From the CEO

For our hospital customers experiencing the squeeze of the current recession, it seems there could not be a worse time for pandemic flu to overburden already stretched resources. Crothall has a unique responsibility to our customers during this threat as our employees are central to combating the spread of infection. We need to ensure that our people are protected and we have HR policies to address the possible hit our workforce could experience. I assure you we are doing everything we can to help our customers get through this and future threats.

This issue of Celebrations discusses what hospitals are expected to do from a regulatory standpoint and how this will affect the workforce so critical to keeping patients safe. It also gives you some information about what we are doing to prepare, train, and equip our employees. Rest assured that Crothall is ready and willing to help.

As we look ahead to what we hope will be another positive fiscal year, I am reminded that our success depends exclusively on the long-term financial health of our customers. It hinges on consistently satisfying current customers and demonstrating the value we bring to new relationships. Recently, hospitals that had never considered outsourcing have turned to us and found that they have an opportunity to reduce their financial burden and focus on their core business.

In addition to the challenges of the past year and the current strain hospitals face with pandemic planning, the future holds even more uncertainty. It seems like details of the national healthcare debate change daily, and we realize that many of our customers worry about their financial well-being. No matter what the future holds, Crothall will continue to find ways to deliver value to our customers. Our experience at Frederick Memorial Hospital in Maryland is a perfect example of how one customer optimized the efficient use of our service to maximize revenue, even while dealing with government-imposed rate restrictions.

As we look to an uncertain but optimistic future, we will continue to put our customers first and make a spirit of partnership our primary responsibility.

All the best,