Kern Medical Center Chief Is Fired
The Kern County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Monday to fire the chief executive officer of Kern Medical Center after it was discovered the hospital had been making faulty cash flow projections dating back to 2006.
Paul J. Hensler had been CEO of the 222-bed public hospital in Bakersfield since April 2007, having previously held a high post at UC San Diego Thornton Hospital and serving as CEO of Sutter Lakeside Medical Center in the rural town of Lakeport.
His dismissal came after hospital officials reported to the Supervisors that the facility had over-budgeted by as much as $19.2 million for the current fiscal year.
"The Board has lost confidence in Paul Hensler's ability to continue managing Kern Medical Center," Mike Maggard, chairman of the Kern County Supervisors, said in a statement. "Accordingly, the board has terminated Mr. Hensler's contract immediately and he is dismissed immediately."
The decision to fire Hensler came after a four-hour-long meeting that included a grim report on the hospital's receivables.
An outside financial services firm determined that aside from this fiscal year's inaccurate cash flow forecasts, Kern Medical overbooked prior receivables from state programs by as much $64 million, including $28 million that may have to be returned.
The firm, Concord-based Toyon & Associates, had been retained after the county had difficulty collecting some of the revenue it was believed owed to the hospital.
Although Hensler took full responsibility for the financial issues, he blamed poor oversight and “laziness” by the hospital's finance department for not properly reconciling its accounts.
No immediate replacement for Hensler was named, and the Board of Supervisors did not immediately indicate what steps it would take to commence the recruitment process.
In the meantime, county officials said they would look to make cuts in the hospital’s budget that would not affect any outside funding. However, Maggard indicated the gaps may be closed by cuts in other county departments and programs.
Hensler earned $347,361 in 2011, the most recent year available, according to records from the California Controller. That made him Kern County's highest-paid non-physician employee.
