New CEO makes declaration of hospital’s independence
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Steven Handy, new chief executive officer of Uniontown Hospital, talks about the mission of Uniontown Hospital as an independent community hospital.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Steven Handy, chief executive officer of Uniontown Hospital, said the hospital has continued improving its services and has won multiple awards for its efforts.
Steven Handy, Uniontown Hospital’s new chief executive officer, said he wants to reconnect the hospital with the community and keep the facility running as an independent hospital.
Promoted by the hospital’s board of directors in December to replace Paul Bacharach, who left to become the CEO of Gateway Rehabilitation Center last year, Handy had decades of health-care experience and business training to rely on to help him transition into his leadership role.
He said he wants to reconnect the hospital and the community and create a caring environment for patients and the hospital’s 1,200 employees.
“That is the culture I hope to foster as a CEO,” Handy said.
To erase the perception of the hospital as a corporation, Handy said he eliminated department heads’ corporate titles and changed them to executive directors and relocated their offices from the former executive suite to the areas were their staffs work. The executive suite is now used for clinical meetings.
Handy moved his office to an area near the main entrance and had glass block windows installed to provide a glimpse of the activity in the entry.
Removing “corporate layers” that separate leaders from staff and patients is part of his reconnection plan.
“I probably haven’t worn a tie in 10 years. It separates us,” Handy said. “People come here in their time of need. We don’t see them at their best. We’re trying to help them. I view the hospital as a community resource. My goal is to get the community to see the hospital as a resource.”
Accomplishing that goal and keeping the hospital running are how Handy would like to spend the rest of his professional career. He said he has no plans to use his current job as a stepping stone to a position at a larger facility.
“I became a CFO of a hospital at the age of 28. I’m now 55. People ask why I’m still here. I see the difference I make everyday,” Handy said. “I like the closeness of a community hospital. I see the impact of what I do,” Handy said. “I climbed the corporate ladder. I decided I wanted to make a life with meaning. Our community would be a lot less without the hospital.”
Keeping the hospital running is the CEO’s primary job and Handy said the task in always on his mind.
“I stay up at night trying to keep this going,” Handy said.
Relying heavily on government funding makes the job difficult, he said.
Because many of the hospital’s patients are elderly or indigent, 75 to 80 percent of the payments the hospital receives for services come from the federal Medicare program and the state Medical Assistance program, he said. Twenty-five percent comes from Medical Assistance, but the program pays only two-thirds of the cost of the services, he said.
The hospital, he said, provides more than $10 million a year in charitable services to patients who can’t afford to pay.
“It’s very mission-based. It’s a challenge to maintain services,” Handy said. “We have to make money on Medicare to make up what the state doesn’t pay.”
In a restructuring effort last year, the hospital laid off about 17 people, filled some vacant jobs and discontinued four departments and services — behavioral health, progressive care (skilled nursing), the diabetes care center and most outpatient rehabilitation services.
That allowed the hospital to focus on more critical services such as emergency care, cardiac care, surgery and women’s services, Handy said.
He dispelled the rumor that UPMC is taking over the hospital.
“UPMC is not taking over. We’re committed as ever to remaining an independent hospital,” Handy said. “Our energy is on providing the best service to Fayette County. What’s best for Allegheny County might not be the best for here.”
The rumor might come from patients seeing doctors wearing UPMC identification badges, he said.
Emergency room physicians, surgeons, cardiologists, anesthesiologists and some primary care physicians are UPMC employees and the hospital pays UPMC for their services, Handy said.
Those doctors in the Fayette Physicians Network, he said.
The hospital has a 10-year agreement to accept Highmark health insurance despite the ongoing contract dispute between UPMC and Highmark, he said.
“We will always be in a position to accept Highmark. We didn’t want either one pushing us to the exclusion of the other,” Handy said.
He said the hospital is replacing a linear accelerator, a device used in radiation therapy for cancer patients, at a cost of $3 million and has state-of-the-art MRI and CT scanning equipment.
In addition, the hospital has a large and advanced technology system and data base.
“It’s a pretty extensive technology organization. Everything done here is in the system,” he said.
However, it is the hospital’s staff that leave the biggest impression on patients, he said.
“I tell new employees they are the face of the hospital. Nurses, doctors and technicians — that’s who people get their image of the hospital from,” Handy said. “I’m pleased with the staff’s commitment. The people that work here work really hard.”
Handy’s knowledge of the staff and hospital come from the 24 years he has been working there. His promotion included being named CEO of the Fayette Regional Health System, which owns the hospital.
He was the senior vice president, but also served as chief financial officer, chief information office and chief of the Uniontown Hospital Police Department. He remains chief of the police department.
He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Penn State and a master’s of science degree in accounting from the University of Pittsburgh, and is a certified public accountant.
Handy lives in Chalk Hill with Laurie, his wife of 34 years.
They have three adult children and two grandchildren.
The Handys moved to Fayette County and Uniontown Hospital in 1990 after working as the vice president for finance at Mercy Hospital in Johnstown.
He moved there from Conemaugh Hospital and started his professional career at Ernst and Young.