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NRMC to turn profit
Published Wednesday, September 16, 2009
NATCHEZ — When Natchez Regional Medical Center’s budget year comes to a close at the end of the month, the facility will be marking a bit of a milestone.
For the first time in five years, the hospital will be ending the fiscal year with a profit.
This year’s profit is expected to exceed $746, 000
“It’s the first time in a long time,” Natchez Regional Chief Administrating Officer Bruce Buchanan said. “This hospital has overcome some major financial problems.”
In May 2008, Buchanan’s firm, Healthcare Management Partners, was hired by Natchez Regional’s Board of Trustees in the face of Regional’s dire financial situation.
Tuesday, the Adams County Board of Supervisors ratified the facility’s budget, which showed the profit.
In more than a year of running Natchez Regional, HMP has ordered cost- saving measures throughout the facility, laid off employees and declared bankruptcy as a means of financially restructuring the hospital.
“This board had to make a lot of very difficult decisions,” Natchez Regional Board Chairman Dan Bland said. “But we’re starting to see the benefit.”
And that benefit is expected to manifest in the upcoming financial year also.
Natchez Regional CFO Charles Mock told the supervisors he is expecting a profit of approximately $794,000 for the 2009-2010 budget year.
But even as the hospital shows signs of financial recovery, there are still challenges to be faced.
In the 2008-2009 budget year the hospital has projected $12.2 million in bad debt, essentially unpaid hospital bills.
That figure is expected to rise to $12.5 million in 2010, Mock said.
Buchanan said those bills are generated when patients either did not have insurance and did not pay for their hospital visit, did not have enough insurance to cover their expenses and did not pay the difference or had adequate insurance and simply failed to pay their co-pays or other fees.
While most supervisors were surprised by the amount of bad debt, it’s part of running a hospital in today’s society, Buchanan said.
“It’s a reality we have to deal with,” Buchanan said.
Bland and Supervisor S.E. “Spanky” Felter said they believe Regional has such high amounts of bad debt is because many in the county and surrounding area think Natchez Regional is a charity hospital.
“They just think they can skip out on the bill and the county will take care of it,” Bland said. “That’s wrong, this is not a charity hospital.”
While the supervisors briefly discussed the hospital’s use of a collection agency to collect unpaid bills, some in the community simply don’t have the means to pay, Mock said.
“When it comes to paying a hospital bill or feeding your family, you’re going to feed your family,” Buchanan said.
Comments
Posted by beammeupscotty (anonymous) on September 16, 2009 at 5:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My guess is they get to write off the 12 million in bad debt. See, we already have a national health care plan. What hospitals get to write off gets charged back to the tax payer and those that pay for health insurance.
Posted by lsumom (anonymous) on September 16, 2009 at 6:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I thought a county owned hospital was not allowed to be a for profit hospital. Also, the other people who have run this hospital (in the ground) have also said we were doing fine financially for years. Not so sure i believe just because they all of a sudden say we are making money that i will just take their word for it. After all, they have to justify their 100k per month salary so they will say what they have to.
Posted by LOVESNATCHEZ (anonymous) on September 16, 2009 at 9:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I do believe we've heard this before; just to find out NRMC actually LOST several million. I don't believe a word they say. If they turned a profit, does that mean they have paid the millions they owe to creditors????? Just stay tuned. The program that is supposed to go into effect tomorrow may be the straw that broke the camel's back.
Posted by NAMVET (anonymous) on September 16, 2009 at 10:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe the "CEO" took a pay cut !!! LOL!!!!!
Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on September 16, 2009 at 11:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
NOT really bad debt, uncollected revenue is really a good thing, in my mind bad debt would be debt that the hospital owes but cannot pay......not patient fees uncollected....
these uncollected receivables can be pursued or applied to the tax return and written off actually decreasing overall expenses......I hate tax computation, WE NEED THE FAIR TAX method, abolish income taxes and pay national sales tax....then everyone pays based upon consumption, the more stuff you buy and use the more sales tax you pay, to me that's fair....
anyway it is good news to see the hospital making money
I agree LOVESNATCHEZ--more smoke and mirrors???
this should make it more attractive for a potential buyer
SELL IT!!!
Good thinking Beammeup--yes we definitely have a healthcare plan (it's called WORKING-PEOPLE-PAY-FOR-IT)- and I also appreciated your comment on the rec complex----JUST SAY NO
Posted by bellesouth (anonymous) on September 16, 2009 at 3:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Krogers, it doesn't matter what is in your mind. Bad debt means moneys owed to a business where they are unable to collect. In my mind you can't just go around and change the meaning of things.
Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on September 16, 2009 at 4:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
belle, I have an idea you know a lot about bad debt........
bad debt is debt you incur and can't pay off
good account receivables is money you can go get, .....
NRMC needs to go get that money....
and Adams Co needs to sell this monster will it's looking good, ....
Posted by shagnasty (anonymous) on September 16, 2009 at 8:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If we made so much, then why is my check been so less!!!!! And why the hell are we ALWAYS short staffed????..whatever.
Posted by gotoverit (anonymous) on September 17, 2009 at 1:36 a.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by Serenyd (anonymous) on September 17, 2009 at 2:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
From what I hear, they've been taking the hospital's financial problems out on their employees .... maybe it's time to give something back to them now, to thank them for all the sacrifices they've had to make over the last few years. After all, there are other hospitals within driving distance where they can go and make a lot more $$... then where would the people of this county be?
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