Hospital reports net loss with debt write-off

RITZVILLE – East Adams Rural Healthcare’s Chief Financial Officer Kim Polanco reported a net loss of nearly $620,000 for the month of September, bringing the year-to-date net loss to nearly $122,000.

“That big loss in September is a big, bad debt write-off, which we were anticipating,” Polanco reported to board members Oct. 21.

“We’re having some of those big financial fixes that we’ve talked about, and some of them aren’t so pretty,” CEO Corey Fedie told the board earlier in the meeting. “But we’ve all talked about this for months now, and it’s good to see some of those things finally moving.”

The hospital wrote off $582,718 worth of bad debt in the month of September, with accounts sent to a collection agency.

Kelly Wiggins reported earlier in the week that patient account letters were sent out, and after the required period of time, the open bills without payment plans were sent to the collection agency. An additional $100,000 - $200,000 was expected to be sent to collections later in the month.

“Patients are completing the financial assistance paperwork and qualifying for discounts,” Wiggins reported.

“The district has 281 days of cash on hand, and we currently have a negative operating margin because of that bad debt, and a total margin of 9.9% because we have the COVID funds. We are continuing to use the COVID funds to replace lost revenue,” Polanco reported.

Days of cash on hand refers to how many days the a hospital district can continue to operate without any incoming revenue.

Polanco reported gross patient revenue in September of $842,000, nearly 15% lower than budget. Polanco said the hospital is still seeing less patients than expected, due to COVID-19 concerns.

“On the bright side, we have $55,500 here today as our 340E revenue, for our pharmacy, through the contract pharmacy,” Polanco said.

Polanco reported expenses were $1.6 million in September, including the bad debt, which is 79% over budget. Year to date expenses, she said, are $8.2 million, just .07% over budget.

NEW STAFF ON BOARD

Fedie introduced new Executive Assistant Jacque Weeks.

“She has lots and lots of administrative experience, and we’re just really pleased — blessed, to have her onboard,” Fedie said.

Wiggins introduced new Revenue Cycle Manager Colene Hickman.

“She comes very well-educated and competent in starting revenue cycles from beginning to end,” Wiggins said. “It’s been exciting to have her around, and things will progress much quicker, with the two of us here.”

“The healthcare environment in Ritzville is really working pretty well. And I think the community ought to be pretty proud of that,” Fedie said. “I think a great piece is how the county is collaborating together. There’s an ever-changing environment, and lots of moving parts, but it’s working very well and we ought to be very proud of that.”