Hospital commissioners approve sale of EACC facility

With only three commissioners present, but with a quorum, the Adams County Public Hospital District No. 2 Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the sale of East Adams Care Center and three parcels of property.

The sale does not include the parcel with the maintenance shed, which East Adams Rural Healthcare will continue to utilize.

The Commissioners approved a $520,000 bid from Gibraltar Senior Living for the purchase of the property. The amount satisfied the legal requirements of receiving 90 percent of the value of the property after receiving three realtor’s appraisals.

The Board hosted a special meeting on Aug. 16 to approve to sell the property, a step missed in the initial process for the sale.

The facility is not expected to open until late in 2019. The owners also plan to have a training center within the facility to ensure adequate and qualified staff.

The Commissioners also heard a presentation from Lab Manager Joel Williams regarding the employment of the current medical technician. Habte Berhan has been with the district for 18 years, and has been able to work in the country by renewing his work visa every two years.

A legal firm approached Berhan to assist him with acquiring a permanent visa. In order for the visa to be obtained, EARH would incur an estimated expense of $5,700 to advertise the position and prove that it would not be possible to replace Berhan.

Berhan intends to continue working at the facility for many years to come, with the understanding if another individual applies for the position and meets all qualifications, he would lose his job.

Doctor Marty Sackmann said Berhan’s skill set is what matters, as he is able to complete difficult blood tests. He added Berhan stands out because of his unique ability to complete blood acquisitions where many technicians would struggle.

The first phase of the recruitment would require the District to pay around $5,700, Williams explained. The commissioners unanimously agreed to incur the cost and begin recruitment for the lab technician position.

CEO/CFO Gary Bostrom reported the District is working with a recruitment firm on an Internal Medicine Doctor candidate. He explained the individual is a J1 visa candidate in Texas who is completing their education and will not be available until June 2019.

Bostrom added, after many discussions, the District is going to move forward with trying to hire a nurse practitioner.

The position would allow the employee to work in the hospital and the clinic, but they would not be able to work with swing bed patients without a supervisor. Bostrom said the District needs support staff and a position to be filled, and he is optimistic that now is a good time to fill the role.

The District recently hired a consulting group to evaluate if EARH was over charged tax on resources. The firm received 40 percent of the collected over-tax. The total, district-wide, was $74,206.

Bostrom also told the commissioners about changes to the ACO agreement the commissioners signed earlier this year. CMS is now looking at 5-year terms, and doing away with the level one category. The new plan proposes facilities must make a 25 percent improvement and penalties are applied if the goal is not met.

Caravan Health recommended EARH be combined into an Oregon ACO that has over 200,000 lives. This would change the contract agreement to a 2.5 year term instead of the previously agreed upon three years.

The ACO only affects the clinic, and this change would provide the District with a chance to learn about being a part of an ACO, as well as make adjustments, Bostrom explained. The commissioners agreed to continue on the revised basis for the ACO for the next 2.5 years.

Eide Bailey is continuing to provide training for the billing department staff, and Bostrom stated the district is starting to see an increase in collections. The focus is on educating staff members, and correcting and training staff on billing solutions.

Bostrom also updated the commissioners that Chair Eric Walker approved his request to add a $25,000 signing bonus for the physician position currently being advertised.

In the current month, Bostrom reported the District recorded a net income of $71,162 and a year to date net loss of $348,502. The loss is due primarily to the amount of write-offs the District had throughout the past few months.

The patient accounts receivable increased by $183,872 and the gross accounts receivable increased by 13.01 days to total 212.21. Bostrom said the billing department continues to work on collecting payments from the past year, while Inland Northwest is working on accounts aged more than one year.

Bostrom reiterated his goal is to have AR gross days to 60 by June 2019, which is when he will leave his position as CEO/CFO. He added the District is focused on spending the money necessary to fix the problem, which includes training and hiring staff to assist with the increase workload.

With two commissioners absent, the Board agreed to table the CEO recruitment discussion until the September board meeting.

The next meeting for the commissioners is scheduled for Sept. 27 at 5:30 p.m. in the conference room.