Hospital
Board Welcomes Dr.
Clark as New Chief
of Staff
Published: Claiborne Independent
March
4, 2009
by
W. Lee Brame
On Tuesday, Feb.24, the regular monthly
hospital board meeting began with the board welcoming Dr.
Richard Clark as the new medical Chief of Staff. Dr. Bob
Thomas is currently serving as the Vice-Chief of Staff. The medical staff
report included a review of recertifying the credentialing of 18 medical
practitioners and revision of the bylaws governing medical staff meetings.
The board approved three medical staff recommendations including
re-credentialing, the change to the by-laws and the medical quality
management report.
The
Financial Report for the month showed that in total, hospital operations
were in the black with a net income of $21,790. Nursing Home, Home Health
Care, and Emergency Medical Services operated in the black and losses by
Employed Physicians were significantly smaller than expected.
Hospital revenues were significantly impacted by a dramatic increase in
claims by hospital employees. The hospital insurance program is “partially
self-insured” in that the hospital provides certain services to employees at
no charge. Medical services that are required by employees (and not
available locally) are provided elsewhere and those claims were up as well
in January.
Board members also quickly zeroed in on a steadily increasing figure in the
accounts receivables column in the financial report. This figure does not
meet industry standards or the hospital goals and board members and staff
spent considerable time discussing the problem and possible solutions. While
some corrective measures have already been implemented in the billing and
claims department, the board requested that Mercy Health Systems provide
technical assistance in this area.
Mercy representatives promised concrete proposals by the March Board
meeting.
The
Hospital Board approved the financial report and also approved a
recommendation that Hospital employees be allowed to continue using Blue
Cross / Blue Shield for medical coverage (that is not provided by the
hospital itself.) Last year, the hospital’s health insurance policy covered
358 employees and 183 dependents. Six insurance carriers provided proposals
for evaluation. The board also granted Dan Colón, the hospital
administrator, authority to negotiate and sign the next year’s contract for
professional and general liability insurance for the hospital.
In
other business, the hospital board approved a recommendation to refinance
the note for the medical office building. This loan will be combined with
the school loans (taken out by the Claiborne County Board of Education) and
the county’s loans for construction of the
Justice
Center. Accounts for all
three entities will be separate – the hospital will only be responsible for
hospital debt- BOE for school debt etc. but all three entities get a better
deal by sharing the loan administration costs.
Board members and medical staff also spent significant time discussing the
management contract with Mercy Health Systems. The revised contract mirrors
the old contract with the exception that the hospital board can terminate
the contract with cause with a 45 day notice and terminate the contract
without fault with a 90 day notice. Perhaps the most interesting part of
this discussion was the expertise and eloquence demonstrated by Dr. Clark as
he participated in the discussion.
All
parties agreed that the best thing that medical and administrative staff can
do for county taxpayers and hospital
customers was to make every effort to maintain a successful hospital. A
successful hospital provides quality care to the community while maintaining
its financial viability. The new management contract was approved
unanimously with a roll call vote. The management contract must still be
approved by the county commission.
The
final order of business included an update that Mercy Health and the county Hospital
Board are making progress in resolving questions about the finances of the Baker
Cancer
Center. A spread sheet
showed that the Baker Cancer Center
performed profitably during the previous month and Mercy provided a check
for $9,500 to the Claiborne
County
Hospital as the CCH’s return on
investment in the Baker
Cancer Center’s
upgraded equipment.
