Careers at Community Health Systems

Mission

Community Health Systems seeks to provide varied and high-quality healthcare services to communities across the US, both through its own hospitals and facilities and through home care agencies.

Business segments

Community Health Systems organises its activities into two reportable business segments:

  • Hospital Operations, comprising the activities of its general acute care hospitals and related healthcare entities that provide inpatient and outpatient healthcare services; and
  • Home Care Agency Operations, comprising its provision of in-home outpatient care.

History

Community Health Systems was founded in 1985 by former healthcare executives E. Thomas Chaney, David Steffy, and Richard Ragsdale. The Company acquired its first hospital in 1985 and purchased a second hospital in 1986.

In 1996 Community Health Systems was acquired by an affiliate of private equity firm Forstmann Little and Co for a reported $1.1 billion, as part of a leveraged buyout. The Company’s current Chief Executive Officer, Wayne Smith (“Smith”), was appointed a year later, triggering a period of significant growth, largely through a series of acquisitions. This notably included the 2007 acquisition of Triad Hospitals, which added more than 50 hospitals to the Company’s growing network, almost doubling its size, and the 2014 purchase of Health Management Associates, which added approximately 70 hospitals to the Company.

In 2016 Community Health Systems formed a new, independent, publicly traded hospital company, by spinning off a group of 38 of its hospitals, as well as its hospital management and consulting subsidiary Quorum Health Resources, with the new entity operating under the name Quorum Health Corporation. Community Health System continues to be one of the largest hospital operators in the US, with a current network of 158 hospitals across 22 US states, as well as several rehabilitation and psychiatric care facilities.

Community Health Systems is ranked 125th on the Fortune 500 list. The Company trades a portion of its shares on the New York Stock Exchange and has a current market capitalisation of $1.31 billion.

Business model of Community Health Systems

Customer Segments

Community Health Systems operates a network of hospitals and care facilities through which it provides treatment and care to general consumers. The Company provides treatment to sufferers of a variety of ailments and diseases, including acute care, emergency room care, general and specialty surgery, critical care, internal medicine, obstetrics, and diagnostic services. The Company also operates dedicated facilities that provide psychiatric and rehabilitation services.

Community Health Systems exclusively serves patients in the US, with a network of hospitals located conveniently for local communities across 22 US states. Of these states, the Company states that its only areas of significant geographic concentration are Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and Indiana.

Value Propositions

Community Health Systems provides value to its customers in the following ways:

  • The breadth of its facilities and services, with the Company providing a broad range of services and treatments covering various ailments, diseases, and injuries;
  • Its specialty accreditations, with many of the Company’s facilities having received professional accreditation for providing certain specialised services, including Advanced Primary Stroke Centre Accreditation, Cancer Centre Accreditation, Chest Pain Centre Accreditation, and Spine Surgery Certification;
  • Its specialist personnel and its experienced industry executives, with the Company employing highly-qualified medical staff across its facilities, including specialist personnel, experienced healthcare industry executives; and
  • Its broad network of hospitals and facilities, with the Company operating 158 hospitals across 22 US states, as well as certain specialist care centres, and outpatient services.

Channels

Community Health Systems operates a website at www.chs.net, through which it provides information on its various locations, services, and certifications. The nature of the Company’s services does not allow for the operation of an online service channel.

Community Health Systems principally provides services through its network of hospital and care facilities. As of 31st December 2015, the Company owned or leased 194 hospitals, comprising 190 general acute care hospitals and four stand-alone rehabilitation or psychiatric hospitals. According to its website, however, the Company operates just 158 hospitals. The Company directly treats patients through its workforce of approximately 3,400 physicians and an additional 1,000 licensed healthcare practitioners.

Additionally, Community Health Systems owns and operates 79 licensed home care agencies and 22 licensed hospice agencies, located primarily in markets where it also operates a hospital. The Company also provides management and consulting services through its subsidiary Quorum Health Resources.

Customer Relationships

Community Health Systems does not provide services on a self-service basis. The Company’s treats patients directly through its network of hospitals and care facilities. Its trained physicians and medical practitioners consult directly with patients throughout the course of their care, advising them on treatment options and medical findings, and providing a high degree of personal care.

Patients are able to access the Company’s services by contacting its hospitals and facilities directly. Customers can also arrange at-home outpatient care by interacting with Community Health Systems team of healthcare professionals. Community Health Systems also provides consulting services through a specialist team, which can be contacted by customers over the phone, via post, or by email.

Community Health Systems additionally operates social media accounts with Facebook and Twitter, through which it is able to interact with customers.

Key Activities

Community Health Systems is an operator of general acute care hospitals in communities across the US, as well as specialist care facilities. It provides a broad range of healthcare services through its network of owned and leased hospitals that it operates, as well as through its affiliated businesses in non-urban and selected urban markets. Community Health Systems organises its business activities into operating segments: Hospital Operations, which comprises the Company’s operation of general acute care hospitals and related healthcare facilities that provide inpatient and outpatient healthcare services; and h

Home Care Agency Operations, which comprises the Company’s provision of in-home outpatient care. Community Health Systems provides various healthcare services, spanning general acute care, emergency room care, general and specialty surgery, critical care, internal medicine, obstetrics, diagnostic medicine, psychiatric and rehabilitation services.

Key Partners

Community Health Systems works alongside a number of businesses and organisations across its two operating segments. These partners include:

  • Supplier Partners, comprising various suppliers of equipment and services, primarily medical supplies, medical equipment and pharmaceuticals for use across its medical facilities;
  • Academic Partners, comprising academic institutions and research organisations, with which the Company collaborates on various projects and schemes;
  • Community and Social Partners, comprising a range of non-profits and charitable organisations with which the Company collaborates on various social and community projects; and
  • Medical and Healthcare Partners, comprising various physicians and not-for-profit healthcare providers, with which it jointly owns and operates certain medical and specialist care facilities.

Community Health Systems has launched a number of partnership in recent years. This includes an agreement with Boston-based American Well, which assists the Company in providing round-the-clock electronic access to physician care; and a tie-up with The Cleveland Clinic that allows the Company’s to share clinical and operations expertise.

Key Resources

Community Health Systems’s key resources are its supply chain and equipment, its network of hospitals and medical facilities, its communications and It infrastructure, its partnerships, and its personnel – notably its extensive team of medical professionals and physicians.

Community Health Systems owns and leases a network of hospitals and care facilities, comprising 158 hospitals across the US. It also owns and leases office space in Tennessee, and jointly-owns a number of facilities with various partners.

Cost Structure

Community Health Systems incurs costs in relation to its procurement of equipment and supplies – including pharmaceutical products, the operation of its network of hospitals and facilities – including various medical costs, the management of its partnerships and outsourcing of certain functions, and the retention of its personnel.

In 2015 Community Health Systems accrued total operating expenses in the amount of $18.1 billion. This included personnel costs comprising the payment of salaries and benefits to its workforce of 137,000 employees, which totalled $9.00 billion for the year. Community Health Systems’s supply costs amounted to $3.05 billion, while the Company’s rental costs totalled $457 million.

Revenue Streams

Community Health systems generates revenue through its provision of various general and specialised hospital healthcare services – including critical care, specialty surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, and rehabilitation services, as well as other outpatient services to patients in the communities in which the Company is located. The Company’s also derives revenue through its provision of consultancy and management services. The Company receives payment for healthcare services provided by its hospitals from several sources:

  • The federal Medicare program;
  • State Medicaid or similar programs;
  • Healthcare insurance carriers, health maintenance organisations, preferred provider organisations, and other managed care programs; and
  • Patients directly.

In 2015 Community Health Systems generated net operating revenue for the year of $19.44 billion, an increase on the $18.64 billion recorded by the Company in 2014. A round 52.4% of the Company’s revenue was derived from managed care and other third-party payors, with 24.1% coming from the federal Medicare program.

Our team

Wayne Smith,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

info: Smith has served as Chief Executive Officer at Community Health Systems since 1997, and has been the Company’s Chairman since 2001. Smith began his career in the Medical Corps of the US Army, where he served for several years. He went on to join healthcare operator Humana, where he worked for 23 years, holding numerous roles of increasing responsibility. His time at the company culminated in a spell as its President and Chief Operating Officer from 1993 to 1996, following which he joined Community Health Systems.

Tim Hingtgen,
President and Chief Operating Officer

info: Tim (“Hingtgen”) has served as President and Chief Operating officer at Community Health Systems since 2016. He first joined the Company in 2008 as Vice President of Division IV Operations, and went on to serve as President of Division IV Operations and Executive Vice President of Operations before assuming his current role. Hingtgen has served in a number of executive roles within the healthcare sector, beginning at with executive roles at Province Healthcare, including spells as Chief Executive Officer of Medical Centre of Southern Indiana in Charlestown, and Chief Operating Officer of Havasu Regional Medical Centre in Lake Havasu City. From 2001 to 2004 he served as Chief Executive Officer at Province Healthcare, following which he served as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Universal Health Services from 2004 to 2008.

Larry Cash,
President of Financial Services and Chief Financial Officer

info: Larry (“Cash”) has served as President of Financial Services at Community Health Systems since 2014, and has been the Company’s Chief Financial Officer since joining the Company in 1997. He was appointed as a member of the Company’s Board of Directors in 2001. Cash has worked within the healthcare sector for a number of years. He previously worked at Humana for 23 years, including a spell as its Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations from 1993 to 1996. He is also a former Vice President and Group Chief Financial Officer of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation.