Firing of RMCH CFO confirmed
Replacement named; Tyk accepts severance package from RMCH

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

Bob Tyk

GALLUP — Exactly one week after news that Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital CFO Robert Tyk had been fired first surfaced, both parties have officially confirmed the news. Tyk said he and the hospital finalized the details of his severance package Wednesday and that he signed off on the deal Thursday.

CEO Chuck Wright, meanwhile, who made the decision to fire his chief financial officer, named comptroller Deb Mohesky as Tyk's replacement.

Neither Tyk nor Wright cared to share any details about the severance package, although Wright did describe the negotiations leading up to the final deal as "amiable."

The two men, who had been working together for only a matter of weeks, were a little more expansive about the reasons for the abrupt split, but not much.

Wright, who stepped in as CEO at the start of the new year, said he decided the hospital would do better to consolidate the positions of chief financial officer and comptroller. In explaining the difference between the two roles, Wright described the CFO as more of a vice president with broad oversight of the finance department and the comptroller as the person who handles the details.

In deciding who should fill the dual role, Wright said he went for the candidate with the most "hands on, detail oriented" skills.

It's not that Tyk didn't have those skills, Wright insisted: "It's not a 'One is good, the other is bad' kind of situation."

It's just that Mohesky was, by his measure, the stronger of the two.

Then there was the matter of differing opinions.

"In this business," Tyk said, "it's not unusual for a CEO to have his impressions of the way things should be."

Tyk declined to elaborate.

Just to break even, Wright said, the hospital must bring in roughly $1.25 million a week. In the past 15 weeks, it's managed to meet that mark only four times. To improve that record, Wright believes that the first and most important step is to get the hospital's billing and collection procedures in order.

Tyk, Wright said, shared his concerns about the flaws in those procedures, but implied that the former CFO favored tackling more of the hospital's problems at once.

In contrast, Wright said, "I like to get one thing fixed and fix it well, and then move on."

Their differences weren't so much about what the hospital had to do to erase its $11 million deficit, he said, as about how much attention to give each part of that job.

Tyk did not have much time to process Wright's decision. He got the news the same day he returned from vacation, fully intent on carrying on the work of reviving the hospital's financial health and in the process of buying a house in Gallup.

"I know Bob was shocked, and I just don't feel good about that," Wright said, but time was of the essence.

Mohesky, who arrived at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital at the end of March, is on a month-to-month contract, Wright said, and will likely stay that way until the hospital is back in the black, which he hoped would happen by the end of the summer.

According to hospital spokesperson Elaine Bobo, it was Mohesky who carried out the initial research that led to the discovery of the hospital's financial losses, which surfaced last May despite warning signs according to board members that stretched back to 2004.

It won't be the first time she's had to help turn a hospital's finances around, Wright said.

"She's been in extraordinary turnaround situations before," he said. "Compared to what she's done, this is not a difficult position."

"I think for where we're at right now," Wright said, "she's the right person."

As for Tyk, the ex-CFO said he planned on remaining in the health care field and was looking into a number of opportunities around the country.

The hospital's financial troubles came to light just weeks after Tyk took over the CFO role from predecessor Cory Dellelo, who left in February, ostensibly for personal reasons. The news convinced some board members they had been lied to by former CEO David Baltzer, who was dismissed months later. Baltzer denied any wrongdoing.