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Widener resigns as Kremmling Memorial Hospital District CEO

Special to the Sky-Hi News
Grand County, CO Colorado

KREMMLING – Bill Widener submitted his resignation as CEO of Middle Park Medical Center/ Kremmling Memorial Hospital District at a special meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 15, in Kremmling. The resignation was deemed effective immediately, and the board accepted his decision unanimously and thanked him for his service.

Mark Paulson, M.D., the current chief of staff, and Cole White, the current chief financial officer, were named as joint interim CEOs by the board while the search for a permanent replacement is undertaken.

Widener has agreed to be available for consultations as needed, according to a Jan. 17 press release the district submitted.



The Sky-Hi News attempted to contact Widener late Thursday but was not successful by press time.

When Widener accepted the position as CEO in July 2005, the press release goes on to say, the hospital had annual operating losses of $2.5 million and 11.6 percent of the budget came from hospital tax district revenues. Seven years later in 2012, revenues grew to approximately $20 million and hospital tax district revenues reduced to 5.6 percent of the budget.



Early on in his tenure Widener recommended the purchase of Timberline Family Practice in Granby, and in the process was able to expand the hospital district service territory. This paved the way to increased access to health care with the 28,000 square foot hospital in Granby, opened in early 2012.

The operations of North Park Medical Center, a Rural Health Clinic in Walden, also came under the umbrella of the hospital during his watch, further increasing access to care and better securing financial viability.

The expansions have also served to preserve most services at the hospital and clinic in Kremmling where design improvements are under way and new services have been implemented such as a new medical weight loss program and expanded clinic hours.

Widener also helped arrange partnerships, namely with Centura Health, Colorado’s largest health care provider. He drove the restructuring of electronic medical record (EMR) software system to operate in two locations, contracted eight additional physicians, expanded specialty services adding numerous new surgeons, added Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) services and brought in Granby’s first digital mammography machine. Staffing levels went from 65 to over 180 full time employees.

“The Kremmling Memorial Hospital District board wants the community to know that they are grateful to Widener for his service and accomplishments,” the press release states.


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