Franklin Foundation CEO: Would use other purchasing options

Franklin Foundation Hospital Chief Executive Officer Craig Cudsworth went on the record this morning regarding the hospital management company he works for, Quorum Health Resources.
Quorum recently placed an advertisement in the Banner-Tribune in which the company expressed a desire for representatives to participate in a dialogue regarding a recent newspaper compilation chronicling a history of lawsuits and federal sanctions from documented sources.
Cudworth was not asked specifically about Natchez Regional Medical Center as he was not associated in any way with the facility in Mississippi. See the associated article on this page for details.
Instead, Cudworth was asked to comment on the track record of Quorum, the company he works for and that has managed FFH for 27 years. Cudworth was also asked to comment on the availability of FFH employees to utilize alternatives to Quorum’s group purchasing plan.
In the Mississippi case, Quorum employees were accused of, among other methods, using Quorum’s group purchasing plan to bankrupt the Natchez Regional Medical Center.
Cudworth said there were options available to FFH employees.
“If there are other options that are more appropriate, they will be used,” Cudworth said. “That’s the purpose of the purchasing program.”
When asked to comment on the track record of the company he has worked for for 20 years, Cudworth said he had no knowledge about Quorum’s history.
“You need to refer those questions up to corporate,” Cudworth said. “I don’t have knowledge of that. I am not involved with any of that. That is all a corporate function.”
When asked about the hospital board’s practice of going into executive session and the presence of a mediator at some recent meetings, Cudworth declined to comment.
Cudworth was not asked about the content of executive sessions, which is confidential, but merely about recent events at FFH.