GROVES — Renaissance Hospital is undergoing a renaissance of sorts.

Just a few short months ago the foyer waiting room at the hospital was filled with angry employees waiting to receive late paychecks, complaints were being filed with the Groves Police Department and the anesthesiology group submitted a letter of resignation due to “poor management of the former owners.”

Since then the hospital has undergone major changes such as the termination of the former chief executive officer, as well as the termination of former clinical and administrative personnel. Foundation Surgical Hospital Affiliates, an Oklahoma City, Okla., a hospital management company, now oversees management of the facility.

Carolyn Holman, Christina Wasson, Tiffany Aaron and Stephanie Reynolds, employees at the hospital, agree that morale is up 100 percent since new management came on board. They credit Woodrow “Woody” Moore, administrator with Foundation Surgical Hospital Affiliates, with making positive changes.

“He has played a major role in turning the hospital around, and we are thankful,” Aaron, human resource generalist for the hospital, said. “It’s more like family. We cook for each other and compliment each other.”

Aaron admits there is still a lot of work to do and feels the new leadership will make a positive impact.

“The new administration is what brought it back,” she added.

Anesthesia Associates, which has provided services in southeast Texas since 1952 and has been associated with Renaissance Hospital, is now back at the facility.

Dr. Ray Callas of Anesthesia Associates said after the management change that Anesthesia Associates rescinded its resignation letter.

“The hospital was built on family values and a high level of patient care,” Callas said. “We feel it suffered form poor patient management from the previous owners.”

Moore contacted Callas for a recommendation for the position of chief medical officer willing to take over as chief of staff, a position Callas now holds because he believes in the current vision for the hospital.

“You have to realize me and my partners have been with Renaissance probably over four years, so we’ve seen the changes in management,” Callas said. “I’ve never been so excited to take this hospital to where it needs to go.

Since the management change, the emergency room now has board certified associates, and state-of-the-art changes have been made in the operating room. Equipment has been updated and preventative maintenance has been put in place to increase patient safety.

The hospital, which was visited by inspectors with the Texas Department of State Health Services in January, was notified on Feb. 21 that Medicare would not allow the hospital to participate in the program after March 7, until cited deficiencies were completely corrected and a period of reasonable reassurance — expected to be at least 45 to 60 days — was met.

The new management team submitted an aggressive plan of correction on March 5 and officials are scheduling a pre-survey conference with TDSHS, Moore said.

The surveyors, or inspectors, will address the state and Medicare issues and Moore expects them to find the hospital has addressed the previous inefficiencies.

Moore also expects the hospital to receive the “gold standard” level through the DNV accreditation.

“This will show us to have the same community standard as other hospitals in this market,” Moore said.

To further help change the image of the facility, a name change may be in the works, Moore said.

“What we’re hearing from the community and stake holders is that a name change should be immediately undertaken once the ownership structure is defined,” Moore said. “The name would honor the past and help identify the facility.”

The hospital is becoming more involved with the community by deepening its previous affiliation with Lamar State College-Port Arthur technical programs and with local businesses. Moore added the hospital will also continue developing a community advisory board.

Most, if not the majority, of the legal issues between the former owners and employees have been settled, Groves City Marshal Jeff Wilmore said.

“The new management has been very helpful in dealing with these issues and getting the hospital back in very good condition and set to be a really good asset to the community,” Wilmore said.

mmeaux@panews.com