THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505120451
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
First Hospital Corp., a national company that manages mental-health care, announced a new name and the appointment of a chief operating officer Thursday.
Stephen D. Linehan has taken on the new post at the Norfolk-based company, which will now call itself FHC Health Systems. Linehan previously was president of ValueRx, a company that manages prescription benefits.
Although Linehan officially started this week, he began working with company President Ronald I. Dozoretz months ago to make changes to FHC. The goal, he says, is positioning the company to take advantage of opportunities opening up from the federal and state government.
The company already has enjoyed a series of victories in that arena. On May 1, the Department of Defense awarded a $63 million contract to Options Mental Health,an FHC subsidiary, for care of military families at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
In January, Options was selected to manage mental-health services for Colorado residents on Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor. Two weeks before that, the company landed a similar contract with the state of Nebraska.
Those two contracts are expected to bring in a total of about $56 million a year. FHC has lost just one state Medicaid contract it has bid on, for the state of Iowa, Linehan said.
``I like those odds,'' says Linehan, who believes FHC's future growth lies with those types of contracts.
To accomplish this, Linehan says, the company has adopted a flatter management structure. That included eliminating 51 jobs in February.
``They are operating under a system that served the needs of the business to grow it,'' he said. ``(But) let's not assume that what is going to bring us to success in the first place . . . is what's going to bring us to success in the future.''
FHC President Dozoretz, who started the company in 1983, is still at the helm; but from now on all departments will report directly to Linehan.
Dozoretz, Linehan said, will devote more of his time to long-term planning and dealing with the treatment aspects of the company. ``This isn't like Dr. Dozoretz is going to be taking a vacation,'' Linehan said.
Dozoretz first met Linehan about five years ago, when Linehan was president of American Psych-Management, now Value Behavioral Health. They saw each other frequently at professional conferences.
Linehan has served as president of Alternative Health Delivery Systems; senior vice president of managed care for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kentucky, and president and of MetLife Care Networks. He was twice elected mayor of Lake St. Louis, Mo. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Stephen D. Linehan has been appointed chief operating officer at
Norfolk-based FHC Health Systems.
by CNB