A series of cascading events over the past year has left Architrave Health, the coordinating care organization in Douglas County plush in cash, while struggling to keep senior management on board. Umpqua Health Alliance is the CCO’s official name.
At year’s end, it had $10.8 million in net income compared to just $8.1 million in 2014 and reined in spending on healthcare services, according to financial reports filed with the Oregon Health Authority earlier this week. At last count, the CCO had 26,248 members.
Now rumors are floating throughout the community that Centene Corp., a Fortune 500 company, which recently spent $80 million to purchase Trillium Health Plan might be striking a deal with Architrave, but no one from Centene was willing to comment.
Yet, another rumor suggests that CareOregon might want to make a footprint in Roseburg, but Martin Taylor, director of public policy and member centricity told The Lund Report there’s nothing substantive going on. “That’s just a rumor. It’s not accurate as far as I know.”
When asked to comment about a potential buy-out, Architrave’s new CEO Brent Eichman, refused to respond to email requests or phone calls. He assumed the helm after Mitchell Hall left abruptly in April citing “unforeseen family health matters.” Hall, who could not be reached for comment, now appears to be a senior health executive in the Los Angeles area. He came to Architrave last August from Ferndale, Mich., and had more than 25 years of experience in healthcare administration and operations.
At that time, Kelly Morgan, chairman of the board of director for Architrave Health, told the media, "We are pleased to welcome Mitch to the Architrave family and confident he will be an innovative leader in our community. His leadership experience working with four other managed care organizations (MCOs) clearly demonstrates he has the expertise required to be an asset to our organization.” "Among other things, Mitch understands the importance of improving access to care, as well as coordination of care, both of which are critical components of a cost-effective and efficient health care delivery system," he added. "The residents of Douglas County and all of Architrave's affiliates, including our local CCO Umpqua Health Alliance, will benefit from having him on our team."
Eichman isn’t a new face at Architrave, having joined the CCO in January 2006 as vice president and chief financial officer. During his tenure, he grew revenues from $52 million to $135 million over a five-year period.
This time around, Morgan told the media, Eichman’s appointment would create a “smooth transition,” saying in a written statement, “Brent is already playing a major role in changing how health care is delivered in our community and state.”
Other senior management have also abruptly left Architrave during the past year including Dr. Christine Seels, medical director – Katrina Alspaugh, operations manager – Becky Bright-Jones, chief of staff – and Kelly Rowe, transformation portfolio manager, among others.
“These were all very talented people who had been with Architrave since its beginnings and knew as much as anyone else about the Oregon Health Plan, and were deeply involved in setting up our CCO,” according to a confidant still working there. “But many of them were deeply unhappy about all the management changes over the past few years. That’s why they all left.”
This is the third time in just over a year that Architrave has lost its CEO. Its co-founder Dr. Robert Dannenhoffer, a local pediatrician, was fired in February 2015, and has filed a lawsuit alleging that that the Architrave board overpaid the Douglas County Independent Practitioners Association for family planning services, but the board -- meeting in secret -- voted to delay correcting those overpayments. That lawsuit is now in U.S. District Court in Eugene.
In response, Architrave insisted that Dannenhoffer was fired for poor performance and for being difficult to work with.
Diane can be reached at [email protected].
