Interim CFO Announced at the Troubled Kern Medical Center
The financially troubled Kern Medical Center has recently come to an agreement in the hiring of a temporary chief financial officer for the embattled county-operated hospital. Kern County has selected Arebi Garsa as the new KMC interim CFO. Garsa has 29 years of experience in the field of hospital finance.
Kern expects to select a permanent CFO in a year. They also explained in detail their deal with HFS Consultants, the firm through which Garsa has been hired. They are expecting to pay the firm as much as $430,000 plus $90,000 in travel expenses. The county will be able to terminate the agreement with HFS Consultants at any time without penalty.
While the medical center has a history of causing financial issues for the county, Kern officials are optimistic that things are getting less dire. In the past, the KMC has lost the county up to $3 million a month, but recent figures show the losses have dropped to around $400,000 a month.
Hospital leadership and recent layoffs over the summer have allowed the center to lessen the financial bleeding.
Garsa is a “seasoned CFO with extensive turnaround experience in both interim and permanent positions” that will “achieve positive fiscal results that will total many times the cost of the agreement” KMC CEO Russell Judd said in a news release about the new hire.
Read more about the new hire here.
