Parkland Reorg Designates Interim Leaders

Five of the six top leadership positions at troubled Parkland Health & Hospital System are now filled with interim appointees following a reorganization of the Dallas facility announced Friday.

The interim designations reflect Parkland's "aggressive search" for a permanent CEO, Debbie Branson, chair of the hospital's board of managers told HealthLeaders Media during an interview Friday.

"We want to provide the new CEO with maximum flexibility to choose his or her own team," explained Branson. The new team also provides the hospital with much needed turnaround experience as Parkland works its way through a federally mandated corrective action plan (CAP).

While Branson says the safety net system has made "significant strides" on the 400+ action items required by the CAP, she acknowledged that Parkland is at a point where it "needs to step it up a bit."

The safety net hospital has until April 2013 to become compliant with the rules and regulations of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or risk the loss of an estimated $417 million in annual Medicare and Medicaid contracts.