Hospital considers cutting staff
Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
Weston County Health Services’ hospital facility has been struggling financially since last year and the COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the burden on the critical access facility, according to CEO Maureen Cadwell.
“Last night at the board meeting I shared the cash situation,” Cadwell told the News Letter Journal. “In light of a reduced revenue stream to the hospital because of COVID-19, we are anticipating not having significant numbers coming in and we have to look at what we can do.”
In October, the News Letter Journal reported that the hospital was already beginning to make cuts and limit overtime hours as much as possible. The hospital was struggling before the global pandemic hit, Cadwell reported at the time. The problem then was an increase in “self-pay” patients who were not paying their bills, she said.
While making cuts the first time around, positions and salaries were never discussed during meetings attended by the News Letter Journal. This time around, things are different.
Hospital board trustee and long-time local doctor Lanny Reimer urged the board to take action in cutting costs and discussing potential salary cuts or layoffs during the April 16 Weston County Health Services board of trustees virtual meeting. The board is in charge of the situation, he said.
Reimer said that while he knows the potential cuts to staffing or salaries may not be popular, it is the right thing for the board to do to secure the facility’s future. Cadwell supported Reimer, telling the News Letter Journal that the facility cannot continue to operate at the level they are now, even after implementing low census protocols.
“We can’t continue to operate at the staff level we have now,” Cadwell later told the NLJ. “We have to look at what we can do to reduce expenses immediately.”
Weston County Health Services’ income has dropped steadily since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. . Weekly revenue in 2020 peaked the week of March 8 with $267,667.96 coming into the facility, an increase of 14% or $34,440.34 from the previous week, according to data provided by Cadwell.
The data also shows that since that time, weekly revenue has been dropping. The hospital took in just $147,556.61 in revenue the week of March 22. There was a slight uptick in revenue the week of April 5 with $210,081.92 in revenue for the week.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cadwell reported that the facility was averaging $206,943.49 a week, enough to maintain operations but that has since dropped to an average of $174,594.63 a week following the social distancing orders put in place by Gov. Mark Gordon.
According to Cadwell, before the increasing decline in revenue at the hospital the facility saw approximately $320,000 a week in revenue the first six months of this fiscal year. The prior year, she said, the facility averaged approximately $290,000 per week.
Cadwell said that in order to meet auditing standards, the facility needs 60 days’ worth of “operating expenses” in cash.
“We need to have about $1.5 million in cash to pay our bills, to pay staff and so on. That is about $200,000 a day,” Cadwell said. “Right now, if we need that $1.5 million, we aren’t going to have it.”
According to Cadwell, the facility has already implemented low census protocols, but that more will need to be done if the pandemic continues.
“If hospital patient numbers are down, we put the hospital nurse aide on low census, i.e., sent home and can accrue leave time and keep full-time
status for benefits and may use paid personal leave for pay but it is not required,” Cadwell said. “If a department’s numbers are down, i.e. therapy, they may change schedules to get the patients in they can and take full-days off with the above rules.”
Cadwell explained that low census protocol does vary by department.
Alternative funding is being considered by the facility although the facility is unsure of how much they can potentially receive and whether or not hospital districts are covered under the CARES Act, Cadwell said.
“We will be getting some funds through programs for COVID-19, but we are not sure on any of the dollar amounts,” Cadwell said. “Those are not dollars we can count on long term, and depending on how long this scenario runs us, we have to be prepared.”
Cadwell said no decisions have been made regarding salary or position cuts, but she said that nothing is off the table. She added that cutbacks this time around will have to be more stringent than what was done previously.
“We are going to have to do more. We are looking at positions, pay levels and several other things to get us to the point where we feel we can operate,” Cadwell said.
“We have 180 employees depending on us to make the right decision. This is a bad time for everyone,” Trustee LeAnn Kenagy said, noting that the facility might consider asking for volunteers to step up and agree to the cuts. She said that this could potentially avoid letting someone go that relies on the salary to survive.
A list compiled by Cadwell shows that the facility uses
179 employees including 11 managers, 28 nurses, 42 CNAs, 9 housekeeping aides, 12 NSAs and 5 providers (physicians and CNPs) as well as a variety of various staffing in different departments including pharmacy, therapy and business offices.