Lewis County, Lowville hospital cooperating to reduce costs

LOWVILLE — Lewis County and its municipal hospital over the past two years have implemented several joint initiatives intended to save the county money and boost hospital services.

"The charge from legislators and our board has been do whatever we can to help each other," said Eric R. Burch, chief executive officer at Lewis County General Hospital.

"Ourselves is kind of a misnomer," County Manager David H. Pendergast said. "The hospital is the county, and the county is the hospital."

Mr. Pendergast became county manager in March 2008, the same month Mr. Burch was named permanent administrator at the county-owned hospital.

Discussions between the two men and other local officials soon focused on the potential for "opportunities to partner up and to provide services at a reduced cost," Mr. Pendergast said.

The first initiative involved the county's electronic payroll system, which was slated to sunset, he said.

Rather than spend $40,000 on an updated system, the county ultimately joined the hospital's system at no extra cost, Mr. Burch said.

During budget deliberations in late 2008, county leaders also proposed moving the Public Health Department under the auspices of the hospital. While the state Department of Health has yet to approve a full consolidation, Public Health, located on the hospital's North State Street campus, has begun using many hospital programs and services, Mr. Burch said.

"We don't necessarily need to have it under us to help it," he said. "Anything we can save there falls to the community."

Last March, the county, which lacks a central purchasing system of its own, began using the hospital's purchasing department. That arrangement soon will be evaluated to gauge its effectiveness, Mr. Pendergast said.

Most recently, county officials chose to contract with the hospital rather than with individual physical therapists to provide home-based therapy services through Public Health. The move will allow the hospital to hire an additional physical therapist.

While the cost savings won't be determined for awhile, the hourly rate is about 30 percent lower than the county previously was paying, Mr. Burch said.

"We provide all these things at our cost," he said. "You don't charge your owner a markup. Or at least you don't do it if you plan on staying around."

Being a relatively small facility, Lewis County General is able to provide some services only on a limited basis, Mr. Burch said. However, by adding the county's business, the hospital can afford to expand some services and add depth to some departments, such as physical therapy, he said.

The hospital last year also helped fund the Wellness Connection for breast and cervical cancer screenings of women ages 18 to 39 after the state Department of Health Cancer Services Program stopped reimbursement.

The hospital also has saved money by using county highway employees, rather than hiring a private contractor, to expand its parking lots in the past couple of years, Mr. Burch said.

County and hospital officials are continuing to look for more opportunities to partner, with increased use of the hospital's human resources department being one possibility, Mr. Pendergast said.

HELPING OUT THE OWNER

Lewis County over the past two years has begun using more services from its municipal hospital, rather than contracting with other agencies or individuals, to help curb costs. They include:

■ Central purchasing

/ Dietitian services for Office for the Aging

/ Jail nurse

/ Payroll system

/ Occupational medicine services to the Highway Department

/ Numerous services for Public Health