Huffman joins hospital board

Jay County’s hospital board has a new member.

Chuck Huffman, who also serves as a Jay County Commissioner, was selected recently to join the Indiana University Health Jay Hospital Board following the resignation of longtime member Brad DeRome.

Huffman noted his involvement with the hospital over the last few years, including as part of the strategic planning process and then in his role as a county commissioner in relation to the facility shifting from a county-owned entity to part of IU Health. He said he learned a lot about hospital finance — specifically the challenges of a payer mix that is skewing away from private insurance and toward Medicare — and would like to continue to follow the impact on the local facility.

“It’s just always been a point of interest,” said Huffman. “And from a personal standpoint, my stepdad (Herbert Schroyer) was on staff there for like 25 years … so I feel like there’s a personal tie there.”

President of IU Health critical access hospitals for the East Central region Dave Hyatt agreed that Huffman’s background is an asset.

“Chuck has been involved with Jay County Hospital for years,” he said, noting that Huffman also served on the board for Jay County Medical Facility on county road 75 South. “In his role as president of the commissioners, he sat through the IU Health integration and negotiations, so he has a unique perspective on how a hospital works and what goes into it. So I think that’s really going to give him a leg up as an IU Health Jay board member.” 

DeRome decided last month to leave the board after taking a new job as chief financial office for Muncie Community Schools. He was previously the business manager for Jay School Corporation.

New board members are selected by the remaining members and then approved by IU Health.

Following the integration of Jay County Hospital and IU Health last year, Jay County Hospital Board members — Dave Littler, Pat Miller, Roger Locker, Janet Bantz, Bill Hinkle, Debbie Kummer and DeRome — were incorporated into a new Indiana University Health Jay Board. The 11-member group also includes Dr. Jeff Bird, president of IU Health’s east central region, Lori Luther, IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital chief operating officer, John Littler, chair of IU Health’s east central region board, and Dr. Frank Vormohr, a Jay County native and physician at Jay County Hospital. The board will continue to oversee the hospital until March 1, 2021, at which time responsibilities will shift to the IU Health East Central Region Board, which also oversees IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital and IU Health Blackford.

One of the key tasks of what some refer to as the “legacy board” is to decide how to spend the $5 million that IU Health contributed to its capital improvement fund as part of the integration agreement. 

“This board has given a lot of thought over the last several years with their facilities plan as to what’s really needed, what’s strategic. I want to make sure we have local input on what that solution will be.”