| Until physician recruitment efforts are successful, Daviess Community Hospital expects to see the number of hospital admissions below budget predictions. That means the hospital is looking for ways to further trim expenses in order to keep the facility financially sound.
Interim CEO, John Rossfeld and CFO, Brad Hardcastle told the hospital board at their July 28th meeting that admissions were 153 under budget for the first 6 months of 2011 and 80 less than the same period last year. That loss has not been offset by an adequate reduction in expenses even though the change in the bond interest resulting from backing by the county is reducing interest expenses by about $113,000 per month. For the first six months of the year, net hospital revenue was $1,738,746 under budget while expenses were $258,585 over budget.
Rossfeld and Hardcastle told the Board that expenses must be curbed to keep the hospital on track and financially sound. That can be done by implementing more permanent expense reductions until physician recruitment efforts pay off and admissions increase. “Like many hospitals all over the country, DCH is already facing the challenges of reduced payment for services, decreased patient utilization due to the general downturn in the economy, and increased costs for information technology and medical supplies,” says Rossfeld. “But coupling those with the need to recruit more physicians has resulted in the hospital’s revenue and expenses not being where they need to be. Until we have more admissions, the hospital must become more cost efficient so that we may continue to provide the very best medical care for our patients and the communities we serve—both now and in the future.”
The largest operational costs at the hospital are payroll expenses. This year, DCH budgeted $25,626,510 in salaries, wages, and benefits. Since last summer, hospital employees have been reducing hours by an extra day, or 8 hours, every two weeks. And, although hiring practices have not been changed, the hospital has not awarded pay increases since 2009.
Hospital management was directed to begin the process of finding ways to further reduce expenses and to continue recruitment efforts for a second general surgeon, family medicine physicians, a hospitalist, and a psychiatrist.
Daviess Community Hospital, Daviess County’s second largest employer, provides a broad spectrum of quality healthcare services for people living in Daviess and surrounding counties in southwestern Indiana. A not-for-profit facility with 80 beds, Daviess Community Hospital provides a life span of health and wellness services including a modern birthing center, emergency department, general and orthopedic surgical services, and expert diagnostic lab and imaging services. Over 550 employees and physicians work at the hospital and in our area medical clinics, delivering skilled medical care professionally and with a personal touch, earning the hospital numerous awards for exceeding customer expectations. Learn more about our services, employees, and physicians by visiting www.dchosp.org.
Mission: Improve the health of the people who live in our communities.
Vision: To be a leader in providing quality healthcare services. |  |