Hunter Health Clinic names new CEO

Hunter Health Clinic has named one of its board members as its new CEO.

Amy Feimer starts as CEO on Feb. 8.

Feimer is currently the vice president for treasury management at UMB Bank, where she has worked for nearly two years. Before that, Feimer worked in various positions over 14 years for M&T Bank, which is based in Buffalo, N.Y.

She joined Hunter’s board last summer and in the fall decided to apply for the CEO position.

“It wasn’t my original intention when I joined the board (to apply for CEO),” Feimer said.

“When we started the search and I looked at the skill set Hunter needed, I thought I could bring good professional business experience to the table. Hunter has a committed staff, a great team delivering patient care, and I wanted to be a part of that.”

Hunter, which was founded in 1976 to serve American Indians, is largely funded by federal grants and is the only Urban Indian Health program in Kansas. It provided free or reduced-cost medical care to about 14,000 patients at its three locations last year.

The clinic recently released hundreds of e-mails to The Eagle that detailed its fall into troubled finances in 2012. Those e-mails were part of a two-year court battle and showed that longtime CEO Susette Schwartz had been fired in early 2013.

At the time, the clinic had more than $1 million in debt, was not paying vendors and its federal contract with Indian Health Services was endangered.

Since then, the clinic has erased its debt, paid its vendors and is in good standing with Indian Health Services, according to audits and current board members. The board has also changed its structure to provide more oversight of the clinic.

“A number of board members felt Hunter had been through a difficult time and we needed a fresh face, fresh eyes to help us move forward – to be more prominent in the community, provide more public awareness of services and expand our services,” said Heather Baker, board co-chairwoman.

“She’s eager to start and we’re eager to have her start.”

Once Feimer applied for the position, she was not part of the board’s selection committee, Baker said.

Feimer, who is originally from Wichita, received a bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Montreal. She also holds an MBA from the University of Maryland.

One of her first priorities as CEO will be to have a better building at Hunter’s main clinic, 2318 E. Central.

In May 2012, former CEO Schwartz announced that Hunter would build a new clinic to replace its dilapidated building on Central. The $10 million building was to be partially funded with a $4.6 million federal grant awarded as part of the Affordable Care Act.

The grant guidelines required that the clinic had to be built by June 2015, but that didn’t happen. The clinic has been working with the federal government to extend the deadline for the grant so it can still have a new building – although it will be smaller than originally planned.

“Patients and staff deserve a better environment, and that’s been put on hold given some of the recent challenges,” Feimer said.

“Now that we’re past those challenges, we can start re-establishing relationships within the community and re-engage with other organizations.”

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Hunter Health Clinic names new CEO."