After a massive restructuring in 2014 following funding shortfalls resulting from failed strategic gambles, health care provider Lone Star Circle of Care has reversed course to become financially stable, CEO Rhonda Mundhenk said.
“From 2014 to 2015 we have managed to mount an incredible recovery by any stretch of the imagination and by any of the financial indicators,” she said. “Those really tell the story far better than anything else.”
The Georgetown-based nonprofit had laid off 185 employees and cut back on some services; however, Mundhenk said since focusing on its core mission the health care provider has been able to reinstate optometry services and expanded some of its dentistry services that had been scaled back.
The organization also consolidated clinical and administrative space to help cut costs.
“By all accounts and by the numbers we were really able to restructure Lone Star’s operating model to be a sustainable model for the future,” she said.
Since 2014, Mundhenk said the organization has been able to grow its cash on hand from about one day to more than 73 days and its net income from a loss of about $7.3 million annually to a positive $7.9 million margin.
She said part of the success can be attributed to refocusing on LSCC’s mission of providing health care to the uninsured and underinsured.
“We thought about what we wanted to be at the end of the day, which is a health care home for patients who rely on us,” Mundhenk said.
She said that the organization’s leadership is in the midst of strategic planning.
“You won’t see the explosive growth of 2014,” Mundhenk said. “Instead it will be thoughtful consideration of where the needs are.”
Scott Alarcon, who serves on the LSCC board and is CEO of the Georgetown Health Foundation, said LSCC’s financial situation is “night-and-day” different from two years ago.
“This is the best version of Lone Star we’ve seen,” Alarcon said. “It goes beyond existing; [LSCC is] now thriving. … It’s a better place than any of us could have imagined.”
