Mercy out, new management in for hospital
Published:
Claiborne Progress
Wednesday,
July 15, 2009
by Marisa Anders
Claiborne
County Hospital and Nursing Home will be under new management
soon if the County
Commission follows the
recommendation of the board of directors.
In a meeting on Thursday, July 9, the board reconvened from a recessed
meeting for the purpose of discussing management contract proposals.
Proposals were submitted from three companies: Mercy Health Partners, which
holds the current management contract, Covenant Health and Restoration
Healthcare. Mercy was formed by the merger of Baptist and St. Mary’s Health
Care systems, Covenant is the corporate umbrella under which
Fort
Sanders
Hospital
falls, and Restoration is a Clinton-based company led in part by Tim Brown, a previous administrator at CCH.
The county owns the 85-bed hospital and 100-bed nursing home, but is
managed by Mercy. The management contract puts an administrator in place.
Baptist Health System of East Tennessee had held the contract since October
1997, prior to its merger with Mercy. The contract was to expire June 30,
but Mercy was given a 30-day extension while the board considered other
proposals.
To start the meeting, board chairman Joe Tyler Duncan opened the floor to
discussion.
“We do know what Mercy does for us,” said board member Betsy Shoffner.
“They’ve been here… We need to protect our 600 employees and their benefits
and our CON [certificate of need].”
Board member Lindsey Cadle echoed the sentiment of some physicians
present in her concern that referrals would be sent out of town by the
larger organizations located in
Knoxville.
“I want to keep people here,” she said. “I want to keep patients here.”
“I don’t see what they offer us,” said board member Mike Robertson
concerning Restoration. “They offer to let us choose the administrator, and
that’s the trouble we got into before… we’ll have an administrator at the
mercy or whim of the board, the commissioners, and whoever.”
The choice of administrator is the core of each proposal, and at
Thursday's meeting board member John Russell read the proposed salaries of
the future hospital administrator put forth by the three companies.
According to Russell, Mercy's proposal was the most expensive, with the
administrator's annual pay beginning at $240,000. The Mercy administrator
would also get a 2.5 percent increase in pay each year.
Restoration's administrator would receive about $150,000 per year, but
Restoration Healthcare itself would receive $5,000 per month. Russell said
the total cost for Restoration would be from $210,000 to $235,000 per year.
The administrator would be an employee of the hospital, not Restoration,
which concerned several board members.
Knoxville-based Covenant's proposal was the cheapest, with its
administrator receiving about $192,000 per year.
“If we make the wrong choice we are going to do intense damage to this
facility,” said board member Rob Asbury, who later added he was concerned
with the lack of organizational structure for internal control within
Restoration.
Board member Russell Essary said he was concerned about the current
situation of the hospital, and concerned with Mercy because of that.
Russell asked about the current census, which was 12 patients at noon the
day of the meeting, and mentioned that the organization lost around $500,000
last month.
Shoffner said she heard that some of the doctors were going to leave if
Mercy retained the management contract, and asked the physicians present to
address that.
“That’s probably true,” said Dr. Brent Neal, adding that he felt Mercy
hadn’t done what they’d promised him, but that Restoration has a “good track
record.”
“I feel really hung out to dry,” he said.
Shoffner stated that at
Woods
Memorial
Hospital, “the doctors ruined it, then
Restoration turned around and bought it.”
Dr. Rob Wilmoth, newly chosen chief of staff, told the board he had
talked with several physicians about the proposals. Two didn’t know which
proposal would be best, six felt Restoration was the best choice and three
thought Covenant would be best.
“I think we need a change,” Wilmoth said. “The one I see different is
Restoration.”
Robertson continued expressing his concern that under Restoration’s
proposal, there would be more complete local control of the hospital and
nursing home.
“If it were this board, I wouldn’t be worried about it,” he said. “I
don’t want to go back to those days of the county commission telling the
hospital who to fire and not fire.”
Dr. Richard Clark pointed out
that Tim Brown was part of the management team for 14
years, and some of the decisions affecting the current situation at the
hospital were made during that time.
Jack Bryan, acting administrator, said that when Mercy took over in
January the hospital was losing $900,000.
After a lengthy discussion period, the board voted to accept
Restoration’s proposal with a vote of five members for and two against.
Those voting to accept Restoration’s proposal were: Rob Asbury, Russell
Essary, Lindsey Cadle, John Russell and Bill Debusk. Those voting against
were: Betsy Shoffner and Mike Robertson.
Steve Clapp, president of Restoration Healthcare, said his company
intends to make the facility successful again.
"We're excited to be selected and look forward to working with the
medical staff, the board and the community there to restore that hospital
back to its success," Clapp told the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Some of the information in this article was obtained from the Knoxville
News Sentinel.
