Virgil Watson Jr. Tuesday left his position as CEO of the financially-struggling South Central Kansas Medical Center in Ark City. The announcement was made this evening following a special meeting of hospital trustees.
“He says he does not plan to go in tomorrow,” hospital trustee and Ark City Mayor Dan Jurkovich said by phone. “It’s abrupt. It’s very abrupt.”
Long-term financial woes have been compounded recently by financial issues for Winfield Medical Arts, which was purchased by the Ark City hospital last year and an incident this month where a woman said her daughter was denied emergency room access due to computer server issues.
Asked if those issues contributed to Watson’s sudden departure, Jurkovich replied, “They didn’t help. They were all contributing factors.”
Jurkovich said the situation with Watson had been developing for about two weeks. During that time, Jurkovich had spent some time away on vacation.
‘It started to develop shortly before I left on vacation,” Jurkovich said. “It spiraled out of control while I was gone and he’s chosen to retire and not continue on as CEO. I hope there’s no ill will in the long run.”
Trustees did know that Watson was approaching retirement age and would depart eventually, but recent developments hastened his leaving.
Three months ago, Ark City commissioners appointed themselves trustees of the hospital after removing the existing trustees. Jurkovich said the idea then was to make changes that could help improve the situation at the hospital.
The trustees plan to find an interim person to fill Watson’s position short term until a permanent replacement can be found.
Watson Jr. came to South Central Kansas Medical Center in January 2015 after spending nearly 20 years running the hospital in Caldwell.
Watson’s departure comes as Ark City voters are being asked to consider a sales tax to support the hospital. That tax would replace two others already in place and revenue would ensure debt payments on the hospital building can be made long-term.
“Obviously a leadership change at this moment is difficult,” Jurkovich said. “But if we can get the sales tax passed and the hospital refinanced it can make a big difference.”
