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Kearny County Hospital campaigns for voters' support
Published 7/15/2009 in Local News : Area coverage
By RACHAEL GRAY
LAKIN — John Loebl, Kearny County Hospital administrator, and ReChelle Kennedy, chief financial officer, are among those trying to gain support for the Kearny County Hospital budget request through word of mouth.
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Rachael Gray/Telegram — Mary Davidson, certified physical therapy assistant, demonstrates the NuStep, a machine used for physical therapy. Under the hospital's budget request, the physical therapy department woul receive an upgraded version of the NuStep with more options for comfort and range of motion.
The pair have taken to the streets, fairs and plan to have booths at upcoming events to educate the public about the needs of the hospital outlined in the budget request. The election is July 28, and the hospital budget is the only question on the ballot.
"The challenge is to get the information out to the people and let them know that there is an election," he said. "Then, of course we need to provide information from our side as to why we need what we do and what the request represents," he said.
The budget request to the Kearny County commissioners is $1,849,152, which equals 6.796 mills. A mill is $1 in tax for every $1,000 of assessed valuation. The increase in mill levy would mean the owner of a $100,000 valued home would see an increase of $38 in taxes. Since the budget request is more than six mills, the question is automatically put to a vote.
Last year, the hospital's budget request failed 701-691. The hospital asked for a budget of $1,595,389, a 5.9-mill levy. Since the request failed, the hospital's budget was $1 million. Loebl said the money has helped toward operating costs only. This year, in an effort to educate the public, administrators held public forums during which hospital staff read answers to questions citizens had written.
The request would include $1,133,652 for operating costs and $715,500 for capital equipment.
The biggest capital equipment cost is the government-mandated Electronic Health Records (EHR) system implementation. The government is pushing hospitals to convert from a paper records system to a complete electronic system. KCH has included $250,000 in the budget for Phase One software, a program designed to keep digital records.
Hospitals that haven't begun implementing the EHR program could begin to see a cut in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement in 2015. The hospital relies heavily on reimbursement from insurance companies to cover costs of visits and care.
In order to receive payment, the hospital must accept the amount the insurance company has set. For the 2008 fiscal year, the hospital wrote off about $3.8 million from insurance companies and bad debt, an amount that continues to grow. Kennedy said the hospital doesn't receive the full amount it charges for services. If it did, money from the county would not be necessary.
"The reimbursement from insurance companies is already declining. To have that number cut back even more would be devastating," Kennedy said.
The hospital administrators have been communicating with an information system company, CPSI, about an implementation plan for the electronic records, Kennedy said.
"We've been devising a plan that will put the Electronic Health Record program in phases because it is so expensive," she said.
She said the hospital couldn't afford to implement the program all at once without a large loan.
Kennedy said the plan would be broken up into three or four phases, the first of which will begin in the coming budget year. She said $248,000 would be the cost of the first phase, which would cover software, hardware and employee training sessions.
Loebl said part of the reason hospital operating costs are up is because surgery numbers have increased.
The procedures cost more, and keeping sufficient equipment and supplies for those surgeries adds to the cost. Loebl said KCH performed more than 350 procedures during the 2009 fiscal year. In the 2008 fiscal year, the hospital performed 244 surgeries, up from just 100 in 2007.
The hospital has an ear, nose and throat surgeon, does cesarean-sections and has a traveling surgeon.
Because of the increased number of surgeries, Loebl said, the hospital needs new anesthesia machines. Under the capital equipment line in the proposed budget, $75,000 would include two new anesthesia machines that comply with the federal standards of care.
Loebl said the hospital's lab needs a new hematology analyzer that would provide blood test results in 20 minutes. Other needs include a new defibrillator for the Emergency Department and technology and equipment for the physical therapy and cardiac rehabilitation departments.
Loebl isn't sure of public opinion on the issue this year. Some people he had talked to still didn't know there was an election.
Kearny County Clerk Jana Jenkinson said she's noticed a few more people coming in to register to vote. Jenkinson said the July 28 election will run like any other election, with polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Polling sites are the Veteran's Memorial in Lakin and the Deerfield Community Center. Advance voting is available now at the courthouse in Lakin. Monday was the last day to register to vote for this election.
If the budget request fails, the hospital likely would receive last year's mill levy, 3.455 or $1 million, Kennedy said.
On the Web:
Kearny County Hospital: http://www.kearnycountyhospital.com/
Do you support the hospital's proposal? Talk about it at SWKTalk.com.
Found 6 comment(s)!
Vote yes!
I feel we get way better care at our local hospital, than anywhere else in the area! In my opinion, the hospital would make more money if we had more doctors, to cover the offers to take patients from other area hospital overflows. KCH could be put into the black ink, if we just had enough doctors, and personel to cover the load. This shortage is partially due to the states(us) fault for not doing more for rural health care, to get more incentives to attract healthcare professionals. I feel the increase is worth it even if we don't make a profit. I want to keep my local hospital! I think we get the best care right here in our own back yard. Vote YES for this proposal.
Posted by: Fred Neff on 7/26/2009
KCH-HPRV ( lol )
Once again JUST SAY NO !It seems to me we just did that. Its sad that some elected offical who can't stand the fact that his pet project didn't fly with the voters, has to try again at the counties expence.Like Mrs. Jones said COMPETENCE! The lack of. I have some of my own horror stories. If you A BUSINESS want to be paid for services, You must bill in a timely manner. In my case most of the bills came 6 to 7 months later and they came from ARSI instead of the hospital.What is up with that?It went streight to collection . Not only did they not bill me ,now they want to mess up my credit. COMPETENCE.Is not charging for X-Rays taken from the chiropracters office, or doing a physical exam from across the room (three questions BAM your done ).COMPETENCE! We have a state of the art hospital here in Kearny County ,It is a shame that we don't have the right people in place to run it,and doctors who don't have X-Ray vision and actually have to touch you to know what is wronge with you.It all comes down to COMPETENCE and the lack there of. Vote No 07-28-09
Posted by: S A on 7/21/2009
Kearny County Hospital
New machines will never take the place of competency and professionalism in the running of the Kearny County Hospital. The residents of Kearny County should not have to go to Ulysses to the doctor, Syracuse to the dentist and Garden City for a pharmacy. If the staff is incapable of learning discretion, a new machine won't solve their problems. How much does the hospital lose each year because of incompetence? Is it possible that their own mistakes are impacting the amount of money that must be written off from insurance companies? The citizens of Kearny County are clearly dissatisfied with the hospital as evidenced by the vote last year. If we have to leave town for competent, discreet services, it is the fault of the hospital. The administration should correct their personnel issues before asking the county for any more money.
Posted by: Susan Jones on 7/17/2009
free hospital care
the reason they need more cash at the hospital is because of the influx of people from surrounding counties. most of which have bad debts with their hometown hospitals . the difference in kearny county is they write off the debts and use the numbers that walk in the door to request more dollars in funding. the motto at our hospital should be the same as others,,, if they cant pay send them away. vote no on the hospital question and save kearny county residents from more unneeded taxes!
Posted by: jc on 7/16/2009
How do other hospitals do it?
What I would like the hospital to answer is how that other hospitals seem to make it just fine and this hospital can not. We have put alot of money into this hospital and it is never enough. Even when people did not vote for it last year did it stop the hospital from spending? The answer would be 'NO" they did not. They keep hiring people for jobs and in some cases over the years they have created jobs for people. I think it is time to tell them once again we will not keep supporting them while they spend money any way they please!
Posted by: Wendy Pearson on 7/15/2009
WHEN IS ENOUGH, ENOUGH????
Since 1999, the citizens of Kearny County have spent in excess of $ 24 million dollars on this hospital. We need leadership that understands this is a small town hospital and will run it as such. Everytime they have floated a bond issue, we are promised that it will be the cure that will allow them to stand on their own 2 feet, but 2 bonds and 12+ million later, they still can't seem to manage to balance their budget. I encourage the citizens of Kearny County to get out on July 28th and let their voice be heard - once more!!!
Posted by: Missie Gerritzen on 7/15/2009