Nov. 12, 2008 — Anticipating more fallout from the economic downturn, the Schneider Regional Medical Center's board of directors decided to look at the current state of the system with a planned procurement of analysis services.
The St. Thomas-St. John District Governing Board of the V.I. Hospitals and Health Facilities Corp. resolved Wednesday to release a request for proposals to conduct a current analysis of the state of the beleaguered medical center.
The analysis will help the hospital system prepare and plan for what board chairman Cornell Williams predicts will be challenging economic times for the hospital, as well as in its selection of its new chief executive officer.
The analysis is critical in the face of the current economic downturn, Williams noted.
"It is coming, it is looming." he said. "We're facing some really challenging economic times. There are powerful reasons for analysis."
Some of the powerful reasons could include the system's sizeable deficit. SRMC's net operating deficit was $42 million over 11 months, which, after the government's contribution of $27 million, leaves the system with a net deficit of $15 million, Williams said.
Williams felt the hospital could use the data from the analysis to develop plans to help the hospital weather the economic hurricane.
"[These measures] … may not get us way in front of it, but we could make some sensitive plans rather than be reactive," he said.
Board attorney Karl Percel noted that similar analysis had been performed on a broad scale on the mainland. Some hospital systems are failing or pretty close to failing, according to Williams.
Board members also heard results of a spot review conducted by the Joint Commission, the accrediting agency for U.S. hospitals, which determined that SRMC will retain its accreditation, according to Elizabeth Harris, interim chief executive officer.
While the center enjoys continued accreditation, there are nine standards that require improvements, Harris said.
Two of these include development of an anticoagulation therapy team to reduce likelihood of patient harm associated with blood-thinning methods, and formation of a rapid-response team for recognition and early response in patients' conditions.
The anticoagulation therapy team will be fully implemented as of the first of the year, and the rapid-response team has already been piloted and successfully activated three times with positive patient outcomes, Harris said.
The board also learned that the SRMC had exceeded its goal for an average emergency room wait time of four hours. From intake to discharge, the center's average wait time came in at 3.96 hours. The national average is four hours, according to medical director Dr. Thelma R. Watson.
Cancer Institute administrator Edward Arbisala is preparing a marketing plan presentation, focusing on other nearby islands in the British Virgin Islands and Antiqua.
On St. John, the Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center is working with the Veterans Administration, which would like to lease space, according to center administrator Harold Wallace.
"It would be a win-win — we could receive lease payments, and they tend to pay on time," Wallace said. The VA would not have laboratory or X-ray service, and that would be an in-house feeder for the health-care center, he said.
Wallace estimates that there are 400 to 500 veterans on St. John who seek medical treatment at the community health center, the VA center on St. Thomas or at facilities on Puerto Rico.
With a health-care facility on St. John for the veterans, there will now be access to specialized providers on St. John at a low cost, Wallace said.
The system is also looking into using telemedicine and other remote processes with the Cleveland clinic.
"If that is a pilot, there is potential beyond Myrah Keating," Williams said.
The center is unique in that it provides 24-hour emergency room service, but it operates on the budget of an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. health-care center.
In other business, the board approved certification of a new orthopedist, Dr. Brian Bacot.
The board also discussed the makeup of the search committee for the new CEO, entertaining suggestions to round out the seven-member committee with a nurse and someone who has had actual experience as a patient in the hospital.
Using current state analysis would help to select "not only a CEO, but a CEO for this environment," Williams suggested.
The board also discussed holding evening meetings to avoid impinging on board members' clinical time. Williams said he could see monthly board meeting go on for another five or six months, followed by a switch to a bi-monthly meeting. The next meeting is proposed for Dec. 17.
Board members in attendance Wednesday were Chairman Cornell Williams, Judith Richardson, Aldria Wade, Murli Daswani and Miles Stair.
Absent were Mulo Alwani, Vincent Samuel and Maria Tankerson-Hodge.
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