A lot has changed over the 25 years Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Marlene Weatherwax has worked at Columbus Regional Health. When she joined the organization in 1995, only a couple of physician practices were owned by the hospital (compared to 24 today) and revenue totaled $103 million, less than one-third of what it is today.  

Prior to joining CRH as director of managed care and finance, Marlene worked at a public accounting firm. Most of her clients were hospitals, and she enjoyed working with those organizations. When she was contacted by a recruiter to check out the CRH director position, she found that the organization’s values and focus on high-quality service matched her own beliefs. “Those have always been important to me,” she said. Twenty-five years later, as she looks back on her career and looks ahead to retirement in March, she said that she has always enjoyed her work. The challenges and the new opportunities that have come along have always kept her interested. 

Marlene has positioned the independent regional health system to perform well financially for many years, bucking the trend that unfortunately some other independent health systems have not been able to achieve and, as such, were forced to merge with larger organizations. Her spirit and passion for always doing what is right for the patient is at the heart of any financial decision she has led for Columbus Regional Health. Some career highlights have included:

• The transfer of all employed physicians from the Physician Practice Organization to Columbus Regional Health Physicians; with that, the finance team established a general ledger system so that all CRH entities would be on one accounting system that facilitates payroll, accounts payable, and financial reporting.
• Overseeing the centralization of billing functions to improve functionality and processes. With the implementation of our Epic electronic medical record, a total of 19 decentralized billing functions were combined to form one centralized billing department serving all physician practices. This also included the establishment of a single billing office for the hospital and employed physicians, consolidating bills for patients from the hospital and employed physicians.
• Following the flood, Marlene led efforts to receive $25 million from our insurance company and approximately $100 million in disaster-relief funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and grants.
• Three significant refinancing initiatives she led were:
• In 2002, she arranged for the financing for the construction of two cardiovascular operating rooms.
• In 2003, she led the refinancing of our long-term debt in order to take advantage of lower interest rates and conserve money. 
• In 2014, she led another refinancing to borrow additional funds for the construction of the new Emergency Department and loading dock and Cancer Center expansion.

Outside of finance, Marlene has enjoyed CRH’s innovation initiatives and our work around design thinking and human-centered design. The implementation of the Epic electronic medical record was also a highlight. “I think it’s the best billing system we’ve ever had,” she said. Additional work that she has enjoyed include planning for the future and “trying to find good ways of reducing expenses – becoming more efficient,” she said. She has also enjoyed the teams she has worked with, and her direct leader reports feel the same about her:

From Annette Jobe, director of system financial planning and operations: “Marlene has been a great mentor and coach.  She has, at times, pushed me out of my comfort zone, which has improved my skills, abilities, and effectiveness all the while holding me to a high standard. I wish her the best of luck in her retirement and much joy in traveling (once COVID is behind us).”

From Byron Hennessy, manager of system financial operations: “What I will miss most about Marlene is how warm, personable, and understanding she is. I appreciate her putting together business plans when she knew we were swamped, and I am sure there are plenty of other things she did for us for the betterment of our mental health that we may never become aware of.”

Now that she will have a bit more free time, Marlene looks forward to traveling in retirement as soon as she can (based on COVID). She plans to take a European river cruise; she would like to see Scotland and England; and there some states she would like to visit. And, of course, she wants to dote on her grandchildren and encourage them to root for her favorite sports team, the Indianapolis Colts.

While she is ready for retirement, Marlene has bittersweet emotions about retiring. “I’ve reached the point that I am of retirement age – I want to leave while I’m still in pretty good standing. I’ll miss the people,” she said.

We will miss you, Marlene. We wish you well in your retirement and thank you for your contributions and service to Columbus Regional Health.