Veterans Memorial Hospital starts fiscal year with profit, watching CAH status decision

by Brianne Eilers

Veterans  Memorial Hospital (VMH) began the new fiscal year with a profit of $39,959 following the month of July. Both acute and skilled patient days saw an increase over last July.
VMH Administrator Mike Myers noted that most areas were up compared to last July, with the exception of deliveries. He also noted that VMH has had continuous growth, overall, in the number of babies delivered at the hospital for the past few years. However, even with the increases over last July, revenue was slightly below budget, but expenses were also below budget. The hospital ended the month with a three-percent profit margin.
Myers also mentioned that although the audit hasn't been finalized as of yet, an audit has added another $100,000 to VMH's bottom line from last fiscal year. "Saying that, last year Medicare looked at our cost report and they were trying to get $100,000 from anesthetists and physical therapy, this year they are really working physical therapy over. But, that is a 2012 deal, and we don't know what we'll owe, so there is some uncertainty," Myers explained.

Myers also noted that the Office of the Inspector General has come out with the recommendation that any hospital that was not a necessary provider in a community should be stripped of its Critical Access Hospital (CAH) status. This would impact the majority of CAH hospitals in Iowa, including VMH, as well as across the nation. If this would happen, Myers said, "the fear would be, where do people in rural Iowa and rural America go for healthcare?"
He further stated that Senator Tom Harkin and Senator Chuck Grassley have signed letters to try and refute this proposal. "This is just another sign of the times, as they start ratcheting down health care costs, but it should also be noted that the percent of rise in health care costs has diminished over the last couple of years," Myers added. The Iowa Hospital Association is also working to have rural Iowa health care not be negatively impacted by changes.
In looking at further changes in the area of health care, Myers touched on the health insurance exchanges that are supposed to be up and running in October. He recently attended a presentation on the insurance exchanges and had this to say, "Basically, in this state Blue Cross/Blue Shield and United Health Care are not going to participate. In this region, there will be Coventry Insurance, a non-profit company called Co-Opportunity, and Gundersen will also be writing insurance in the area from the exchange." Myers noted that there are supposed to be people who will be helping to navigate the new system. Iowa's Medicare Expansion is going through the process in Washington  D.C., and will likely be approved. The employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act has been delayed until 2015.
The room remodel project at the hospital is underway. Rooms 205 and 207 have been remodeled, and were barely finished before they needed to be occupied. The task force at VMH that has been working on the process improvements for medication errors has been looking at a program to help eliminate some transcription errors with medication administration. Some changes have already been made, and Myers noted that improvement has been shown in the medication administration process.
VMH is working on a grant of about $40,000 for bio-terrorism planning and also working with its service area in disaster planning. "The reality here in Allamakee County, as shown during the flooding, is that we band together, keep our heads about us, and people pitch in and help, but we're going to continue to work on that process," Myers said.
The Board of Trustees also approved a Capital Budget of $154,000 in purchases and $1.78 million in contingencies.