In light of continued financial woes, Newman Regional Health has instituted a freeze on hiring and capital equipment purchases and has implemented the use of productivity tools.
The Newman Regional Health Board of Trustees met for its regular meeting Wednesday afternoon and learned of the hiring and capital purchase freezes. Capital purchases will be approved if the items are needed for patient care. Otherwise, none will be approved.
Financial numbers for Newman showed a $425,613 loss in inpatient revenues for June. Admissions were below the budgeted number by 61. The outpatient revenues, however, had a brighter picture, with $239,262 than the budgeted dollar amount. The hospital as a whole had an operating loss of $397,334 — $86,690 above the amount the hospital budgeted for. Year-to-date net loss is $740,418. The hospital only budgeted an income of $120,819, putting them $861,237 in the red for the year.
Newman’s interim CEO, Joyce Grove Hein, said because there’s been a low census the past few weeks, the hospital has asked department leaders to take a look at open positions.
“We really need to use our productivity tool,” she said.
Each department head will be educated on how to use productivity tools and how to control labor in their areas, Hein said.
“The staff has really been working hard to pare down our staff during lower census days,” Hein said. “It’s not easy to ask people to take the day off or go home early on a shift but they’ve been willing to do that.”
In other business, Paula Taylor, assistant administrator of clinical services at Newman, said the hospital is going to be launching another patient safety initiative. The Kansas Hospital Association is sponsoring the standardization of arm bands to improve patient safety. The arm bands will be color coded. For example, yellow is for fall risk and red is for allergies. Taylor said there is a team at Newman working on the arm bands.
“We are going to incorporate this so we are compliant and keep it up with our patient safety commitment,” Taylor said.