When Sammy Foster looked out last week at a sea of unhappy white faces at the meeting of the Greenwood Leflore Hospital Board, he had an opportunity not just to diffuse the immediate situation but to calm the waters that have been boiling up around this vital community institution.
Instead of seeing those faces as part of an angry mob, one that Foster later compared to a lynching party, he could have suppressed that gut reaction and said something like this:
“I appreciate all of you coming tonight. If we seem a little unsure of ourselves, bear with us. We’re not used to having much of an audience for our meetings.
“I know you are concerned about your hospital. I and the rest of the board are concerned as well. I can assure you, we are doing the best we know how to make decisions that will guarantee the long-term financial stability of this hospital and maintain the quality of care that all of us want.
“You don’t know me very well, and I don’t know you very well. That’s a shame. Maybe we can remedy that — if just a little — tonight.
“I have been on this hospital board for almost 20 years. I have made some good decisions, and I’ve probably made some bad ones, but every one I’ve made I’ve tried to do so with the interests of this whole community in mind.
“I’m a small businessman, but like every businessman knows, big or small, you can’t survive for long if you’re losing money.
“Your hospital is going to lose several million dollars this year. It will be the third straight year it has posted losses like this. Although we don’t have to panic yet, since we’ve still got more than $20 million in reserves, we have to act before we reach the crisis point.
“It needs to be emphasized that many of this hospital’s problems are none of its making. Most all community hospitals are struggling. They are being squeezed by ever-smaller reimbursements from both government and private insurers. And it hasn’t helped that Mississippi did not expand Medicaid. That has left this hospital with just as many uninsured patients, whom by law we have to treat, but less money from the federal government to help pay for this care.
“We can moan and wring our hands about those difficulties, or we can try to do something about them. This board is trying to do something about them.
“First off, we decided to bring in a couple of consulting firms. They’re not cheap, I’ll grant you that. But sometimes when you can’t see the forest for the trees, you need an outside pair of eyes to refocus you.
“We have already seen positive results from the consultants’ help. We’ve been able to cut some expenses, and we’ve dramatically reduced the wait time in our emergency room — one of the complaints we heard most often.
“We’ve made some personnel changes as well. I know that some of those might not have been popular. It’s pained me to cut ties with some people who’ve been associated with this hospital for a long time, but I felt they were necessary in the best interest of this institution. Right now we’re interviewing for a new CEO, which is probably the most important decision that we’ll have to make. Wish us luck in finding a top-notch one.
“The issue that we’ve grappled with most recently is whether to affiliate with the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Don’t misunderstand me. I believe this hospital, in order to survive in the current health-care environment, has got to join forces with a larger institution, whether that be an affiliation, as UMMC proposed, or something more sweeping, such as a long-term lease.
“I was hopeful that Baptist from Memphis would want to be our partner, but when that fell through, it left only UMMC on the table. I know that most of the medical staff endorsed the UMMC affiliation, but I just couldn’t get past the bad reports I’ve gotten about how the Grenada hospital has done since it was taken over by UMMC.
“I realize this decision was not the most popular, and it has strained the board’s relationship with the hospital’s physicians. I will take some blame for that, and I’m going to put more effort into trying to mend that relationship. I know that without quality doctors, we have no hospital. I value them greatly, even if we haven’t always agreed.
“I hope that I have answered most of your questions and concerns. But if not, I’ll try my best.
“First question ... .”
• Contact Tim Kalich at 581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
