The year’s end has been slow for Wrangell Medical Center, with patient volumes declining through October and November.
In his report to the hospital board on Dec. 16, chief financial officer Doran Hammett guessed this was likely seasonal as fish processing came to an end and people began heading south for the winter. Figures were still up from last year, but revenue has nonetheless been impacted.
“That slow-down is affecting cash flow,” he explained. Reserves have subsequently dropped from just over $800,000 to around $600,000 by last week’s meeting.
“I think we’re still in pretty good shape,” Hammett told board members. He said he is inquiring of TruBridge how the hospital might improve its cash flow situation. The Alabama-based firm has handled medical billing services for WMC since August, and has been helping to bring the hospital’s old accounts up to date in exchange for a small commission.
One area Hammett said has already been identified would be to improve the speed by which procedures get coded and bills sent out by Wrangell staff.
“The payers are paying, we just need to get those out the door,” he observed.
During his report, hospital CEO Robert Rang announced some new hires at the hospital. A new chief nursing officer began on Dec. 14, Sherri Austin, while Susan Beebe has been hired for a support services position, starting on Nov. 30. And staff welcomed back Alice Rooney as a part-time social worker.
Aaron McPherson has been repositioned as chief operating officer, rather than director of operations. Rang explained the new position will give McPherson greater responsibilities.
Rang reported that hospital facilities were also paid a visit by the state ombudsman unexpectedly. After spending two days on site last month, no major concerns were reported.
An employee survey the hospital has been collecting closed out on Dec. 20. The data gathered from that will be used to set administrative priorities for the coming year.
Wrangell’s hospital got a bandwidth boost on Dec. 3, with network provider GCI upgrading connections from 20 Megabytes per second to 30 Mbps. Rang reported the most notable improvements from the upgrade would be image transferral in the radiology department, but that communications would be improved system wide.
On the future of a new hospital, board members learned Rang has completed an application for predevelopment assistance with the Foraker Group. Based in Anchorage, Foraker is a nonprofit group specializing in assisting other nonprofits around the state. In April, its director visited Wrangell’s facilities and delivered a public presentation on possible steps towards replacing the current hospital building.
Getting predevelopment work completed was identified as the next step, as having a formal plan in place would make funding easier to obtain. Under the arrangement, Foraker would assist WMC with this process.
“The committee is actually reviewing our application this month,” Rang said. He expected the hospital would have an answer by the end of the year.
In other business, the board accepted Elizabeth Spaulding’s resignation. At its meeting the following day, the Borough Assembly approved Olinda White to serve on the board, leaving one unfilled unexpired seat. Those interested in applying for the post can submit a letter to the Borough Clerk’s office at City Hall.
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