Meet new CEO today

MONTROSE — Montrose Memorial Hospital CEO Keith Broach sat down with the Montrose Daily Press last week to talk about his first three weeks at the hospital. Broach is from Arkansas. He has 20 years of experience managing healthcare service in both the private and public sector.

Today, MMH hosts an open house for Broach from 3 to 4:30 p.m. The reception is in the Lobby Grille near the front entrance and is an opportunity for the community to meet the new CEO.

Q. How did you end up in Montrose as the CEO of Montrose Memorial Hospital?

A. QHR (MMH management firm) contacted me and said, “Would you like to go to Colorado as an interim.” It was just perfect timing. I had been to Colorado about 25 times in my life skiing everything north of here. I had never been here in the summer or never been to this part of the Western Slope. Once I got here I was absolutely blown away. I was quite surprised by the community and amazed at the hospital and what it had to offer to the community.

I think the community here has something that most communities in the U.S. wished they had, as far as the number and types of physicians, service that MMH has to offer the community. ...  The number of specialties in cardiology. There are cities in many parts of the country that do not have a cardiologist within a 100-mile drive. There are surgeons. There are radiologists that many parts of the country cannot recruit. So, this area is blessed to have an area where people would like to live and a hospital that is already here. So, I think the hospital has a great future.

Q. What else impressed you about the hospital?

A. I’ve had a lot of hospital board members who really were there as a board member. This is the most knowledgeable board of trustees that I’ve ever worked with. And I’ve only been here three weeks and I’m amazed by their knowledge about how a hospital works and runs.

Q. Why do you need a management company?

A management company such as QHR provides things that you normally have to go out and spend 10 times the amount of money to get less expertise. You’re a phone call away from talking to people that have many years of experience, and they are from all over the country, so you are able to share ideas, share experiences. The purchasing power that QHR brings to the table more than pays its management fee.

Q. How long are you going to be at MMH?

As long as the board needs me. They are going to do a nationwide search. QHR did a nationwide search when they did their background on me. I am presently looking at three other hospitals across the country. But if the board and community want me to stay, I would be very interested in staying.

Q. What have you been doing since you’ve been here?

Building a relationship with the medical staff, meeting with employees. My philosophy is attitude is everything and there will be no hospital that provides more  compassionate care than MMH. My last two hospitals were named the No. 1 hospitals in the country in patient satisfaction. (Lake View Hospital in Elizabethtown, Ky. and SMC Regional Hospital in Osceola, Ark.) We will do that here. Osceola was near closing, two weeks away, 18 months later we were named the 16th best hospital in Arkansas out of 137.

I think the employees are excited. I think the medical staff is wanting someone to come in and lead and I think that is the thing I do best.

Q. What will you do about employee retention?

Morale among employees is critical. I think that is something we’ve worked on every day since I’ve been here. I visit with patients and their families. I visit with employees. I try to make sure I visit with as many physicians as I can. I think communication, from my position, is critical. I do not want a cold cup of coffee to be the reason someone feels they have had a bad experience here. Every staff member knows if there is a family member or a patient who would like to see me, I go to their floor, I go to their bed side. We preach and talk about compassion in every meeting; that will always continue.

We cannot talk about compassion and practice compassion enough. A lot of people talk the talk but we are going to walk the walk.