COSTA MESA, Calif., June 28, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Integrated Healthcare Holdings, Inc (IHHI) (OTCBB:IHCH) announces the addition of five healthcare management and operations experts to its staff. These affiliates, Tad Erickson, Glenda Hardcastle, Suzanne Richards, Richard L. Shedden and Andrew Weiss, will assist IHHI with various aspects of the hospital acquisition and management process.
Tad Erickson is a consummate reimbursement expert with hands-on experience across all reimbursement issues. He has served as both the Director of Reimbursement for Doctors Community Healthcare in Scottsdale, Arizona, and as Vice President of Reimbursement for Alta Healthcare, LLC, in Bellflower, California. He has also prepared compliance and appeal documents for such noteworthy entities as The Mayo Clinic and Blue Cross Blue Shield. His expertise in and understanding of Government Reimbursement procedures and regulations provides a critical element for IHHI's success.
Glenda Hardcastle has over a decade of experience in the healthcare field. For the past eight years she has worked for a hospital business office outsourcing firm, serving in numerous capacities including Senior Operations Manager and Associate Vice President of Operations. She managed over $700 million in gross annual charges while maintaining responsibility for more than 130 FTEs. Under Ms. Hardcastle's leadership, patient cash increased at one large inner-city hospital by more than $20 million annually. She also assisted in the creation of several chapters of the CPAR certification study manual for the Tennessee Chapter.
Suzanne Richards brings with her over a decade of hospital experience in a wide range of functions. She began her healthcare career as a Surgical Floor Staff Nurse in 1990 and over the past 14 years has proved herself to be successful in hospital management as well. Ms. Richards earned an MBA from the University of Irvine, Graduate School of Management, in 2000 and then went on to serve as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nurse Officer of Bellflower Medical Center in Bellflower, California. Since then, she has served as both the Chief Operating Officer and the Chief Executive Officer of Tustin Hospital and Medical Center in Tustin, California.
Richard L. Shedden has over 30 years of experience which includes financial and operational responsibilities for both proprietary and not- for-profit entities and healthcare systems. He has served as Vice President and Senior Vice President of Quorum Health Resources, as well as Senior Vice President and COO of Gateway Health System. Mr. Shedden holds an MBA from Tennessee State University, and is also a Certified Public Accountant and a Fellow of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). In addition he is a Follmer Bronze Merit and Reeves Silver Merit Award recipient from HFMA.
Andrew Weiss comes to IHHI from the St. Joseph Health System in Orange, California. At St. Joseph, he served as Labor Counsel for sixteen hospitals and related organizations including Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). Mr. Weiss has served as both "in-house" and "firm" labor counsel. He also brings more than fifteen years of experience as a human resources professional to IHHI. He is uniquely aware of the myriad collective bargaining and legal issues facing hospital management today. As human resource related concerns generate many of the most costly and volatile issues facing healthcare, in general and hospitals in particular, we expect Mr. Weiss to play a key role in both the acquisition and on-going management of acquired facilities.
This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed or projected. Statements in this press release regarding the business of Integrated Healthcare Holdings which are not historical in nature are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of potential risks and uncertainties, and actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated, or projected. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.