A relatively sparse official agenda prompted the commissioners of Grays Harbor Public Hospital District 2 to branch out into a discussion of whether it might be time for a little rebranding at Grays Harbor Community Hospital.
Board President Maryann Welch let loose the “trial balloon” for the board to discuss: Is the timing right to consider rebranding the hospital to include its larger scope of services beyond the building on Hospital Hill?
“The lines of business have expanded,” Welch said, adding that the question for the board is “whether the name Grays Harbor Community Hospital really represents what we do.”
“It’s worth considering,” said Commissioner Dr. Ryan Farrer. “Your point’s well taken. It’s not just the hospital any more.”
Commissioner Pete Scroggs cautioned that the cost and effort of rebranding the hospital should be a considerable factor in making a decision. “That said,” he added, “it’s not a reason not to.”
“I think the discussion’s well worth having,” Commissioner Bob Torgerson chimed in, though he recommended a thorough consideration of why rebranding the hospital might be beneficial. Before financial numbers and information on the process are gathered, Torgerson would want the board to answer those key questions.
“Do we want to? Do we need to? What’s the purpose? Then we can get into the weeds of the financing,” he said.
As the board circled around the question, Welch pointed out that all the recent changes at the hospital, including the creation of the public hospital district, might signal an opportunity to increase the community’s understanding of just how much of the county’s health care is connected, in some way, to the hospital.
“It’s a bit of an opportune time,” she said. “I don’t think our community understands the breadth of our services … it’s important for me to see the way branding can bring that all together.”
With the agreement of the commissioners, Welch asked CEO Tom Jensen to gather more information on what rebranding the facility might entail, and bring it before the board at its next regular meeting, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24.
Hospital Finances
The final financials for 2014 have been completed for Grays Harbor Community Hospital, and they were worse than originally estimated.
Commissioner Miles Longenbaugh, reporting to the board as the chairman of the Finance Committee, said Tuesday that what was originally estimated to be about a $5.7 million operating loss for last year ballooned to just more than $10 million after the final adjustments were made to the hospital’s 2014 statements.
The facility was also in the red in 2013, to the tune of $2.6 million.
The major factors in 2014’s final numbers included an adjustment to the hospital’s pension liability, and a change in calculations for the hospital’s insurance reimbursements.
“That calculation hurt us,” Longenbaugh said.
This year, the hospital has much higher Medicaid reimbursement to look forward to, a benefit it didn’t have last year.
On a positive note, Longenbaugh added, the hospital is doing well so far in the new year.
“We came in 7 percent under budget (in January),” he told the board.
Longenbaugh also broached the subject of a possible property tax levy in the hospital district’s future, though discussions of whether the district will seek a levy are in very preliminary stages.
He said the commissioners would first need to look at what those funds might be used for, and where there might be a financial need to necessitate a levy.
“We haven’t made any decisions yet,” he said, “but we’re just going to wait and see if (a levy) is needed.”
Other Business
• Jensen briefed the board on a mobile Magnetic Resonance Imaging unit that was recently parked at Grays Harbor Community Hospital. The facility currently does not have its own MRI machine in-house.
He said the hospital’s plan is to have the mobile unit for six months and then evaluate what’s next.
“If it does well, we will focus on getting an internal MRI,” he said.
• Medical Chief of Staff Dr. Anne Marie Wong gave a presentation to the commissioners on the function and composition of the facility’s Medical Executive Committee, a group comprised of physicians that helps oversee compliance, credentialing and quality control with physicians connected to the hospital, among other functions.
At the end of her presentation, Scroggs asked if the physician community had any reservations or concerns about the creation of the public hospital district. Wong noted that some physicians have voiced concern about what exactly could become public record.
“Any time a physician is put in the spotlight over the care they provide, that will make them uncomfortable,” Wong said, relating some of the concerns she has heard. Specifically, when it comes to the credentialing reviews all doctors must periodically go through, “they feel uncomfortable that there is a potential that their report card could become public.”
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