Turnarounds
Return to health
How Jesse Thomas improved the outlook for Molina Healthcare of Michigan by refocusing the company
By Erik Cassano
Smart Business Detroit | May 2009
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When Jesse Thomas first mentioned the T word, he knew it would raise some eyebrows.
That’s T as in “turnaround.”
Like a lot of companies in Michigan, Molina Healthcare of Michigan has recently felt the effects of a sagging economy, which had led to concerns among the health insurance company’s leaders over revenue and membership growth.
But when Thomas became president and CEO of the subsidiary of California-based Molina Healthcare Inc. early last year, he wanted to take things a step further.
“Every market has some of its own challenges that are unique,” says Thomas, who arrived in Michigan after a stint with Molina’s Ohio subsidiary. “In this market, I felt we had opportunities for improvement in profitability, membership and revenue growth. To address that, I repositioned the company as a turnaround. Sometimes that is difficult on the psyche of the individuals involved, but nobody disagreed with me that we had missed some of our targets and had the opportunity for improvement.”
Molina’s situation wasn’t as desperate as some turnaround stories. The existence of the company wasn’t at stake. But the long-term financial health of the company was potentially poised for a steady decline without Thomas’ intervention.
As with many turnarounds, Thomas had to identify the problem areas and ways the problems could be addressed, organize a go-forward plan with his leadership team, and then achieve buy-in from as many people in the organization as possible.
It’s a multistep process that took vision and big-picture thinking from many people. But it also took a great deal of persistent communication from Thomas as he rallied 250 associates around the common cause of improving Molina’s outlook in Michigan.
