DRIGGS — Teton Valley Health Care CEO Leianne Everett told Teton County commissioners Sept. 14 that she will leave the hospital at the end of the calendar year. In the same report, she put the hospital about $1 million ahead of budget through July and said its consultant found staying independent "a very viable option" if the hospital meets its priorities.
Near the end of her update, Everett told commissioners the hospital had hired a chief financial officer to start Oct. 1, filling a seat that had been empty for a year. She then said she is "exiting the organization" and that "we're also working on that recruitment." The hospital is also recruiting an executive director for its foundation, with an interim director in place.
Commissioner Dan Powers read a letter of appreciation from the county, which said Everett took the job "at a difficult moment in Teton Valley Hospital's history" and that "the Valley is better off because you were willing to lead when it mattered."
The hospital's year-to-date operating margin was $1.1 million through July 31, 10 months into its fiscal year, Everett said. Counting foundation donations, total margin was about $2.4 million. Cash on hand, which she called the hospital's biggest concern early this year, stood at 34 days. "We still have a long ways to go," she said, "but we've been able to sustain improvement."
In June, Everett reported the hospital ahead of budget through eight months and delivered the county a $94,749 share of its 2025 profit.
The hospital's foundation paid for a review by Stroudwater, a rural health care consulting firm, and Everett said the top three priorities from that work are the revenue cycle, primary care and specialty services.
The revenue cycle is the billing and collections work that turns patient visits into paid claims. The contractor the hospital moved to around March "was unable to meet the expectations that we had hoped to experience from them," Everett said. On Oct. 1 a company the hospital found through Stroudwater will become its third revenue-cycle firm "in this calendar year," and a separate firm will handle claims from before that date.
On primary care, two physician recruitments fill half of the hospital's four combined hospitalist and clinic positions. Everett said she hopes "by early 2027, we will have all 4 of those slots filled." A general surgeon starts Oct. 1.
