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Adair County's Westlake Hospital assumes JTCH management Westlake Regional Hospital agrees to provide management of Greenburgs Jane Todd Crawford Hospital By Linda Waggener Adair Countians have reason to be proud of Westlake regional Hospital which is two months into a new affiliation with Greensburgs Jane Todd Crawford Hospital. Westlake was asked to take charge of JTCH and turn it around to keep it from the possibility of having to close. Jane Todd Crawford Hospital Board Chair Ruthie Shuffett says, We were forced to make emergency changes -- our brand new board was presented with dire cash flow problems at the start of the year. We were actually facing challenges to meeting the payroll. The problems were presented as dire enough to force a possible shutdown if major new money could not be raised. We wanted to avoid losing nearly 200 hospital staff -- JTCH provided the greatest number of non-tax-supported jobs in Green County and losing that payroll would have created a heavy economical impact to the county. She continued, After someone with Rustys expertise did an overview and projections, it has been a relief to know that Jane Todd Crawford Hospital was not in as bad a shape as our board members were led to believe. As a matter of fact, we feel our future is very bright. Westlake has the exact experience that we need to balance our management and turn us around. It took Westlake CEO and Administrator Rex A. Rusty Tungate thirty minutes and two key reports to be able to give them the answer they wanted to hear yes -- Westlake would take charge of the management of JTCH for a one-year trial program and renew for another five years if that goes as smoothly as expected. Rusty talked about the negotiations period. I had to evaluate an aged accounts receivable report which would tell how much money was in the pipeline to add to their bank balance for ongoing operations; and I had to test for any payments that may have been made on those accounts receivable. What I discovered, he said, Is that the JTCH had good accounts receivable with normal aging and no payments which had not been posted. That gave him his answer and allowed for the positive response to the Greensburg board. The strength of JTCH was evident from the start, Rusty continued, It just needed help with resources and timing. Recalling when Westlake took charge of the Casey County Hospital nine years ago in a similar management agreement, he said that they had no computerized records, making projections much harder in that case. That hospital had been shut down once and after being allowed by the state to re-open were on the verge of closing a second time before Westlake took charge of management. Today Casey County Hospital is completely in the black and the experience Westlake gained helped make the decision regarding Greensburgs situation much easier. Rusty entered into negotiations with vendors to allow for immediate breathing room for JTCH, asking each vendor to donate half of their balances as a good faith effort to this charitable institution. He says there has been an excellent response with over half already agreeing in efforts to help the hospital survive. And, the state is working with him also, allowing time for JTCH to meet the requirements for critical access which will mean that they will be reimbursed on their costs rather than on PPS (Prospective Payment System) which is a payment system based on diagnosis and tied to volume. The key, Rusty says, is managements ability to change the structure of the organization when it must be done. Westlake has changed many times over the years; when the reimbursement laws change, you change with them or you dont survive very long. We are very proud to have a strong and stable enough hospital to be able to share management level staff. As in our experience with Casey County Hospital, this bridge to Green County will heighten the efficiency of our own management as we also help save our neighboring hospital in need. Its an extremely effective plan. One person cannot do all the things that have to be done. A credit to Rustys leadership style, his management team includes department leaders with many years of combined experience and a very low turnover rate. Administrator and CEO, and 24 year veteran at Westlake Regional Hospital, Rusty says that, from my first years budget (with records still in boxes) of $1.7 million, to a budget today of approximately $50 million, we have grown and learned together. Westlake TeamCare Management includes:CEO and Administer Rex A. Rusty Tungate, Assistant Administer Cindy Meyer, Lab Director Doris Critz, X-ray Director Charles ODell, Purchasing Director Jim Hagan, Chief Financial officer Ralph Morgan, Asst. Controller Bill Storck, Housekeeping Director June Shanklin, Director of Nursing Louise Thompson, QI Director and Medical Staff Becky Higginbotham, Dietary Director Alice Borders, PT Director Mike Slone, Patient Accounting Directors Chasity Yarberry and Kim Brian, Administrative Assistant and Personnel Manager Mary Ann Quinn, Pharmacy Director Janet Parrish, Coding and Asst. QI Director Cindy Compton, Maintenance Director Jerry Quinn, and others. While all the dept heads will be focusing on Green County with hands on at least one day a week and daily contact, the first deadline belongs to Becky Higginbotham. She is in charge of the JCAHO accreditation necessary to get the Critical Access survey as quickly as possible so that JTCH can qualify as a Critical Access hospital. This will change the billing and cash flow for the hospital, Rusty says, this plan should have been done some time ago. It will benefit any hospital averaging less than 25 inpatients per day to take advantage of this federal program which will pay more for Medicare and Medicaid patients because it bases the payment on costs rather than on volume. Westlake Regional Hospital is now in five counties: Adair with Westlake Regional Hospital and Westlake Primary Care; in Metcalfe County with Edmonton Primary Care; in Russell County with Westlake Primary Care of Russell County; The Casey County Hospital and Casey County Primary Care in Liberty; and now in Green County managing Jane Todd Crawford Hospital. The economic contribution to Adair County totals nearly 500 jobs from the five-county area, before adding Greensburg. Leaders on the Westlake Regional Hospital Board include: Mitch Harris, Chairman, Gerald McClean, Katie Campbell, Brenda Harvey and Jim Evans. This story was posted on 2005-05-17 12:24:24
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