Wayne Hospital

Sometimes opportunity knocks and sometimes it comes and visits. For Shannon Everman, a visit from a fellow Wayne Hospital employee.

Everman is the new controller at Wayne Hospital, and she has Adam Schwartz, the Hospital’s pharmacy director, to thank for the nudging her toward the job.

After Schwartz met Everman through family, he urged her to apply for the controller position at Wayne Hospital.

Everman explains that she was happy at Joint Township Memorial Hospital in St. Marys, but tested the water so to speak. And she’s glad she did.

“I really liked it at Joint,” she said, “but the opportunity here is really exciting and I believe there is better potential advancement here.”

Her long-term goal is to be a Chief Financial Officer at a hospital, perhaps something more as well.

“Adam did a great job selling Wayne Hospital,” Everman said. “And I’ve found what he said is true. This really is a great place. There’s a great work ethic here and it’s very similar to what I’m used to coming from Putnam County. We’re farm people up there as well.”

Everman hails from the tiny town of Fort Jennings, Ohio – northwest of Lima.

Everman attended Wright State where she received her bachelor’s degree in accounting. Then she did something she wouldn’t recommend anyone else trying.

“I took the accelerated master’s degree track at the University of Dayton while working,” she said. “Not an easy thing to do.”

She received her master’s degree in business administration in 2001.

Wayne is her third healthcare-related job. After starting her professional career with Arthur Anderson CPAs in Dayton, Everman then worked for a local accounting firm before diving into the healthcare pool.

“I worked at Miami Valley (Premier Health Partners) from 2003 through 2006,” she said.

There she was in their financial services division and helped with their system conversion. But in 2006 her husband, Craig, was transferred to New Bremen with Crown Equipment and she looked to cut down on her travel time.

She was the controller at Joint Township Hospital in St. Marys from 2007 until coming to Wayne Hospital this spring.

She’s also living her childhood dream – yep, being an accountant.

“Even when I was little I think I was destined to be an accountant,” she said with a smile. “I had a savings account as a child and I kept a ledger with all the transactions of what went in and what went out.”

As a controller, her bank books are a lot more complicated than her childhood bank savings, but the concept is the same.

“I’m the financial gateway of the hospital,” she said. “I have to make sure our tax filings are correct and I provide an audit function within the hospital. That includes payroll, accounts payable and the charge system for the hospital. I oversee and review the monthly financial statements for administration and the board.”

Budgeting in a hospital is vital, according to Everman. Because of the myriad governmental agencies Wayne Hospital has to report to, there are layers many other businesses don’t have to deal with.

“We have Medicare, Medicaid and the private insurance companies and all that is reviewed by federal and state agencies,” she said. Attention to detail is vitally important for Everman and she likes it that way.

Everman and her husband have two children – three-year-old Daniel and one-year-old Luke.

“They are so much fun,” she said.