By ANDY GARDNER
North Country Now

MASSENA -- The new Massena Memorial Hospital CEO has his sights set on adding more services and expanding existing services in 2019.

MMH CEO Charles Gijanto, speaking at Monday's Board of Managers meeting, declined to go into specifics but said the plans are part of drawing up a budget and business plan for next year.

"I'd rather not (discuss specifics) until we have a little more rubber on the road," he said. "Some (ideas) will hit and some won't.

He said making the ideas reality is "contingent on having the right doctors, the right space for the programs and right staging.

"Each one is a little mini business plan unto themselves."

He said finding and keeping staff is a challenge because of the ongoing conversion to a private, non-profit entity and ongoing asset transfer talks with the Town of Massena, which now owns MMH.

"Retention right now is our most critical function," Gijanto said. "Until we have a definitive game plan for the future, recruiting is challenging."

He didn't want to go into details about where things are with privatization, but said "we are moving the organization in the right direction."