the background

Heywood Healthcare is a nonprofit healthcare system serving the community of Gardner, Massachusetts with essential medical services and specialty care. Following a Chapter 11 restructuring, financial discipline became critical, especially within accounts payable.

AP operations were largely paper-driven, with weekly check runs and manual workflows. Payment delays created real risk.

“Coming off bankruptcy, we could not afford to make late payments. We had to rebuild trust with our vendors,” explained Shane Doherty, VP of Operations at Heywood Healthcare.

Vendor relationships mattered. Cash flow strategy mattered. The team needed a solution that simplified processes without adding administrative burden.

“We needed something less clunky, less manual. We needed full-service,” said Doherty.

the Solution

An unexpected call about modernizing payments caught Shane’s attention.

“They told me I can pay my vendors and make money. I said, “What’s the catch?”

With REPAY, there was no catch.

Heywood Healthcare integrated with REPAY to centralize and automate vendor payments across virtual cards, ACH and check.

Vendor enrollment and outreach were managed by REPAY, reducing internal lift and accelerating adoption.

“Implementation was an easy lift from a REPAY perspective,” Doherty explained. “We started earning rebates right away.”

With payments consolidated into one digital workflow, the AP team reduced manual effort and gained greater visibility into payment timing and cash strategy.

Staffing requirements dropped from four team members to two, freeing resources for higher-value work.

But the most meaningful shift wasn’t just operational. It was financial.

the result

AP evolved from a revenue drain into a contributor to financial stability.

From a vendor experience perspective, once hurting service levels improved significantly. Payments were made within net terms, increasing vendor trust.

Additionally, through increased virtual card adoption and optimized payment mix, Heywood Healthcare began generating consistent monthly rebates. Those rebates now help offset technology investments, including costs for their invoice processing software, while strengthening overall financial flexibility. 

As a nonprofit organization, that flexibility supports more than operations.

From packing backpacks with weekend meals for local students to expanding discreet, in-school healthcare access, Heywood Healthcare uses rebate revenue to strengthen its community impact.

“What was once routine vendor spend now actively supports our mission,” Doherty told us.

looking ahead

With automation in place, Heywood Healthcare is exploring vendor-paid ACH strategies to further diversify rebate revenue, while maintaining strategic relationships with high-volume vendors.

“Every incremental improvement matters,” said Doherty.

By modernizing AP, Heywood Healthcare didn’t just streamline payments, they strengthened financial stability and expanded their ability to serve their community.