Hospital receives government funding

by Richar Uhlhorn

Lake Chelan Community Hospital has received $3.1 million from the SBA Disaster Relief Fund for rural hospitals and another $4.8 million loan which will have to be repaid. CFO Mike Ellis explained that both of these funding influxes have been set aside in case they are needed. The Hospital also received a $142,000 grant from the State of Washington from the State’s list of rural hospitals.

Hospital CFO gave a financial update to the Hospital Commission.

Ellis reported that cash on hand currently is equivalent to 22 days. They have been able to pay off their $350,000 Line of Credit. There is still a huge amount of money out there in Accounts Receivable. To help with collecting those funds, the Hospital is hiring a company named Resolution.

Resolution does not get paid unless they collect. Its fee is three percent which could add up to $100,000+ . There is apparently over $5 million dollars in Accounts Receivable out there. Resolution will supply two people for three months to help collect these receivables. “This contract is in our favor,” said Ellis. “They take all the risk.”

 

Hospital CEO George Rohrich wants to see the Hospital’s outstanding accounts receivable get under control. 

CEO George Rohrich stated that the hospital has to get its A/R under control. “We’ve got to get this fixed,” he said. Commissioner Mary Murphy asked how the Hospital can use this opportunity to develop its own in-house training. Rohrich replied that they would develop a process or procedure for this.

The Hospital had a net operating loss of $642,000 in March and Ellis said, “This is one of those months we expect a loss before summer.”

Salary and benefits are approximately $4.3 million, but is about $4 million now because salary and wages have not gone up. “Pretty much in every category we are below our budget which tells you again our volume is off.”

With regards to the SBA disaster relief funds, Ellis lauded the help of North Cascades National Bank and the hospital’s attorney. “We talked on Sunday night and by Monday we were able to get it done,” said Ellis.

There is another $80 billion coming from the government for hospitals and CEO George Rohrich said, “We haven’t seen the details of who gets what yet.”

The commission unanimously agreed to continue its Interqual Contract. Rohrich explained that the company provides a service that insures that when a patient is diagnosed, everything those patients need is documented. “It is a get out of jail card,” said Rohrich. “We send it and they (insurance companies) cannot deny… that is what the value is.” He went on to say that the service helps the doctors document and helps to stop denials for payment.

The commission approved Rohrich’s decision to add to the Hospital’s ZOOM contract without their approval. “We needed more than 25 and I deemed this as an emergency for our health care services. Approve it or I will fall on my sword,” he quipped.

The Hospital is working on its Network Security with a firm out of Colorado that has network engineers available 24/7 365 days a year to make sure that bad actors never access the Hospital’s servers. “It blocks foreign states like China and other countries fro accessing our network,” said IT Director Ross Hurd. “They are watching our network traffic and if they see something strange they will address it.”

Every new employee and employees are required to take a Cyber Security Training course.

The board agreed that a Succession Plan was needed and will develop a short term and long term succession plan with Rohrich/Gleasman/CNO Jaimie Minnock on the committee.

EMS LEVY:

EMS Director Ray Eickmeyer is requesting a $.39/$1,000 replacement levy in August that will run for 10 years.

EMS director Ray Eickmeyer said they would be requesting that voters approve a $.39 per thousand 10-year replacement levy in August. “It will provide capitial to replace old equipment,” said Eickmeyer. Gleasman asked if there would be enough in the levy to replace an old ambulance. Eickmeyer replied that it would.

For potential clients that are afraid to come to the hospital, Rohrich said that a campaign needs to begin that tells potential client patients that the Hospital and Clinic are the safest public buildings in the community. “We have staff to see people safely and to clean the space.