Ark City Hospital Trustees Name Jeff Bowman As Interim CEO

Ark City Native Jeff Bowman has been chosen to serve as interim CEO for South Central Kansas Medical Center. Hospital trustees voted unanimously Wednesday to appoint him to the position.

Bowman currently lives in Texas and is CEO of Transwise LLC, a company specializing in medical consulting in the areas of transcription, billing, administration and IT.

He will make $9,000 a month on contract and will receive no additional benefits. Bowman, who spoke with trustees by phone, said his position with Transwise affords him the flexibility to take the Ark City job while trustees search for a permanent CEO.

Bowman oversees about 200 employees as CEO of Transwise. He said he has extensive experience in working with failing and financially-struggling hospitals and can consult his employees and contacts as necessary.

Bowman will stay with family in the area. He is expected to arrive in Ark City over the weekend and be at the hospital working by Monday.

The naming of an interim was made necessary by the sudden retirement Tuesday of CEO Virgil Watson Jr.

Bowman is a 1981 graduate of Ark City High School with more than 30 years of experience in the medical industry.

Trustee chairman and Ark City Mayor Dan Jurkovich said that William Newton Hospital CEO Ben Quinton had also offered assistance to SCKMC on an interim, part-time basis. Bowman was asked to make contact with William Newton officials about any possible relationship that could aid SCKMC.

Among immediate concerns is the addressing of a possible violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. That federal act is meant to prevent hospitals from turning away people seeking emergency medical care.

Earlier this month, a local woman told local media that her daughter was turned away from the emergency room of the Ark City Hospital due to computer server issues. The woman took her daughter to William Newton Hospital for treatment of a diabetic emergency.

Trustees expect the hospital to face a possible fine and other penalties as a result of the incident at ER. An investigation is currently underway.