Chuck Williamson is used to steering a community health center out of troubled financial waters. In his native West Virginia, Mr. Williamson overcame a $1 million deficit in his first CEO job. Now he has taken the helm of the Community Mental Health Center of East Central Georgia, whose financial woes are partly blamed on former officials now under federal indictment.
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With a little more than a month under his belt as chief executive officer, he has been spending his time in meetings with program managers, staff and senior leadership to try to get a fresh assessment of the center, which has two satellites and serves a seven-county area around Augusta.
The center had been without a permanent CEO since Mike Brockman was suspended in January 2003. Mr. Brockman, who was later fired, former Georgia Rep. Robin Williams and others are scheduled to stand trial on fraud and theft charges in February.
In addition, because of problems with electronic billing, the center owed Medicaid about $7 million in April, which the state has been recouping by withholding 50 percent of its payments, Mr. Williamson said.
"So we've been providing services with half the cash flow we should have had," he said.
Worse, while other mental health centers owe Medicaid, the Augusta center is the only one in the state that has that much withheld from its payments, Mr. Williamson said.
"You've got to ask yourself, 'Why were we penalized in that regard?' especially when we've had the issues that we've had to combat, that were not of our own making, over the last few years," he said.
"But it's kind of a blessing in disguise, though, because it kept us at an accelerated repayment schedule, so we're a little bit ahead of the game."
He was facing a similar situation when at the age of 27 he became CEO of the Community Health Foundation of Man, W.V., Inc., in 1995. Through systematic and shrewd strategic planning, that center was able to erase its $1 million loss in two years, Chief Financial Officer and Comptroller Dean Hastings said.
"You have to find out what you do well and concentrate on that," Mr. Williamson said. "Try to cut out excesses if they exist, find out what things are winners, what things are losers and how can you run more efficiently as an organization."
In both jobs, Mr. Williamson has been praised for his ability to delegate authority and listen.
"He wasn't what you call one of those CEOs that craved power," Mr. Hastings said.
"When he deals with issues, he calls in people and then makes a decision," said Dr. Phil Horton, the medical director of the Augusta center and former acting CEO. "He's just what the doctor ordered."
And there might be some restructuring at the Augusta center, he said.
"There will be some shuffling, but, in terms of eradicating programs, I don't think there's anything we currently do that we're going to totally do away with," Mr. Williamson said. "I think it comes down more to just efficiency, looking where you might be heavy in one particular department and how those people can be better utilized."
The son of a coal miner, Mr. Williamson said he was drawn to health care during summer jobs, sometimes getting medical equipment to poor rural families.
"You would just see some of the poverty these people live in," he said. "And it would touch your heart. And you'd think, 'How did these people make it day to day?'
"Nonprofit health care is really where my heart lies. And getting into the side of things where it doesn't matter if a person has the ability to pay for services or not. We're going to try to find a way to get those to them."
Charles D. "Chuck" Williamson
Age: 37
Title: Chief executive officer of the Community Mental Health Center of East Central Georgia. Former CEO of Community Health Foundation of Man, W.V., Inc.
Education: Bachelor of arts in political science from Marshall University, master of public administration from West Virginia University.
Family: Wife, Patty; sons, Jesse and Peyton
Quote: "You have to find out what you do well and concentrate on that. ... Find out what things are winners, what things are losers and how can you run more efficiently as an organization."
Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.
