Sih seeks to stabalize finances
After last week’s heated public meeting at Statham Hall in Lone Pine, the Board and staff of Southern Inyo Hospital, along with invited guests from Ridgecrest Regional Hospital, began the hard work of reviewing the ideas brought to the table. Last week, the hospital’s CEO walked out of the meeting after accusations that SIH was denying services.
As to the immediate concern for the $13,000 needed to pay for the hospital’s license fee needed to operate, the $60,000 raised at the end of last week’s meeting more than covered the worry over the licensing fee. That taken care of, the Board at this week’s meeting met with a much smaller public showing. At the meeting was Ridgecrest Regional Hospital CEO Jim Suver and RRH Board Chairwoman Dana Lyons. Both appeared very supportive of working with SIH on partnerships and possibly sharing some services such as billing and Information Technology to lessen costs and provide greater expertise. Much of the software at SIH is outdated, running on what is known as legacy software.
Both RRH and SIH would like to see small rural hospitals avoid being taken over by a larger, out-of-the-area healthcare organizations such as Renown Health, for example. It is the largest locally owned not-for-profit healthcare network in Northern Nevada with more than 5,500 employees system-wide and is one of Northern Nevada’s largest employers. Both hospitals want to keep jobs local.
“Local control of the community’s healthcare system is important,” says Suver. “We want independent hospitals to survive.” He went on to say that it was unusual to see a community respond with the donations and support he witnessed at last week’s public meeting. Suver made it clear that “RRH was not interested in a bail-out, but rather a partnership beneficial to both hospitals.” He added that “reserves are important” with cash flow problems that are found throughout the healthcare system; delayed reimbursements from large providers and government program like Medicare, Medicaid, and Medi-Cal.
Medicare is a Federal program which provides basic health insurance to everyone over age 65, and people who are under 65 but are eligible for Social Security Disability benefits. Medicaid in the United States is a social health care program for families and individuals with low income and limited resources.
SIH Board President Dick Gehring, told the gathering that he felt that the hospital “may have put the cart before the horse,” by having last week’s public meeting rather than collectively putting together the basics of a possible plan and soliciting suggestions from the public for changes. Board member Drew Wickman agreed, saying that before the next public workshop or meeting an ad hoc committee should take the information from last week’s meeting and clean it up first. He also advanced the idea of a Community Advisory Committee.
According to SIH CEO Lee Barron, the hospital has $1.7 million in long-term debt and approximately $1 million in short-term debt. She stressed a balanced approach to the budget, as no individual service at the hospital makes money; not the Clinic, Nursing Services or the Emergency Room. Board Secretary Mary Kemp said, “Lee has done a fantastic job for years keeping the hospital afloat.” But everyone seems to agree that it is time to take measures to avoid jumping from crisis to crisis as the hospital has done going back as far as the 1970s.
The group agreed that the resources offered by the County of Inyo should be used. County Health and Human Services Director Jean Turner offered to find money to fund a feasibility study last week. Planning Director Josh Hart is the County’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) staffer. Hart has said that he would look into some ways they might help with any legal issues and assistance to form partnerships between the hospitals. (LAFCOs generally deal with changes in boundaries and services of special districts.)
The meeting ended on a high note with SIH administrators saying that they have the money for this week’s payroll although they are two-weeks behind. This payroll will be for the week ending October 17. Interestingly, only four employees out of the 100 or so working there have left the hospital as a result of the payroll problems…and one of them already plans to return.
The meeting was productive and there was cause for optimism. As Suver told the group during the meeting, “You have incredible heart here in this community and a great hospital staff.” Most would agree with him.
