Updates on exciting initiatives and financial news

 

 Service Excellence Advisor graduation

Yesterday was the Service Excellence Advisors’ (SEA) graduation ceremony, and it was a great event to kick off this team of frontline workers’ journey into the realm of teaching service excellence to all MPMC staff. Members of the administrative team spent two hours yesterday morning in a question-and-answer session, and I believe I speak for the entire administrative team when I say that the SEA members are going to make MPMC shine!

It was awesome to feel the positive enthusiasm in the air during the event. The team is truly passionate about its work, and the advisors are eager to roll out the program. Thank you to the Service Excellence Advisors for their hard work! Speaking personally, I truly believe they will have a positive influence on our operations and that everyone will want to follow their lead in this initiative.

 

Centura Health management agreement

One important topic we have been discussing recently is the Centura Health (CH) management contract agreement. The goal was to sign this at the March 26 board meeting. However, as we mentioned in the Connect with Cole meetings, MPMC’s bondholders sent a consultant out to assess the overall operational and financial health of MPMC. All parties have decided to put the signing on hold until this report comes out, which is expected to be in the next week or so. MPMC has had nothing but positive communications with the consultant, and the leadership team feels confident about the impending report.

 

Medicaid reimbursements and cash collections

One very good piece of news is that Medicaid has sent MPMC notification that MPMC has been underpaid for quite a while. Medicaid failed to adjust their reimbursement models to the current models. This means that MPMC will be getting a total reimbursement of about $650,000 over the next couple of months. This is great news and puts MPMC in a better financial position!

Another good note is that MPMC was in the black for month of February to the tune of about $88,000. Also, upfront cash collections have drastically increased from $80,000 in January to $125,000 in February. We are approaching the $125,000 mark already for the month of March. This is huge for our bottom line.

The revenue cycle is seeing vast improvements. Kudos to Jodi Docheff and the Patient Financial Services and intake staff, Patti Bushey and Health Information Management staff, Bethanie Reynolds and Mary Jo Hargadine and the entire nursing staff!

We are making gains, and we know this is no small part due to the team effort we are all exuding. Thank you, everyone, and keep up the great work!

A letter from the CEO.

Dear Middle Park Medical Center staff:

At last week’s Board of Directors meeting, a few employees expressed their interest and concern in Middle Park Medical Center’s current situation and opportunities for the future. I, along with the board and the leadership team, welcome employee input and feedback and am encouraged by the passion and energy shared.

I understand that our employees want information about the achievements, challenges and decisions of our hospital’s leaders, and I want to share that information in timely and effective ways. The leadership team is working to implement such strategies – under advisement from the lean workgroup focused on communication and through the work of our human resources and public relations departments – ranging from email and newsletter communication to leadership rounding and employee meetings with me.

Our Service Excellence Initiative – with its Advisors, Council and lean workgroups – is one way that the leadership team and the Board of Directors are exhibiting our commitment to each of our employees. We strive to gain meaningful feedback from you as we all work to improve the service we provide every day in our communities. We are investing in you and striving to provide you with the resources and opportunities you need to feel successful and satisfied in your job.

The hospital is experiencing some financial constraints that are encouraging us to reevaluate some of our business strategies to decrease expenses and increase revenue. Optimizing value is about more than just finding places to cut costs. We want to maximize resources to increase our return on investment. Improving efficiency and effectiveness means doing our work better, not just cheaper. Please be assured that during our discussions, patient safety and satisfaction are at the forefront of our decisions and that we will maintain the same top-notch patient care that we have continuously provided.

In December 2013, Middle Park Medical Center used monies held in reserve to make the bond payment associated with the Granby facility. Bond covenants require that MPMC replace the monies back into reserves within the next six months.

I, as well as members of the leadership team and Board of Directors, will be meeting with the bond holders this month to tour our facilities and assure that we are able to comply with the bond covenants. So far, our bond holders are satisfied with our operations, and our relationship has been strengthened by these communications.

We will be able to pay back our reserves and continue forward with our reliable payment schedule. However, we will be looking at cost-saving measures to keep this organization moving forward and financially strong. We have already implemented a spending freeze to eliminate non-essential expenditures.

One primary resource for improving our financial stability – and therefore the ability to continue to provide high-quality care to the residents of Grand, Summit and Jackson Counties – is to consider a management agreement with a larger health system.

In August 2011, Centura Health and MPMC signed an affiliation agreement to establish an expanded system of care for MPMC. Currently, Centura Health and MPMC are exploring opportunities to expand their affiliation agreement which may include a management agreement.

Under a management agreement, Centura Health would provide management and leadership expertise under the direction of a Centura Health-employed chief executive officer, appointed by Centura Health and approved by the MPMC Board of Directors.

Through the proposed management agreement, the Board of Directors would retain its governance and authority over MPMC as well as fulfill its ongoing role to provide the strategic direction of the hospital. The CEO would run the hospital operations on a day-to-day basis and work with MPMC to identify areas where additional clinical and operational services, education and resources are needed. MPMC staff would have significant support and access to colleagues and partners throughout Centura Health with whom they can discuss challenges, explore best practices and obtain feedback to help determine high-value health care solutions for our communities.

The details and negotiations of a management agreement are ongoing and are sensitive legal matters that require us to maintain confidentiality until an agreement is signed. The Board of Directors aims to sign the agreement at its March 26, 2014, meeting.

In recent years, we have enjoyed a positive and uplifting relationship with Centura Health and look forward to the additional benefits a management agreement could bring – lower operating costs, improved negotiating power with vendors and an expanded marketing approach to draw new and returning customers.

Other future cost-saving measures may include: staff adjustments and realignments, a moratorium on overtime without explicit pre-approval, service line revisions, a service price increase, the 401k match becoming a discretionary benefit based on the organization’s financial performance, selling unused equipment, and renegotiating insurance contracts to ensure maximum reimbursements for services rendered.

Please be assured that each of these decisions is made with much consideration and research while keeping patient care our highest priority. We understand that change is hard and can cause some to have feelings of uncertainty about MPMC’s future. I want you to know that this is hard for everyone, including myself, the leadership team and the Board of Directors. We value each and everyone one of our employees and are carefully deliberating to make the best decisions possible for all of us and the community.

These decisions are also made under the guidance of our 2014 strategic plan, carefully built with input from the leadership team, managers and the Board of Directors. We are committed to staying true to the ideals and priorities presented in our strategic plan and use it as our guide for making difficult decisions.

I hope you will take the time to review our strategic plan, sent out as an attachment with the all staff email and available on the main page of MPMC’s intranet – intranet.kmhd.local.

I want to note that the financial challenges MPMC is facing are not unique to us. Rural hospitals throughout the nation are facing looming challenges. Health care has been on an unsustainable track, with skyrocketing costs and inefficient systems producing uneven results. The pressures on the health care delivery system are becoming more urgent. Reduced reimbursement rates and demands for proof of performance mean that we have to improve our efficiency and operational effectiveness every year just to stand our ground.

Please contact me if you wish to discuss any of the items discussed in this letter further or provide cost-saving suggestions. Also, look forward to an announcement soon about face-to-face staff meetings with me to hear your feedback and answer your questions.

We are moving in the right direction, and I am confident that with some carefully considered operational and strategic changes, we can correct our financial challenges.

Thank you for staying positive in this time and for continuing to provide the best patient experience possible!

 

Thank you,

Cole White
Chief Executive Officer