Building a regional medical center. Interview by Donald E.L. Johnson.

Allen P. Fletcher is president of a 372-bed community hospital that is between Atlanta and Birmingham and loses patients to hospitals in those cities more frequently than he likes. Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center, Anniston, Alabama, runs an average daily census of about 165 patients and many of its 100 active physicians are so busy that they have waiting lists. Fletcher has been president of Northeast for six years. He holds an MHA from Georgia State University. In an interview with Donald E.L. Johnson, editor and publisher of Health Care Strategic Management, Fletcher talks about the small window of opportunity he sees for secondary hospitals.