CEO contract signed
After an executive session on contract negotiations, the East Phillips County Hospital District board of directors approved a contract for Chief Executive Officer Cathy Harshbarger at their regular monthly meeting Tuesday, May 26.
The following day, Harshbarger signed the contract.
Board president Steve Young said the contract is in effect through December 2021, with an annual salary of $210,000 as well as the potential for bonuses if certain criteria are met.
Harshbarger moved to Holyoke last year and served as a clinical consultant for six months before assuming the newly created role of chief clinical officer at Melissa Memorial Hospital. She was appointed interim CEO Dec. 1, 2019.
After being named a CEO finalist in January, Harshbarger was offered and accepted the position April 28.
Rahe, Gift sworn in
Two board members, Gary Rahe and Sheila Gift, were sworn in to their positions at the May 26 meeting.
The May 5 board of directors election was canceled because there were not more candidates than positions to be filled. The two four-year terms were filled by incumbents Rahe and Gift.
Tuesday’s swearing in was followed by the election of officers on the board. Young was elected president, Rahe vice president and Angela Powell secretary/treasurer.
Relief funds climb to more than $8 million
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted and destabilized health care services across the state and the nation. Notably, MMH was under an order from Gov. Jared Polis to stop elective surgeries for a period of time.
“The precipitous decline in utilization and outpatient revenues are reflected in the April unfavorable gross patient revenue variance from budget of approximately $1 million,” said CFO Wes White in his April report presented last Tuesday.
The good news is that COVID-19 economic relief legislation at the federal level has resulted in over $8 million of funds deposited for the benefit of the hospital through the month of May, he said.
The total funds received equal $8,094,788.75. This includes Medicare accelerated payments of $2,679,266 to be repaid to Medicare starting in August (120 days after the date of deposit from payments for claims processed at that time); $3,963,167.63 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to be retained based on qualifying expenditure criteria in final regulations being written and published now; and the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program loan of $1,452,355.12 for 24 months at 1% interest with forgiveness for qualifying payroll, utility and interest expenses. There may be additional funding from HHS, White said.
“The regulations and rules regarding these funds are being developed after the flow of funds,” said White. “These funds may or may not be recognized as funds available to offset the loss of net patient revenue. Therefore, the COVID-19 relief funds are being recorded in the financial statements as payables versus revenues until these evolving rules and regulations can be interpreted and implemented by the hospital.”
White also said the 2019 Medicare cost report is complete, and $665,934 is owed to the hospital. The report will be filed as soon as possible.
In his report, White said operating days cash on hand at the end of April was 56 days, up five from the 51 days the previous month. Total days cash on hand was 129 days, up five from 124 days in March. COVID-19 relief deposits in April totaled $3,139,433, which is equal to 63 additional days cash on hand, increasing the total days cash on hand to 192.
Cash collections posted on Athena AR were $1,593,259, which was up from the prior month and 52% above the monthly average collections in 2019. However, White said the projected May collections of $940,865 are 10% below the 2019 monthly average.
White reported that the April income statement saw a net loss of $232,784. The year-to-date net loss is $843,152.
He added that 18 employees were furloughed on April 10 to reduce expenses in response to COVID-19.
Harshbarger noted that some employees are now returning to their normal hours.
2019 audit presented
Tuesday’s meeting included a virtual presentation of the 2019 audited financial statements by Luke Zarecor, CPA, an owner of Dingus, Zarecor and Associates, PLLC, in Spokane Valley, Washington.
The 2019 audited total margin (change in net position) was $19,672 and 0.01% of total operating revenues of $16,791,171, compared to $583,429 and 3.5% of total operating revenues of $16,503,819 in 2018.
The board approved the 2019 audit.
Innovative technology to aid communication between providers, patients
Harshbarger told the board that MMH has been working on a $75,000 grant that will improve provider and patient communication during the COVID-19 pandemic using innovative technology.
Jennifer Wernsman, chief operating officer, explained that MMH applied for the Colorado Health Innovation Community pilot seed funding program offered by the Center for Care Innovations. “It is a six-month pilot that we plan to start as soon as the funding is approved, hopefully June,” she said.
OhMD is a texting and telehealth platform that is compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountabilty Act.
It provides two-way messaging, video visits, live website chat, forms/surveys/file sharing, broadcasts, reminders and automatic messaging to increase provider-to-patient and care coordination through improved team communication while integrating the information into the patient’s electronic health record.
Other business
In other business at the May 26 meeting, the board:
— Approved an extension of the board’s COVID-19 pandemic local emergency declaration for another 30 days.
— Reviewed Policy 1.4 regarding people experiencing minimal impacts and Policy 4.5 regarding board members’ code of conduct.
— Heard a quality report from Jenn Cano.
— Heard about the eight Legacy Scholarships through the MMH Foundation.