Andrew Bair, chief executive officer of the Ellsworth County Medical Center, finds himself in a conundrum regarding the hospital’s continued participation in the proposed Ellsworth American Legion community building project

“I feel like I’m squarely in the hot seat right now,” Bair told members of the hospital board during a Dec. 18 meeting.

Bair said the Ellsworth American Legion has voted to proceed with the project and Ellsworth County Economic Development has funding options available.

“And yet I’m told we’re not going forward unless the hospital is in,” he said.

Bair said he is uncomfortable moving forward without someone from the City of Ellsworth being involved in backing the project.

Bair recommended a meeting with Ellsworth Mayor Mark Kennedy and other city officials to get a feel for where they are on the issue.

Bair said the hospital’s portion of the proposed community center is potentially 8,000 square feet, with a physical therapy department and wellness center.

He noted this would help the hospital meet the Community Health Needs Assessment goal of an affordable wellness center.

However, Bair said he still hasn’t heard from the architect regarding the price of that portion of the community center.

Bair said the hospital board needs to make a decision on whether to proceed with participating in the project, but it doesn’t have enough information to do so now.

“I’m just letting you know where we’re at,” he said. “There is no decision to make.”

Bair said the project was not part of the hospital’s strategic plan, but backers of the project think it would be a tremendous thing for the community.

Bair said he would like to have the people involved attend the Jan. 15 meeting to talk about the benefits the community building would bring to Ellsworth.

“If it is a tremendous benefit to the community, then it’s probably worth taking a look at and participating in,” he said.

Kenny Beneda, board president, said he would like someone from the City of Ellsworth, the Ellsworth County Health Care Foundation and the Ellsworth County commissioners to also look at the proposed project.

He said the idea is good; however, he expressed concerns about funding coming from the medical center budget.

“I think there’s a misconception that we have deep pockets,” Bair said.

Bair expects the hospital board to make a decision at the Jan. 15 meeting.

In other business:

“And yet I’m told we’re not going forward unless the hospital is in.”
Andrew Bair
Ellsworth County Medical Center

• Approval was given to a strategic pricing proposal presented by Steve Berkhouse, chief financial officer. The proposal will raise the hospital’s overall gross revenue by 2 percent. He said while the cost of some services will go up under the proposal, the cost of other services, such as laboratory procedures, will decrease.

It was noted ECMC has adjusted its prices just one time in the last 12 to 15 years.

Berkhouse said the strategic pricing will make ECMC more competitive in the market and maximize reimbursement from third parties.

“It strengthens Ellsworth County Medical Center for the future,” he said.

Strategic pricing at ECMC will begin Jan. 1.

• Approval was given for the hospital’s revenue cycle review. Berkhouse said he is working with BKD in Wichita to help hospital employees with coding and improved capture of medical charges.

Bair noted the hospital’s billing cycle is too long and he hopes this will go a long ways to solve that problem.

Berkhouse said as of Nov. 30, the hospital was 62.9 days in accounts receivable. The goal is 50 days.

• Berkhouse said the hospital’s gross revenue from operations totaled $1,701,760, compared to budgeted gross revenues of $2,050,512. He identified inpatient and outpatient hospital revenues as the driver of the decrease in revenue. The year-to-date gross revenue is $9,092,754, which is 11.3 percent under budgeted revenue.

Operating expenses for November were $1,402,991 compared to budgeted expenses of $1,461,675. For the year, total operating expenses are $7,842,365 compared to the budgeted total of $7,656,929. Berkhouse said salaries and benefits make up the majority of the expense variance. In November, the hospital received a $78,000 refund for high-dollar health insurance claims and an $18,000 refund for maintenance related to the CT scanner. Berkhouse noted both refunds helped the hospital reduce total operating expenses.

• The board discussed a recommendation from Bair to organize a finance committee. Bair said most healthcare organizations utilize a finance committee to keep the hospital board better informed of items and actions within the finance department of the hospital. The committee would allow more time to cover the financial performance of the hospital. Bair recommended the structure of the committee to include himself, Berkhouse, staff accountants and two board members. Bair noted that if more than two serve on the committee, it would be considered an open meeting. One of those board members would chair the committee with support from Berkhouse. The chair would also provide a finance committee summary at the monthly board meeting. Decisions on financial matters would be approved by the hospital board in regular open session. A decision on formation of the committee is expected at the January meeting.

• Approval was given to fund an employee pension plan correction of $234,121.08. Berkhouse said during the conversion from the hospital’s old software to the Windows XP operating system, an error was discovered in the way the hospital’s old payroll system calculated gross income for employees, then deducted for the employee pension plan. He worked with payroll employee benefit attorneys in Wichita in early October to calculate the amounts of the errors and have filed a voluntary correction plan with the Internal Revenue Service.

“We are currently waiting for the IRS to approve that plan,” Berkhouse said.“We probably won’t hear until July. We don’t expect them to change anything.”

He said the attorneys recommended ECMC fund the pension plan correction by Dec. 31.

Berkhouse said the amount will be funded from a mature certificate of deposit and the transfer of funds from the hospital’s 340B prescription drug program account.

Those funds will be replenished later when the hospital receives an anticipated Medicare payment.

Berkhouse said he still has to calculate a Medicare tax piece. He estimated the amount to be paid by ECMC at $125,000.

• While discussing the need to remodel the medical clinic in Holyrood, Bair said he asked the Holyrood City Council to allow ECMC to move the clinic into the Plum Creek Plaza instead of remodeling the existing building.

“Having us in there may be beneficial,” he said.

• Approval was given to have Kristi Rosebrook continue to be the hospital’s compliance officer on an interim basis. She is required to report to the board on an annual basis.

• Approval was given to reappoint advance practice nurse practitioner Nikki Howell of Ellsworth County Medical Center as well as radiologist Dr. Patrik Leonard and cardiologist Dr. Mark Mikinski. The reappointments were recommended by the ECMC medical staff.

• No action was taken after an executive session to discuss nonelected personnel.

The next meeting of the Ellsworth County Medical Center board of directors will be at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15, in the hospital conference room.