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In a special called meeting
of the Bamberg County Hospital
Board of Trustees on Tuesday,
October 4, trustees approved the
restructuring of medical services
that will no longer include
inpatient care. Services now
offered at the hospital will
include the following:
Emergency Room, Radiology,
Rehabilitation, Physical and
Respiratory Therapy, Out Patient
Care, Laboratory and X-Ray.
In explaining the rationale
for restructuring the hospital’s
medical services, administrator
John Hales said with the
dwindling number of inpatients
over the last six months, the
move is something that has been
in the making for some time. “In
all reality it’s been phasing down
for some period of time,” Hales
said, adding “currently
sometimes we run zero inpatients,
the numbers are so
small they won’t be anything
sorely missed by the patients.”
Hales noted the vast
majority of the hospital services
are in the out-patient area, where
each month the hospital sees
over 900 patients in the
emergency room and about an
equal amount in radiology.
“And, when you throw in
physical and respiratory therapy,
you’re talking about 1,000’s of
patients being taken care of by
the Bamberg County Hospital.
It’s really not going to be much
of a change,” Hales said.
“The hospital is still open
and providing good quality
health care,” Bamberg County Administrator Rose Dobson-Elliott, who was in attendance at
the meeting said. “We really
want our emergency room and
out-patient services to be
utilized and open until Dobbs
takes over,” Bamberg County
Hospital Board Chair Dr.
Danette McAlhaney said.
Bamberg County Hospital
Board September 27 meeting:
The Bamberg County
Memorial Hospital Board of
Trustees members got some
good news about the cash
strapped facilities finances
Tuesday night. Hospital
administrator John Hales
informed trustees at their
September 27th meeting that
information just received from
the CPA’s and consultants that
conducted a Recovery Audit
Contractor Audit (RAC) on the
hospital’s finances since 2004,
showed the hospital would only
have to refund $2,623 to the
Centers for Medicare and
Medicare Services (CMS).
“They spent a lot of money
to get $2,623,” Hales said,
noting the good (RAC) audit
was “a testament to the people
here.” “They did a good job with
documentation and implemented
good billing practices. They
didn’t overly bill or improperly
bill.” Hales noted that other
hospitals are looking at repaying
the government “seven or eight
figures.”
South Carolina and five or
six other states were the pilot
state for the Recovery Audit
Contractor Audits (RAC)
program contracted with the
federal government to check into
what was thought to be $100’s
of millions of dollars
overcharged through Medicare
through improper admissions or
overcharges going back to 2004.
Also during the meeting:
• In presenting highlights of
the monthly financial report
administrator Hales noted
“August is usually a slow month
with school starting back.” He
reported that revenues in August
were $5,000 greater than July.
The monthly expenses for
August were $725,000 or
$127,000 less than the previous
month in July. “Monthly
expenses are starting to come
down with the cuts made
earlier,” Hales said, adding “the
$127,000 less is a significant
amount of money. Cash
collections for the month were
$610,000. The hospital still
recorded a negative worksheet
of $280,000 which was noted
was still and improvement over
the previous month. “The
balance sheet is what it is, a
negative position,” Hales said.
“We’re making some progress
slowly but surely. We’re not
making a ton of money. We’re
keeping loses to a minimum and
looking for ways to cut expenses
and save money all the time.”
• Also during the meeting
hospital board members
approved the purchase of a G.E.
C-T Scanner main bulb, which
would normally cost $180,000,
but administrator Hales was able
to secure one for $70,000.
• Board members also gave
their approval to a number of
medical staff appointments. |
