Bobby Arnold addresses successes, challenges

The West Tennessee Healthcare board of trustees hosted its annual City and County Appreciation Dinner on Thursday night to thank elected officials for their support and update them on what the organization has achieved in the past year.

Jeff Blankenship, chief financial officer for West Tennessee Healthcare, presented a summary of the 2015 fiscal year and a glimpse of what the 2016 fiscal year is shaping up to look like.

In 2015, West Tennessee Healthcare documented approximately 125,000 emergency room visits, 22,000 surgical cases and 3,000 deliveries. The total operating revenue came out to $664 million with a 2.2 percent operating margin.

For the current fiscal year to date, revenue is up 3.2 percent, and the system has seen a higher inpatient and surgical volume.

“The volume has put stress and strain on the organization, but we’ve been able to offset that with revenue and turn out better than expected,” Blankenship said.

WTH continues to invest in community

Jackson-Madison County General Hospital’s inpatient rehab service has been operating out of the oldest part of the campus for several years, and instead of renovating the area or building a new site, the board decided on a more cost-effective solution. By June or July of next year, Blankenship said he hopes to open a new 48-bed rehab center in partnership with HealthSouth where the former Jackson Clinic was located.

Bobby Arnold, president of West Tennessee Healthcare, said the cost of health care in America is growing at a rate that exceeds the growth of the economy overall. Along with celebrating accomplishments like having the only comprehensive heart and vascular center in the state, he shared some challenges that may affect numbers in the future.

“Right now at our hospital we have a real nursing shortage,” Arnold said. “We’ve been using some alternative models — overtime, contracting nurses — that are more expensive than we would like.”

The cost of technology is another potential challenge when it comes to revenue, Arnold said. He is proud of the technology they are able to offer, but he hopes to be able to maintain it as innovative updates are released.

Arnold said if federal funding for certain healthcare programs is reduced or eliminated, that would present financial concerns. Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospitals and the 340B Drug Pricing Program are among some of those programs.

“Changes fundamentally (in the health care system) are going from volume to value,” he said. “In the past, doctors were paid just to show up, but now hospitals are paid based on value.”

For Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, that value is evident in recent business growth. Arnold said an aging population and uninsured numbers (around 8-9 percent) are part of the reason the hospital’s volume has increased.

Additionally, the closure of rural West Tennessee hospitals is bringing more business to Jackson, he said.

“Unfortunately for those who live in rural areas where the local hospital has closed, those people still get sick and require hospital care,” Arnold said. “But we have not lost sight of the fact that safety and service are the top priorities for us.”

Medical Center open in Trenton

Reach Danica at (731) 425-9643. Follow her on Twitter: @danicasmithwick