Claiborne County Hospital

Mercy out, new management in for hospital

  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.