Raymond Hino, Chief Executive Officer, Southern Coos Hospital

Summary

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast: Episode Summary

Title: Raymond Hino, Chief Executive Officer, Southern Coos Hospital
Host: Grace Lynn Keller, Becker's Healthcare
Release Date: July 11, 2025

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Introduction

In this insightful episode of the Becker’s Healthcare Podcast, host Grace Lynn Keller engages in a comprehensive conversation with Raymond Hino, the Chief Executive Officer of Southern Coos Hospital in Bandon, Oregon. Recording live at the 15th annual meeting, the discussion delves into Hino's extensive experience in healthcare administration, recent initiatives at Southern Coos Hospital, prevailing challenges in the healthcare industry, leadership lessons, and strategies for addressing workforce issues.

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Raymond Hino's Background

Raymond Hino, affectionately known as Ray, brings over four decades of experience in healthcare administration to his role as CEO of Southern Coos Hospital. Located in the picturesque rural community of Bandon, Oregon, the hospital is renowned not only for its healthcare services but also for the world-famous Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.

Raymond Hino [00:46]: "I have been working in healthcare for over four decades. I got my Master's degree in Healthcare Administration at age 24 from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. All I've done for my entire career is work in healthcare administration, executive roles, with a lot of experience in smaller rural hospitals."

Hino has been leading Southern Coos Hospital for the past three years, overseeing a 21-bed critical access facility that plays a pivotal role in the local community's health and well-being.

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Implementing the EPIC Electronic Health Record System

One of the standout initiatives Raymond Hino highlights is the successful implementation of the EPIC Electronic Health Record (EHR) system within the last twelve months. Transitioning to EPIC marks a significant technological advancement for the small rural hospital, enhancing both operational efficiency and financial performance.

Raymond Hino [01:55]: "We've implemented the EPIC electronic Health record system at our hospital, which is a tremendous accomplishment for a small rural hospital, first of all, to be able to afford the EPIC system. We partnered with the Providence Healthcare system to do that."

The adoption of EPIC replaced an outdated EHR system from the Meaningful Use Subsidy era, addressing critical deficiencies and modernizing the hospital’s digital infrastructure. The impact has been profound, particularly in revenue and charge capture, leading to improved cash flow and boosted morale among the medical and clinical staff.

Raymond Hino [02:20]: "It's dramatically changed our facility, particularly in revenue and charge capture. We're doing a much better job of capturing charges and revenue than we were on our previous system, which is making a tremendous impact on cash flow for our facility."

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Challenges: Medicaid Reimbursement Instability

When discussing the most significant challenges facing the healthcare industry, Hino points to the instability in Medicaid reimbursement, which poses a substantial threat to financial stability for healthcare facilities.

Raymond Hino [03:33]: "The most challenging thing that we're facing in the entire healthcare industry is instability in reimbursement, particularly in the Medicaid program. With looming potential cuts in the Medicaid budget, Medicaid funding accounts for about 20% of our revenue stream."

To mitigate this risk, Southern Coos Hospital is diversifying its services. A notable initiative is the launch of a new outpatient retail pharmacy, aiming to create an additional revenue stream. This pharmacy is expected to thrive under the 340B program, which provides significant financial benefits.

Raymond Hino [04:00]: "We are in the process of opening up a new outpatient retail pharmacy in our community to add a new revenue stream for our facility. As long as the 340B program remains intact, we feel the pharmacy program is going to be very profitable for our facility."

Moreover, Southern Coos is actively collaborating with state legislators, elected officials, and the state hospital association to advocate against potential Medicaid cuts, striving to safeguard their revenue sources.

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Leadership Lessons: Being Present

Reflecting on his leadership journey, Hino emphasizes the paramount importance of being present within the organization. This approach fosters open communication, strengthens team morale, and ensures that leadership is attuned to the needs and concerns of both staff and patients.

Raymond Hino [05:20]: "The biggest lesson is being present in our organization, especially being present on the front lines conversing with staff, our medical staff, our physicians."

He champions an open-door policy, symbolized by keeping his desk visible to all entering the executive suites. This transparency cultivates an environment where staff feel valued and heard.

Raymond Hino [05:35]: "I'm frequently in the facility. I'm one of the very first people to meet our new employees as they're onboarded. I believe the answer to your question is being present every single day for all of our staff."

Additionally, Hino conducts weekly video updates to communicate effectively with staff across all shifts, ensuring that everyone is aligned with the hospital's objectives and developments.

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Workforce Challenges and Solutions

Addressing workforce challenges, which remain a top concern for many healthcare organizations, Hino outlines a multifaceted strategy focused on competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, and a positive workplace culture.

Raymond Hino [06:25]: "Workforce challenges, of course, are a major issue and concern for us. As a small rural facility, we're not in a position to be the market leader in terms of wages for our staff."

To remain competitive, Southern Coos regularly conducts salary surveys to ensure their wages are aligned with regional and market standards. Beyond financial compensation, the hospital offers an excellent benefits package designed to attract and retain talent.

However, Hino identifies employee culture as a critical differentiator. By fostering a positive work environment and emphasizing strong communication, Southern Coos Hospital creates a workplace where employees feel appreciated and connected.

Raymond Hino [07:00]: "We emphasize culture in our facility, making it a positive place to work. I'm one of the very first people to greet our new employees as they're onboarded each month."

The reputation of being a great place to work is reinforced by staff endorsements, as many new employees cite referrals from friends working at the hospital as a key factor in their decision to join.

Raymond Hino [07:20]: "What caused you to apply for employment at Southern Coos Hospital? And the answer most frequently is, I have friends that work at this hospital and they tell me it's a great place to work."

Through these comprehensive efforts—competitive wages, robust benefits, and an engaging, communicative culture—Southern Coos Hospital effectively addresses workforce challenges, ensuring a dedicated and satisfied team.

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Conclusion

Raymond Hino's leadership at Southern Coos Hospital exemplifies the resilience and adaptability required in today's healthcare landscape. From embracing advanced EHR systems to strategically diversifying revenue streams and nurturing a positive organizational culture, Hino's initiatives and insights offer valuable lessons for healthcare leaders navigating similar challenges. His commitment to being present and fostering open communication underscores the importance of empathetic and proactive leadership in building a sustainable and thriving healthcare facility.

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Notable Quotes:

• Raymond Hino [01:55]: "We've implemented the EPIC electronic Health record system at our hospital, which is a tremendous accomplishment for a small rural hospital."

• Raymond Hino [03:33]: "The most challenging thing that we're facing in the entire healthcare industry is instability in reimbursement, particularly in the Medicaid program."

• Raymond Hino [05:20]: "The biggest lesson is being present in our organization, especially being present on the front lines conversing with staff."

• Raymond Hino [06:25]: "Workforce challenges, of course, are a major issue and concern for us."

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This detailed summary encapsulates the key points, discussions, and insights shared by Raymond Hino during the podcast episode, providing a comprehensive overview for those who have yet to listen.

Transcript

[Grace Lynn Keller]

At Insight Global Health, we are dedicated to helping you and improving healthcare for everyone. That means building stronger teams and delivering sustainable solutions that truly make a difference. We offer a full spectrum of talent and technical services and deliver cross industry expertise to bring you innovative best practices to solve the problems that we face in healthcare. We're not just promising you results, we are delivering them. Visit [e-mail] this is Grace Lynn Keller with the Beckers Healthcare podcast and we are recording live at the 15th annual meeting. I am currently joined right now by Raymond Hino, who is the Chief Executive Officer at Southern Coos Hospital. Thanks so much for being here today. I would love to have you start off by introducing yourself and telling us a little bit more about your background in healthcare and your organization.

[Raymond Hino]

My pleasure. Thank you, Grace. I'm Raymond Hino, I go by Ray. I am currently the CEO of the Southern Coos Hospital in Bandon, Oregon. We are a small rural community south of Coos Bay on the on the Oregon coast. It's a beautiful area. We're well known for our world famous golf resort, the Bandon Dunes. So many people know us from our golf resort. I've been at Southern coos Hospital for three years now. We are a 21 bed critical access hospital and I have been working in healthcare for over four decades. I got my Master's degree in Healthcare administration at age 24 from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. And all I've done for my entire career is work in healthcare administration, executive roles, a lot of experience in smaller rural hospitals.

[Grace Lynn Keller]

Wonderful. Well, thank you for joining me and let's start our conversation. Within the past 12 months or so, what's an initiative you've taken on that you're particularly proud of and how has that impacted your organization?

[Raymond Hino]

Well, that's an easy question for me to answer, Grace. In the last 12 months, we've implemented the EPIC electronic Health record system at our hospital, which is a tremendous accomplishment for a small rural hospital, first of all, to be able to afford the EPIC system. We partnered with the Providence Healthcare system in, in order to do that, but we realized that we're a little bit behind the time. So we had an electronic health record system that we implemented during the meaningful Use Subsidy era several years ago. But it really was an antiquated system that did not meet our needs. So we felt the pressure and the urgency to step up to a state of the art modern electronic health record system. We're very happy to to be a part of the EPIC Electronic Health Record family now. And it's dramatically changed our facility, particularly in revenue and charge capture. We're doing a much better job of capturing charges and revenue than we were on our previous system, which is making a tremendous impact on cash flow for our facility, which is very exciting for us, as well as just overall morale and satisfaction of our medical staff and our clinical team utilizing the new system.

[Grace Lynn Keller]

Wonderful. And kind of on the flip side of that, what is the most significant challenge you're seeing currently facing healthcare and how are you working to address this?

[Raymond Hino]

Yes, that also, the first part of your question is very easy for me to answer. And the first part of the question, what's the most challenging thing that we're facing in the entire healthcare industry? I think is instability in reimbursement, particularly in the Medicaid program. With looming potential cuts in the Medicaid budget. Medicaid funding for healthcare facilities, about 20% of our revenue stream is Medicaid. So it is a big concern for us. What we're doing about it is we are diversifying our services. We are in the process right now of opening up a new outpatient retail pharmacy in our community to, to add a new revenue stream for our facility, the pharmacy services. As long as the 340B program remains intact, we feel the pharmacy program is going to be very profitable for our facility. And there's a tremendous need in our community. In our rural community, there's only two pharmacies serving our community. One is Rite Aid and they're kind of struggling right now, and the other is provided by an FQHC in our community. They've been struggling as well. So I would say the answer to your question is that diversification offering new services and in working honestly with our state legislators and our state elected officials and our state hospital association to minimize the impact of potential minimum Medicaid cuts in our state.

[Grace Lynn Keller]

And as a leader, I'd love to know what the biggest lesson you're currently learning or have recently learned is.

[Raymond Hino]

Yes, I'm delighted to answer that question. For me, the biggest lesson is being present in our organization, especially being present on the front lines conversing with staff, our medical staff, our physicians. But I've always made it a practice to have an open door policy. Not only an open door policy, but a wide open door with my desk in front of the door so that everybody entering the the executive suites of our facility can see me. I see everybody that's coming in. I'm frequently in the facility. I'm one of the very first people to meet our new employees. As we onboard them. I. I believe the answer to your question is, is being present every single day for all of our staff.

[Grace Lynn Keller]

Wonderful. And finally, as we round out our conversation, I'd love to touch on workforce, as this is a continuing priority for many organizations. So workforce challenges being the number one issue for many leaders. How are you addressing these within your organization?

[Raymond Hino]

Yes, that's a great question. And workforce challenges, of course, are a major issue and concern for us. And again, as a small rural facility, a critical access hospital, we're not in position to be the market leader in terms of wages for our staff. We, we do try very hard to be competitive, and we frequently do salary surveys for our region and our market to make sure that we do the very best that we can to be competitive as far as wages are concerned. But we also emphasize benefits and we do try to offer a very competitive benefit package. But one of our, our secret ingredients, one of our tools that we are able to utilize is, is really is employee culture. We emphasize culture in our facility, making it a positive place to work. And as I mentioned a moment ago in the answer to the last question, I'm one of the very first people to greet our new employees as they're onboarded each month. And frequently I ask our new employees, what caused you to apply for employment at Southern Coos Hospital? And the answer most frequently is, I have friends that work at this hospital and they tell me it's a great place to work. And so I really take that as a validation that all of the efforts that we make, and I make in particular being present, I do weekly video updates for our entire staff. So I'm able to reach our staff at every shift, night shift, weekend shift, everybody within the organization with a lot of information on communication, updates on what's happening in our facility. We over emphasize communication. So I guess my answer to your question is we try to be competitive on wages. We offer, we think, an excellent benefit package and a great place to work.

[Grace Lynn Keller]

Wonderful. Well, Raymond, thanks so much for taking the time to join me today on the Becker's Healthcare podcast. Again, we are recording live at the 15th annual meeting.

[Raymond Hino]

It's a pleasure. Thank you, Grace. I'm glad to be here.