Veterans Memorial Hospital experiences slight profit from busier month of March

by Brianne Eilers

The month of March ended with a profit of nearly $29,000 ($28,975 net income) for Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukokn, which translated into a 2.4% profit margin for the month, and a 1.1% profit margin year-to-date for the facility. VMH Administrator Mike Myers noted that the 1.1% profit margin is significant because it will impact the amount of benefit changes in the upcoming fiscal year that hospital employees see. “We will also be seeing how April ends,” Myers noted.
Acute patient days were up 7.6% year-to-date, while skilled patient days were up 25.5%. Deliveries are up 4.1%. Surgeries stayed about even compared to last year, and emergency room visits were up 4.2% and Cardiac Rehab was up 61.3%. Inpatient revenue was up from last March, but still remained 6.8% under budget, and outpatient revenue was 3.1% under budget. Total expenses were also under budget by 3.9%.
Myers also pointed out that the days of revenue in Accounts Receivable is at 62.0. He explained that this is significant because that is the lowest number of days that system has been at in 15 or 16 years. “That’s a good job by everybody involved in that process, to bring that down,” Myers said. April appears to be looking like a strong month as well. At the time of this meeting, there were six babies in the OB unit, and a full census in the hospital.
Myers also summarized his recent trip to Washington D.C. “The two (political) parties are lining up for the budget cutting,” Myers explained. He explained that President Obama has reworked his budget and has taken out a lot of his spending and has some cuts in there, and Senator Paul Ryan (R-WI) has what Myers described as “drastic cuts in changing Medicare to a voucher system, among other things". Myers said that his take on what he saw in Washington is that the Democrats are rallying around the President and the Republicans around Senator Ryan. “It’s going to be a fight to see what’s going on,” Myers said. “We’re obviously in more debt than we (the nation) can handle, so the question is what can we cut and how much.”
However, as has been the case, whenever something is to be cut, there is always opposition. Myers also explained that there has been quite a bit of de-funding of areas in the Healthcare Reform Act, but the basic things like paying for prevention, etc. have been left alone. Overall, however, nothing has been settled in the area of healthcare. Myers summed up the healthcare situation with this analogy: “The storm clouds are above us, but we don’t know if it's going to rain, or snow, or if the sun is going to shine. We just need to focus on what we can control right now.”
He also added that there was a sense of disillusionment leaving Washington, D.C., in the way that he felt, as many do, the leadership is too interested in doing what’s “politically correct” and not necessarily what’s for the good of the people. “There will be some tough decisions going forward.” Myers concluded.
In other matters, the health insurance transfer for VMH has been going smoothly, and that utilization appears to be down, and they will be given a better rate to put them in line with everyone else. The birthing tub room is finished and has been very much in use. There have been some relocations of office space in preparation for the new elevator project, which will begin in July of this year. The ICN is also installed, and up and running. “It definitely makes a difference,” Myers commented. “It’s much faster.”
VMH has begun its strategic planning, and is looking into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in their SWOT Analysis. Press Gainey scores continue to be “phenomenal,” and Myers feels that VMH is on target for more awards. VMH also received a grant for $15,000 that will be used for educating the Hospital Board of Directors on Malcolm Baldridge, and VMH is considering doing another Baldridge application to see how they have improved from their 2008 study.