Greenwood Leflore Hospital’s chief executive senses that the growing spread of the delta variant of COVID-19 is softening the resistance of hospital employees who previously had not been willing to be vaccinated.
“With the fourth wave coming in, everyone wants to be protected, especially around their families,” said Jason Studley, the CEO.
Hospital officials estimate that 50% of its employees have been vaccinated, with a goal to reach 70% by the end of September. In response to increased interest, another large-scale employee vaccination, similar to the ones the hospital held after the first doses arrived last December, will soon be held.
Studley said, however, there is no discussion at this point to make vaccination mandatory. Last week, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the state’s largest hospital, announced it would be phasing in a policy over the next several months that requires all of its 10,000 employees as well as its 3,000 students to either be vaccinated or to wear an N95 mask when inside any of its facilities.
That decision comes as Mississippi enters its fourth surge in COVID-19 cases, fueled by the highly contagious delta variant. For the seven-day period ending Monday, the state recorded more than 4,600 cases of COVID-19, nearly six times as many as in a similar seven-day period a month ago. The increase, though, is still significantly less than what Mississippi experienced during its third wave in January, when weekly cases ran about three times as high.
Infections in Leflore County are following the same pattern — up significantly from a month ago, but much less than at the first of the year.
Although hospitalizations from COVID-19 are rising statewide, that’s yet to be the case at the Greenwood hospital. As of Tuesday morning, there were no patients in its intensive care unit dedicated to treating those suffering severe complications from the virus.
Studley thinks conditions in Leflore County are better because its vaccination rate is higher than the state average. Forty-two percent of the county’s population has been fully vaccinated, compared to a statewide average of 32%.
To further help in the vaccination effort, Greenwood Leflore Hospital has been awarded a $150,000 federal grant to purchase and equip a van to be a mobile provider of vaccines.
The hospital also received last month $500,000 from the American Rescue Plan, enacted earlier this year by Congress, for COVID-19 testing and mitigation.
That is the last of the coronavirus relief money the hospital is scheduled to receive.
Earlier outlays from Washington provided nearly $25 million, which the hospital has used for more than a year to offset pandemic-related treatment costs and drops in its non-COVID patient volume. It exhausted those funds in June, when the hospital posted a $3.3 million loss.
For the month, the hospital took in nearly $7.6 million in operating revenue, a 12% gain over June 2020, but expenses ran $11.9 million, up 26%. A major part of the expense increase was the second and final installment in retention payments, totaling $1.1 million, to full-time employees. Last December, the first installment of $1.1 million was awarded. The retention payments, designed to keep staffing levels up during the pandemic, were covered by the first round of federal relief money the hospital received in 2020.
The hospital also provided $120,000 in retention payments to part-time employees in May.
For the first nine months of the fiscal year, the hospital is showing a loss of almost $10.2 million, even after using $11 million in coronavirus relief funds. For the same time period a year ago, the loss was $1.8 million after using more than $13.4 million in relief funds. The first five months of the previous fiscal year, however, took place before the onset of the pandemic.
Studley said the administration, in an effort to reduce the hospital’s losses, is evaluating ways to create greater efficiencies while looking at adding new services.
He said he is encouraged by recent physician recruiting successes. A new emergency room physician, Dr. Brad McCay, starts Aug. 2, and a new general surgeon, Dr. Dezara’e Leto, will come on board in September 2022.
Still, though, patient volumes — particularly for elective procedures and managed care of chronic health conditions — have not bounced back to their pre-pandemic levels.
“We appreciate all the support that this community has given us to date, but we need people to continue to support this hospital,” said Dawne Holmes, the chief financial officer.
- Contact Tim Kalich at 581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
