Archive
Grant hospital no longer offering home health/hospice services
For-profit firm willing to commit funding to support providers
Editor’s note: This story is the first in a three-part series on West Virginia medical services.
PETERSBURG, W.Va. — Grant County Memorial Hospital is losing money.
Officials of the county-owned operation are looking at ways of cutting back on costs, reducing expenditures and increasing revenue.
At Tuesday’s county commission meeting, hospital administrator Bob Harman and his assistant, Sandy Michaels, met behind closed doors with Commissioners Charlie Goldizen, Jim Wilson and Jim Cole. Joining them were hospital attorney David Sims and representatives of LHC, a for-profit agency that provides home health and hospice services.
Sims told the commissioners in open session that the hospital is no longer able to offer the home health/hospice services that it has in the past because of the costs associated with the service.
He said hospital officials believe it is in the best interests of Pendleton, Hardy and Grant County residents whom the hospital serves to enter into an agreement with LHC to provide the services.
“LHC is willing to commit the money needed to support a staff to provide the services,” he said.
Sims said the hospital would retain one-third of the program while LHC would have two-thirds, with the hospital receiving $300,000 of $447,000 LHC is paying for the service.
Cole, the commissioner who serves on the hospital board of trustees, appointed by the county commission, said the board had unanimously agreed to the arrangement.
“LHC has the expertise we don’t have, and as the program grows there is likely to be additional services and possibly additional jobs in the future,” said Sims.
He said initially, they had determined that five to six employees would lose their jobs, but when they “re-examined the potential for growth,” job losses were reduced to three.
The two registered nurses of the three are to be offered positions in another part of the hospital, leaving only one job loss.
Employees of another service provided by the hospital may not be as fortunate.
Michaels said the hospital is losing an average of $200,000 to $300,000 per year on emergency medical service provided to the county.
She said recently that while the hospital was able to offset losses from the ambulance service in the past, it can no longer do that without assistance from the county commission. The commission owns the service as well as the ambulances, equipment and the ambulance building at the hospital that is currently being used for storage.
Michaels said the hospital employs eight full-time and 12 part-time people to provide the service with a paramedic and emergency medical technician on each shift.
In February 2007, results of a study generated by a team formed by the West Virginia EMS Technical Support Network on behalf of the state Department of Health and Human Resources were presented to the county commissioners.
That study noted that the hospital provides EMS services through an agreement with the county commission. The hospital is responsible for personnel management, including employment, training, supervision and education. It is also responsible for maintaining the vehicles and equipment for the county commission.
The conclusion of the report was that the agreement between the county and the hospital reads more like a court-ordered mandate than a mutual agreement.
“The agreement reserves the county’s property interest while leaving the hospital with insufficient revenues and all the operating expenses ... (it) invokes compliance, but not motivation,” the report states.
It also notes that the operation can no longer continue as it is.
Michaels said, “The hospital recognizes that it is a vital service that needs to be provided; the question is how. We can’t do it unless the county is willing to help foot the bill.”
County Coordinator Cindy Whetsell admits that the county commission has “drug its feet” in the 18 months since the report was issued but is now beginning to look at alternatives.
The report offered five options for the county to consider — one of which is to contract with EMS organizations to provide the service — and that is the one the commissioners have opted to pursue first.
At Tuesday’s commission meeting, Whetsell was directed to send out requests for proposals to area providers to determine their interest in contracting with the county.
Whetsell plans to use a model RFP that was developed by Clay County.
She said the prosecuting attorney would be asked to review the document before it goes out.
Contact Mona Ridder at monaridder@verizon.net.
