Greenwood Leflore Hospital lost money during the last two months of the 2007-2008 fiscal year, and the Board of Commissioners is anxious for the new hospitalist program to reverse that pattern.
“What are we doing to change things the other way?” Board Member Sammy Foster asked the hospital’s administration Tuesday evening.
The matter came up while Jim Jackson, the hospital’s chief financial officer, was delivering the hospital’s financial report to the board during its monthly meeting. Jackson reported that the hospital lost $152,000 in September, marking the second straight month that more money has gone out the door than come in. Still, the hospital wound up the fiscal year with a net income of $2.1 million.
When pressed by Foster about measures the hospital was taking to address the recent shortfall, Jackson said the hospital had suffered through a “soft summer” as far as patient loads go. He added, “We’re trying our best to cut wasteful costs. But the key is getting the patient census back up.”
Jerry Adams, the hospital’s executive director, then brought up the new hospitalist program, saying that “the recruiting program is full speed ahead.”
The hospital board, at the urging of the administration, decided last month to expand and outsource its hospitalist program, entering into a three-year contract with Hospital Management Group. A hospitalist is a physician who takes over for a primary care doctor when a patient is admitted to a hospital and also handles unreferred patients. According to administrators, under the new program, the hospital will have eight physicians providing around-the-clock care.
Administrators say the contract is projected to net the hospital $1.5 million in the first year and about $5.4 million by the third year.
“Where are we at on that?” Foster asked Tuesday. “You all finally got the green light.”
Initially, the hospital board rejected the contract with HMG by a 3-2 vote, but then reversed itself by the same margin. On both votes, Foster voted against the proposal.
So far, two Greenwood physicians — Gutti Rao and Kumira Gutti — have signed on to join the new program. “It’s a long process,” Adams said, when it comes to bringing in hospitalists.
“I know that. That’s why I had doubts about what we did,” Foster responded.
William Jones, outgoing chief-of-staff at the hospital, explained that it’s simply a matter of time before the “hospitalist positions are filled and the program catches on.”
“The only thing I’ve got to say about that hospitalist program is, it better work,” said Board Chairman Gladys Flaggs, who initially voted against the proposal but later changed her mind.
“And it better work fast.”
