Some big changes are on their way from the staff of Hathian General Hospital. We learned recently of a shake up in management, as it appears the hospital is getting younger and experiencing a glow up. Doctor James Matfield retired after a long tenure as a resident physician and Chief of Staff. Having served his time, James said that he felt it’s time to move on and let younger blood take over. Enter Brayden Michaels, the new Chief of Staff.
Born in Baton Rouge, Brayden is a 3rd generation physician. “My grandfather served in World War 2 as a physician and started his own practice in New Orleans when he turned home from the war. My grandmother was a nurse that served with him. He maintains that the one thing that came from that war is my gram gram”, Brayden tells us in an interview.
Brayden’s father, Randolph Michaels served as a long-term resident physician in Baton Rouge and currently sits on the board of directors for HGH. We asked if his position on the board played a role in his son getting the Chief of Staff position at such a young age. He did not comment. We did note that Brayden is very young to be a Chief of Staff, but the board reassured us that he is talented. Brayden graduated at the top of his class at Louisiana state and finished his internship by age 26 in New Orleans. But why did he come to Hathian?
“My dad told me that the hospital is struggling to make money. He sold me on taking the position by pointing out how much in need our hospital is of good doctors and growth. I think I fell in love with the challenge presented to me. To take this hospital from a fledging, poverty stricken medical facility to a top hospital in the state…that just excites me.” Brayden explained to us.
One of the first tasks Brayden completed at HGH is adding an Assistant Chief of Staff to the budget. Jenn Tobias has been working for HGH for a bit and shown herself to be an excellent physician. “I had been working at HGH behind the scenes for several weeks. I didn’t meet a lot of staff right off, but I reviewed a lot of their work. Jenn stands out with her dedication and her commitment to the patients. I feel like she has the fire to be a good leader. I chose her and I am hopeful that others will step up around the hospital to support her and help her out. “ Brayden tells us of Jenn.
Brayden told us of some of his plans for the hospital as well.
“Hospitals need three things primarily to grow: patients, staff, and money. I think we have no shortage of patients, but staff are hard to recruit, and money is hard to come by in a poverty-stricken town such as this.” Brayden explains.
Hathian is known for the history of violence, low paying wages, and poverty in general. Anyone that as lived in the town for long will vouch for having experienced one of the above. The few that are rich tend to keep their money tight and to themselves (mostly out of fear of being robbed or exploited…or greed). There are some exceptions though.
“I reached out to the community in hopes of creating scholarships. I know the town doesn’t have a lot of money, but I had hoped to find some willing to help us out. I figure scholarships equal more medical providers rolling out of the program at CU. I was amazed at the turn out. We received a sizeable donation for a scholarship for those interested in pursuing psychiatry from a Mr. Jack Volkoff. We also received a donation from Executive Limo service, a company called Serbicorp, as well as another anonymous donor. With these funds, we should be able to get several scholarships going for those interested in pursuing medical related careers through the program at CU,” Brayden exclaims.
It sounds like HGH is trying to strengthen their partnership with CU in promoting their medical program. Brayden said he also hopes it could lead to people taking more interest in working as a paramedic next door at the Fire Department of Hathian (FDH). Brayden notes that they could not do what they do without good paramedics working to stabilize the patients coming in.
Brayden discussed with us his plan for growing revenue at HGH.
“There’s a lot of money sitting out there waiting for us. I am amazed at how many hospital bills are sitting there in collections or in arrears. People come in the hospital multiple times but don’t quite pay for it. Even government Medicaid isn’t paying 100 percent in Hathian. Due to this, I am going to start up collection attempts. I know it won’t be popular, but we can’t keep operating if we don’t have money coming in.” Brayden says.
What does this mean for those too poor to pay their bills? This has us concerned for the poor folks in Hathian, but Brayden reassured us that there are plans in place. We hope to have more on this later. On a positive note, Brayden says that other grants and funds have been made available for helping the community.
“We just got some money to hand out vaccines and conduct STD testing. We are running this on the 17th and maybe the 18th of the month. I am excited about this. Dr. Tobias is leading the charge with helping us get this organized.” Brayden explains.
Everyone is welcome to come out for the STD testing, but this reporter is hoping the market this toward the CU crowd as everyone knows that college is basically one big orgy. This reporter often woke up in a pile of multiple girls after a keg party. It’s possible a guy even slipped in. Anyways, we are excited for some of the changes going on at HGH.
