WCHS may buy clinics

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
The Weston County Health Services board of trustees has submitted a letter of intent, approved on Dec. 17, to begin working with Monument Health on the transition of both the Newcastle and Upton Clinics to the Weston County Hospital District, according to WCHS CEO Maureen Cadwell. She reported that the board approved the letter to get the discussion started. 
“We are in the process of looking at the staff, expenses and buildings to come up with how we can transition the clinics to be under the district,” Cadwell told the News Letter Journal. “This idea came out of several discussions and is mainly due to the 340B program.”
The 340B program, according to hrsa.gov, enables covered entities to “stretch scarce federal resources as far as possible, reaching more eligible patients and providing more comprehensive services.” 
“Manufacturers participating in Medicaid agreed to provide outpatient drugs to covered entities at significantly reduced prices,” the website says. “Eligible health care organizations/covered entities are defined in statute and include HRSA-supported (Health Resources and Services Administration) health centers and look-alikes, Ryan White clinics and State AIDS Drug Assistance programs, Medicare/Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospitals, children’s hospitals and other safety net providers.” 
Cadwell explained that if the district employs the providers working at the clinics, then the retail pharmacy would be able to use the 340B program to purchase medications at significantly reduced costs. The goal, Cadwell said, would be to provide medications to the public at a reduced cost, although she noted that might take some time. 
Another perk to bringing the clinics under the wing of hospital district, as well as employing the additional staff, would be an increase in reimbursement from Medicare, the CEO added. She said that the clinic being a department of the hospital district would allow Weston County to “maximize reimbursement” from Medicare. 
When the transition will take place, and exactly what it will look like, are still unknown, Cadwell said. 
“Over the course of the analysis of the transition, a cost will be determined,” Cadwell said. “We don’t know what that will be yet, there are a lot of parts in the process, including the staff, pay levels, benefits, supplies, equipment, the buildings and other factors.”
She noted that the clinics would need to remain in the separate facilities due to space restraints and the number of providers that would be employed. 
Cadwell said that the urgent care area at the hospital has three exam rooms, one treatment room and two offices. While this space would help to house the additional services, the CEO says that is something that might be considered down the road.  
“There is a lot of net transition that needs to be done,” Cadwell added.” Basically, once we are through all that, we can determine if there is
a final price, if we will have to pay them or maybe they pay us.” 
The timeline for the potential transition, Cadwell said, is three to four months. 
“There are a lot of people that think we are owned by Monument Health, the hospital and the nursing home,” Cadwell said. “We are not and we are hoping that the transition will help people see that division. Maybe that will help them recognize we aren’t owned by anyone else.” 
“We are owned by the citizens of Weston County and the hospital district. We rely on the taxpayers to support many things that we have done,” Cadwell said. “For the people, we can bring all their local health care under the same umbrella. Hopefully, it will be less confusing that way.” 
She noted that the facility would still have a tie to Monument Health for supplies and support.