. Our county commissioners and the city councils of the three towns voted to support the construction of a new state-of-the-art Emergency Department at the hospital. I don’t know of any other county in Georgia that has that kind of community support and cooperation.

In addition we applied for and were awarded an interest free loan to build a new rural health clinic, lobby and administrative wing for the hospital. In just one year, we added over 19,000 square feet to our facility. Our county residents are so proud of their hospital. It looks and feels like a new hospital even though it was opened in 1974. While our service area is small, our population supports their community hospital. The financial year-end of 2005 showed us another positive net profit for the fifteenth year in a row. Unbelievable for such a small rural facility!

Janine: I have to agree with your residents. It is an incredibly cutting-edge community hospital and I am definitely impressed! Well, in your article in the last issue of ecumininet™ online! you talked a little about becoming the administrator. Would you please tell us a little about that again?

Rita: I sometimes think I was just standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. I am a registered nurse and have held leadership positions in nursing my entire career. In 1990, I had been the Director of Nursing for Jefferson Hospital for the past five years. On December 12, 1990 (I’ll never forget the date), the Chairman of the Hospital Authority approached me and announced the board was firing the present administrator and asked if I would take over as interim. I agreed, thinking it would be for one month at the most.

As I looked at the situation from the viewpoint of an administrator, my mouth fell open. We had just lost $500,000 to operations; there was $3000 in the bank account and 74 employees and many vendors waiting to be paid. I quickly gathered all the personnel who had anything to do with the process of billing and collecting revenue. After much effort on their part, blood, sweat, and tears on mine, cash flow began to turn around. By the end of the year, we had a miraculous $25,000 profit.

Even though I kept giving wonderful resumes to the Board regarding applicants for a permanent CEO, they just kept me in the position. It has been over fifteen years, now. I eventually hired another Director of Nursing. I often wonder where the strength and fortitude to do this job came from as I stumbled along that first few years. You know my story about the inspiration my late father-in-law, Bob Culvern, was to my life. His spirit and his constant belief in me, sustained me daily even though he had passed away in March 1990.

Janine: It is obvious that you have the natural gifts for this position. How lucky they are to have you! I heard you mention your hospital board several times and about their tremendous attitude of support. What can you share about their efforts?

Rita: First of all, I have to say, you could not find a godlier group of men or women. They volunteer their time and energy to this facility each month. They are very cognizant that they are responsible for the quality of care delivered by our facility and that the healthcare needs of the community are identified and met to the best of our ability. The board is made up of business men and women from throughout the county.

When I present programs or projects that will address healthcare needs, they never ask if it will be profitable, they only ask if it is the right thing to do for our folks. God in turn has blessed us in many ways. For instance, we needed a number of new air conditioning chillers that would cost $275,000. The next day, a check arrived for $250,000 from some government program that was unbudgeted and unexpected. I thanked God and said, “But, you know, we needed $275,000.” The next Monday and additional $25,000 from the same program arrived with an apology that it had been missed!

Janine: Just hearing you tell this “story” gives me goosebumps! So tell me, what brings the greatest energy and joy to your work, your faith and your life?

Rita: My greatest joy comes when we have been able to initiate programs that make a difference in the daily lives of our patients. For instance, we hired three people to develop a free drug program for our needy patients who could not afford to purchase their drugs. We tapped into the major pharmaceutical companies’ indigent drug programs. We had the doctors write prescriptions for these poor patients. We certified their eligibility for the program, ordered the drugs, received them and delivered them to the patients.

Through this work we were able to obtain over $3 million of drugs each year for these folks. The typical patient in this program is a widow, living on $700 of social security per month with a monthly drug bill of $340. Prior to our program, I can assure you, she was not taking those drugs, or she was breaking pills in half to make them last longer. This program does not gain us any money, in fact, it costs money to run, but the joy and thanks from the many patients served is reward enough.

Janine: I can tell from just talking with you about all of this, that you are a woman with strong Christian spiritual perspectives and gifts. Will you share a little of your faith and/or family story with us?

Rita: I was raised in a small rural Georgia town by parents who were both born into the Roman Catholic faith. During the fifties and sixties, it was somewhat difficult to be the only Catholic kid in your class (which was often the case). I was called on by teachers to explain my faith when events such as the death of a pope and the election of a new one came about.

My faith has always been a strong, constant source of inner peace and hope in my life. I know with certainty that My Lord and Savior is with me daily and there to help us all face the difficulties of life.

I thank God for giving me a husband who is such a good Christian, a man who would never consciously hurt anyone, a helpmate, a friend, and the best father in the world. We have two children. Our daughter, Stephanie, at the young age of 33, is assistant principal of the county high school. She is so accomplished and smart---I look at her with wonder and awe. She is the mother of our two grandchildren, Jackson and Jordan. (Yes, we are like putty in their hands!)

We also have a special son, Ben. Ben is 36 and because of a birth injury will always be mentally challenged. He lives happily with us and enjoys the simple pleasures of drawing and coloring pictures, helping dry the dishes, and cleaning his own room. Ben is indeed special. He has blessed us in so many ways and he had taught us that God can make the simplest soul into a saint. While Ben cannot understand lots of things, he does know about Jesus and understands we will all be together in Heaven one day.

Janine: Our theme is “Epiphany to Easter: From Vision to New Life.” What thoughts can you share with us about this?

Rita: My career has spanned forty one years; from staff nurse to hospital administrator. I plan to retire next year just before Easter 2007. This will indeed be the beginning of a new life. I can only imagine not going to work each day, not worrying about patients in the hospital, personnel problems and joys. You know, it has been such a joy; it has not even seemed like work. I can truly say that I enjoyed every day. I looked forward to coming to the hospital, seeing the volunteer pink ladies serving patients and staff, interacting with physicians and nurses, even worrying about reimbursement issues. My husband and I plan to travel with Ben for a while. We’ll visit all the relatives and spend a few weeks looking at the beach, the mountains, the monuments, etc. and then we’ll settle in and volunteer at the food pantry, the church bazaar, maybe I’ll even become a pink lady!!!

Janine: What would your advice be to anyone who faces challenges of faith, career, life, family, and the future?

Rita: My suggestion is just keep going, get through today and tomorrow will always be better. At least tomorrow will give you another opportunity to try to do better. Be thankful to God for the challenges that He gives you. If He didn’t love you He would not challenge you to prove your worth. After God, family comes first! You always have each other. Your family will always love you and give you a home. Take care of each other and realize it is part of your responsibility to help your mate, your child, your friend to be a better person. If nothing else, give them your own example of a Christian life well lived. May God bless each of you and have a Happy Easter!

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