Lewis County, hospital bring up sharing services

LOWVILLE — Leaders from Lewis County and its hospital on Thursday discussed the state of the facility and the possibility of shared human resources services.

"We are willing to do whatever we can to help the county, as long as it doesn't affect our operation," Charles W. Truax Jr., president of the Lewis County General Hospital board of managers, told county officials.

The joint meeting of the Board of Legislators and the county-owned hospital board was set up in hopes of improving communication and transparency between the boards, Mr. Truax said.

"If you have questions, this would be a good forum to take care of that," he said.

The plan is to continue holding such meetings, possibly twice each year, Mr. Truax said.

The first topic of discussion was the possibility of sharing human resources services between the county and hospital.

County legislators last month adopted a law allowing the creation of a human resources department. It would include dissolution of the county's three-person Civil Service Commission, but that won't happen until late next year.

Now, county lawmakers are discussing how the proposed department would be set up. Some have mentioned utilization of the hospital's existing human resources department, in some capacity, as a way to minimize costs.

"The hospital's stance is, anything we can do within reason," said hospital Chief Executive Officer Eric R. Burch.

Legislature Chairman Jack T. Bush, R-Brantingham, proposed that a joint committee of county and hospital officials be formed to further study the idea and determine what shared services would be feasible.

That committee should include at least a couple of members from each board, Mr. Truax said.

Mr. Burch also provided legislators with a rundown of the hospital's financial status.

The facility has $1 million to $2 million in cash on hand, but revenues are temporarily behind projected figures because roughly $3 million in federal intergovernmental transfer funding initially expected in the spring is now reportedly coming in October, he said.

"Right now, we're behind because we didn't get the IGT in March," Mr. Burch said.

The funding, intended to partially reimburse health care facilities for losses incurred on Medicaid, uninsured and charity-care patients, also is expected at some point for the hospital's nursing home, he said.

The hospital in January and February was about 100 admissions below projections, owing primarily to a relative lack of flu cases, Mr. Burch said.

Hospital admissions for the year remain down slightly, resulting in about a $75,000 revenue shortfall, the hospital administrator said. However, an influx of outpatient visits has brought in about $130,000 in unprojected revenues, he said.

"While our mix has changed, the net is a positive," Mr. Burch said.

The hospital has seen growth in the volume of Fort Drum patients, has done some marketing in the Old Forge area and is considering clinics in a few peripheral areas of the county, he said.

Legislator Philip C. Hathway, R-Harrisville, asked if the hospital expects to recoup the roughly $1.6 million it is spending on the renovation of the former Beaverite offices for a new Beaver Falls clinic.

"We'll get that back in five years," Mr. Burch said, noting the larger building will allow higher patient loads and additional service offerings.