Becker's Hospital Review

41 CFO / FINANCE Illinois hospital closes: 4 things to know By Ayla Ellison M ishawaka, Ind.-based Franciscan Health closed its hos- pital in Chicago Heights, Ill., on Sept. 7 as part of a re- structuring plan that involved consolidating services at Franciscan's hospital in Olympia Fields, Ill. Here are four things to know: 1. Closing the Chicago Heights hospital was part of a restruc- turing plan state regulators approved in 2016. Under the plan, Franciscan also made a multimillion-dollar investment in its hos- pital in Olympia Fields. 2. Franciscan Health originally planned to end services at Fran- ciscan Chicago Heights at the end of July, but the shutdown date was pushed back twice as the system awaited final occupancy approval for its inpatient facility in Olympia Fields. 3. Franciscan boosted the number of medical/surgical beds and intensive care unit beds at the Olympia Fields hospital, expand- ed the facility's emergency room, and added physical rehabil- itation and obstetrics services. Franciscan also opened a 24/7 urgent care center adjacent to the Chicago Heights hospital. 4. "We have recently invested more than $200 million in facilities, development, outreach and staffing to not only ensure ongoing services, but to improve access and care in the Southland," Fran- ciscan said in a Sept. 7 Facebook post. n Texas microhospital forced to close due to sharp decline in reimbursement By Ayla Ellison D allas-based Complete Care closed its micro- hospital in El Paso, Texas, Aug. 12, just six months after the facility opened, according to the El Paso Times. The company closed the microhospital and two free- standing emergency rooms due to reduced reim- bursement from insurers, Complete Care CEO Rob Morris told the El Paso Times. "When we decided to build the hospital two years ago, and before we broke ground, the way claims were processed and paid looked different" than today, Mr. Morris said. "We've had a 30 percent re- duction in reimbursements from insurance [carriers] since then." Complete Care laid off 80 people when the micro- hospital and freestanding ERs in El Paso closed, ac- cording to the report. Complete Care still operates 20 freestanding ERs in Texas and one in Colorado Springs, Colo. n Nashville General has no documentation for $400K in credit card purchases by leaders, audit finds By Kelly Gooch T hree Nashville (Tenn.) General Hos- pital leaders spent $401,419 in credit card purchases over two years, but the hospital does not have documentation for 85 percent of the transactions, e Tennesse- an reported, citing a city internal audit. Here are six things to know: 1. e audit pertaining to the financially struggling safety-net hospital is dated Aug. 28. It revealed hospital CEO Joseph Webb, executive assistant Dawn omas, and direc- tor of marketing Cathy Poole, made the credit card purchases in 2016 and 2017, according to e Tennessean. 2. e credit card purchases reportedly in- clude nearly $32,000 for airfare, which the hospital said was hospital-related; $22,000 to Jason's Deli, which the hospital said was for catering; and $20,000 spent at Regal Cinemas; which the hospital said was for gi certificates for employee birthdays. 3. Nashville General was unable to provide auditors with credit card statements, transac- tion receipts or other documentation for 40 of 47 transactions, e Tennessean reported. Auditors could see how much was spent on an online account for a J.P. Morgan Chase credit card, but the hospital does not have documentation to determine whether the purchases supported the hospital's mission. 4. Ms. Poole, the hospital's spokesperson, at- tributed the lack of documentation to high turnover in the hospital's finance depart- ment. She told e Tennessean: "We are aware that some of the receipt files were misplaced during staff transition. Our new approach will ensure this will no longer be an issue." 5. According to the report, the hospital has seen the audit and accepted auditors' rec- ommendations. In doing so, the hospital is working on a new credit card policy. Ms. Poole told e Tennessean the hospital will also reroute credit card usage to Mr. Webb's executive assistant. She said the audit, which the Metro Audit Committee was scheduled to discuss the week of Sept. 10, did not identify any expenses deemed inappropriate. 6. e Tennessean reported the audit indeed found the hospital's payments — not counting the credit card purchases for which there was no documentation — are "generally" in keeping with its mission, but also found the hospital authority's purchasing policy was in- consistently practiced across departments. n

• Cover