Administrator’s Bi-Weekly Review For Two Weeks Ending October 10th, 2026

Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community

Every October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, our Mammography unit seems to reach peak of year usage rates, and we owe this to our Radiology team, led by Corky Messer and our ordering physicians, who through the years have collectively raised the awareness of Breast Health in all of the communities we serve. As our clients seem to have learned, early detection of cancer is the best approach for detection, and we are grateful to our customers for cooperating with our strong push to be tested, whether it is in October or whenever your physician suggests such.

This week we had a nice visit from our Congressman, Derek Schmidt, and it reminds me to remind all of you that single votes matter as we approach our mid-term elections…need I remind you of our very own mayoral race last year at this time, won by a single vote. Please don’t let others decide who our elected officials or new laws are - and do take time and interest in knowing why you vote for who / what you prefer. The other thing that Schmidt’s visit reminded me of is the many bills recently passed into law, or may still be concluded before year end, that are going to affect many of our lives starting on January 1, 2027. Some of these reside in our hospital space and are designed with efforts to control healthcare costs (not a bad thing in motivation alone) but handed down by bureaucrats who are not in touch with healthcare practicality. One change is to pay for some common procedures (joint replacements, as an example) with a reduced-price tag and in one bundled payment to the hospital – who will have to figure out how to share the one payment with all the many contributing parties (some with only a loose relationship – pathology, for example) who may provide associated services over a 60-day time window. It feels like another administrative burden to hospitals that complicates healthcare funding, instead of simplifying or even reducing the overall cost. I still feel pretty strongly that it is very difficult to reduce costs in an inflationary era – anyone else agree with that?

It is certainly imperative that we continually seek more efficiency in how we design and execute many of our workflows. As technology brings us new tools, we have to evaluate their merits and ultimately embrace the options that free us up more time for spending with our patients, either in delivering for their desired / ordered services, or in building better rapport with their needs. Thanks to all of you for being dedicated to MCH and this still highly regarded industry. And do enjoy the days you have off!

Also have a great next two weeks and as always - extend your best care to our patients.

-Kevin Leeper, CEO