Mission vs Money

Saw this post in Hospice News Today and it reminded me of the ongoing battle between mission and money. It's challenging in today's environment to maintain a healthy balance of both... 


Branford-based Connecticut Hospice undergoing reorganization
New Haven Register
March 27, 2019
Branford, CT—The Connecticut Hospice is in the midst of an organizational shake-up designed to streamline the way the nonprofit operates as well as reduce its operating costs. Anthony DaRos, chairman of the Hospice board, said the nonprofit has been running an operating deficit of roughly $4 million over the past several years. To help right its financial ship, DaRos said the board brought in Barbara Pearce, president and chief executive officer North Haven-based Pearce Real Estate, to serve as Hospice’s interim chief executive officer. Also brought in to preside over the streamlining process as chief financial officer was Joseph Mooney, who retired last summer as deputy commissioner for the state Department of Revenue Services. Pearce, who is taking a sabbatical from her family’s real estate company, took over as interim chief executive officer at the end of January. She said some of the moves to improve the organization’s operating efficiency include asking some of the nonprofit’s employees to reapply for their jobs as well as eliminating some of the office space it has around the state. Pearce declined to say how many employees might be out of a job as a result of the shake-up. Connecticut Hospice has between 250 and 280 employees, she said, adding that there has been no target number set by the board in terms of running the organization more efficiently. … Some of the workers who had to reapply for their jobs will find out Friday whether they have been rehired, while others will learn their fate April 5, she said. Connecticut Hospice has undergone a period of tremendous upheaval over the past year that contributed to the organization’s financial difficulties. It essentially has operated since last September without a chief executive officer, a chief operating officer or a chief financial officer, according to Pearce. The upheaval at Connecticut Hospice appears to have started last summer when longtime president and chief executive officer Rosemary Hurzeler retired, according to DaRos. The organization’s board had begun taking a more active role in the operations of the Hospice, he said, and wanted to make changes that Hurzeler was unwilling to implement. … Both DaRos and Pearce stressed the goal of the organizational overhaul was to create a sustainable business model for Connecticut Hospice.