“I want to help us get rid of our recent past,” Patten told the board. “I would want to do it even if there hadn’t been a Paul Cardwell here. But I really want to do it because there was a Paul Cardwell here.”
Studer Group, Patten said, was founded by Quint Studer, who is hearing impaired and originally worked in special education. But his path later led him to the health care field, where he “had some very commonsense ideas that weren’t very common about how to improve healthcare.”
Patten said he believes the group would be a good resource for Powell Valley Healthcare, particularly for the next couple of years. He arranged for the firm to send him documents about what a formal relationship would look like, and if all goes as he hopes, he will work with company representatives to plan a kick-off event to roll out the plan.
Patten said he envisions a Sept. 1 start on planning for a kick-off event early next year.
“I know this is a ton of work,” he said, “but I think this is the kind of thing that will really improve this organization.”
“Do you want me to keep going?” he asked.
Each board member agreed that Patten should move ahead with negotiations with Studer Group.
“I not only say yeah — I say, ‘Oh, yeah!’” said Trustee Larry Parker, punching his fist in the air for emphasis.