Nonprofit says Asante Ashland Community Hospital will not close, will continue all services, including surgeries, anesthesia; Ashland psychologist shares her story of life-saving efforts at AACH
By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news
Asante Ashland Community Hospital will not be closing, a top Asante executive confirmed in an email to an unknown number of Asante employees recently, matter-of-factly addressing concerns about the future of Asante Ashland Community Hospital aired by medical professionals at an Ashland City Council meeting last week.
The email obtained by Ashland.news was sent by Brandon Mencini, chief executive officer for Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center and Asante Ashland Community Hospital, to employees on the heels of an Ashland City Council meeting where three Ashland medical professionals questioned the nonprofit’s strategy moving forward regarding AACH. In the email to employees, Mencini called the concerns “unfounded rumors” and said he wanted to address Asante employees directly.
“– We are not closing AACH,” Mencini said in the written statement. “As shared at recent listening sessions and forums a number of weeks ago, we are developing a strategic plan for the hospital, as we do periodically across the health system for every hospital and many service lines.
“– We will continue to have anesthesia coverage after 9/1/2024 and will continue surgeries. Several months ago, the hospital received notice of termination from our current independent anesthesia group and we have been actively working with these providers and others on next steps to ensure there is no gap in coverage. There will be no gap in coverage.
“Over the last couple of months, conversations have been conducted with more than 100 community and business leaders, our physicians, staff, and leaders, resulting in invaluable feedback from community stakeholders. This will help inform our strategy work. We are excited to complete our planning efforts that are currently underway so we can invest in the facility and plan for the future health needs of our community. During this process we will continue to send regular updates to all of you.”
Ashland resident shares life saving efforts by AACH
One Ashland resident believes if it wasn’t for the Ashland hospital, and some swift actions by her friends about 10 years ago, she wouldn’t be alive today.
Kay Lynne Sherman reached out to Ashland.news last week about how glad she is to have received life-saving care from AACH.
Sherman, 81, said she had only ever been to the hospital a couple of times as a young child before being hospitalized with a rare form of bacterial meningitis of the listeria variety at AACH in October 2015. Then in her early 70s, Sherman was rushed to AACH after a friend found her with an extremely high fever at her home, where doctors conducted tests and treated her.
Sherman believes that if she needed to be transferred farther away the outcome could have been different.
“Later they (hospital personnel) said if I had gotten there two hours later, I wouldn’t have been alive,” Sherman said, “so it was that close.”
After reading stories about recent concerns aired about the future of Ashland’s hospital, Sherman reached out to Ashland.news to share her story.
Sherman, a 26-year Ashland resident, said she had just returned from a conference in San Francisco in the fall of 2015 when she started having symptoms of cold and flu. The symptoms progressed for three or four days before becoming severe.
“The problem with bacterial meningitis is … it proceeds into a dangerous space really fast,” Sherman said, seated on the couch in her home Tuesday. “One afternoon in the space of about five hours, I got really sick and, actually, a friend happened to call … she was concerned about me.
“By that time, I wasn’t speaking coherently,” she added. “I wasn’t even forming sentences or words.
“I did answer the phone and thank God I had it together enough to do that.”
Her friend contacted a mutual friend who lived in Ashland to come over and check on Sherman, who lives alone.
“This friend came in and she took one look at me and she called 911, because I had a 104 degrees (Fahrenheit) temperature,” Sherman said. “My face was all bloated and red and I was speaking nonsense.”
What happened next was a blur.
Sherman said Ashland Fire & Rescue firefighters took her down the stairs of her second-story home, maneuvering around a tight corner.
“It’s really a miracle they got me out,” she said. “We went with sirens blaring to the (Ashland) hospital.”
Her friend stayed with Sherman at the hospital that night, and Sherman said if it weren’t for her being there, Sherman likely wouldn’t have known what was happening.
“She held both my hands and she kept explaining to me what was happening,” Sherman said.
Hospital personnel were busy running tests on Sherman and trying to figure out what was wrong.
“Not many people in the area had seen it before and they were checking with OHSU and the CDC in Atlanta to just verify what was going on,” Sherman said. “It took them about three days for tests to come back and all that time, they were giving me several different antibiotics to cover the bases.”
Sherman spent a week at AACH, including three days in the hospital’s ICU, which closed Jan. 1, 2023.
“Thank God, you know, it was there, because I could relax and know that I was in good hands,” Sherman said. “The whole team, my memory of it, it was just excellent and could absolutely be trusted. Basically, they saved my life.”
Sherman was surprised and saddened when she saw Asante Ashland’s ICU close in late 2022.
“That was key to my survival,” she said.
Sherman was off work for about three months following treatment at AACH and a full recovery took about a year.
“I owe my life and everything to the hospital and the friends who discovered me (sick),” she said.
Sherman said for her and others, having a hospital in Ashland has been a major reason to live in Ashland in years past.
“It’s becoming less so now, especially since the intensive care unit is gone,” Sherman said.
Sherman emphasized that AACH remains a very special hospital, and that Ashland is lucky to have it.
“I would really love to see it go on with all its services,” she said.
Former board treasurer says Asante experiencing ‘growing pains’
Alan DeBoer, a former treasurer on Asante’s board of directors during the early 2010s and through the sale of the hospital by the city of Ashland to Asante in 2013, said he only sees opportunities for the hospital going forward.
“I understand that they are profitable,” DeBoer said. “That they are turning the hospital around.”
DeBoer also served as a Republican state senator in 2017 and 2018 and as mayor of Ashland from 2001 through 2004, as well as on Ashland City Council approximately from 1998 to 2000 and on the Ashland School Board, approximately 1992-2000.
“I was deep in the negotiations for Asante … the sale was a great thing,” DeBoer told Ashland.news.
“Asante was great and I think they’re still great. I think there’s growing pains,” DeBoer said.
DeBoer believes hospitals across the state and nationally are struggling after the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also believes that, regardless of whether a corporation is a nonprofit or a for-profit, maintaining cash flow is key to success.
“The state of Oregon keeps passing more laws and rules that may not be beneficial to hospitals,” he said.
“I hope that employees know they’re working for a great organization,” he added, “and they’re going through a tough time.”
Asante’s CEO Mencini started in the role on July 22. Mencini holds a Master of Health Administration degree from Webster University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Colorado, according to an announcement about his hiring at Centura Health in 2022.
Mencini is described as having diverse experience in urban, rural and community hospital settings. He started his healthcare career as an emergency medical technician (EMT), according to a news release issued by Asante in June.
He brings more than 20 years of healthcare executive leadership experience, most recently serving as the CEO of Mercy Hospital in Colorado, a multi-state regional trauma center and not-for-profit hospital. Prior to that, he served as chief operating officer of Chippenham Hospital, a 466-bed level I trauma and burn center in Richmond, Virginia, and part of HCA Healthcare.
Through a spokesperson, Mencini last week declined an interview with Ashland.news.
Reach Ashland.news reporter Holly Dillemuth at hollyd@ashland.news.
Aug. 18: Corrected Brandon Mencini’s job title.
Related stories:
‘Crisis at the hospital’: Potential loss of anesthesia services, surgical services at Ashland hospital concerns medical professionals (Aug. 8, 2024)
Ashland mayor, councilor weigh in on Ashland hospital concerns (Aug. 8, 2024)
Future of Ashland hospital: Concerned Ashland residents to address City Council at today’s meeting (Aug. 6, 2024)
Asante Ashland Community Hospital ICU to close by Jan. 1 (Dec. 16, 2022)
