Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1094308
60 HEALTHCARE NEWS Ohio hospital faces closure after losing Medicare certification By Morgan Haefner D ayton, Ohio-based Medical Center at Elizabeth Place will no longer be a certified hospital by Medicare or Medicaid effective Jan. 18, resulting in a funding lapse that could cause the medical center to close its doors. MCEP, a physician-owned hospital with 12 private patient rooms, five operating rooms and an imaging center, said CMS' decision could force it out of business because 60 to 65 percent of its patients are covered through Medicare and Medicaid. e hospital's termination is based on CMS' interpretation of what defines a hospital. As of 2017, CMS requires a hospital to have two inpatients at the time of a survey. A hospital also must be "primarily engaged" in inpatient services, which is determined in part by average daily census and average length-of-stay benchmarks. e definition doesn't apply to critical access hospitals or psychiatric hospitals. CMS claims MCEP doesn't meet the hospital definition because it doesn't have the mini- mum number of patients needed who also remain inpatients for a sufficient amount of time. "We take CMS's comments and directives very seriously," John Fleishman, MD, who currently serves as the chair of MCEP's board of directors, said in a press release sent to Becker's Hospital Review. "However, the notice of termination was surprising and completely unexpected. is interpretation appears to contradict what CMS otherwise asks facilities to do with regard to improving outcomes and lowering the cost of care." MCEP said it requested an extension for the decision, which CMS denied. e medical center said the termination could result in closure and 100 layoffs. e medical center asked CMS to reconsider its position, and requested additional time to satisfy the requirements. n Tenet Healthcare plans to outsource 1,000+ jobs — 6 insights By Eric Oliver D allas-based Tenet Healthcare CEO Ronald Rit- tenmeyer said the company is "aggressively" exploring outsourcing numerous positions, the Dallas News reports. What you should know: 1. Mr. Rittenmeyer said the company would, "look ag- gressively at [outsourcing] across the whole enterprise." 2. The columnist identified Conifer as a prime target for outsourcing, but said Tenet was exploring the idea in several departments. 3. Mr. Rittenmeyer said more than 1,000 jobs would be outsourced, but capped the potential job loss at, "certainly not 10,000 or 5,000." 4. Tenet plans to start outsourcing positions in the next 12 to 18 months. 5. Physicians, nurses and employees acting with patients will not be affected. Some corporate workers could be. 6. Tenet has not yet informed employees of its plan. Tenet could inform employees of its direction at the next employee town hall meeting, potentially in the first quarter. n Texas system laying off 720 employees By Kelly Gooch A rlington-based Texas Health Resources is laying off about 720 employees, or roughly 3 percent of its workforce, according to a Star-Telegram report. The company has about 24,000 employees and is one of the nation's largest faith-based, nonprofit health systems. "While we regret having to take these actions, we want to be clear that only a small number of employees were affect- ed," Michelle Kirby, Texas Health's chief people officer, said in a news release obtained by the Star-Telegram. "There are job opportunities in other areas of Texas Health, and we have a long track record of placing impacted employees in other roles in our system. We are working hard to do so for these individuals." According to the Texas Health Resources website, there are nearly 30 acute care, short stay, rehabilitation and transi- tional care hospital locations — that are owned, operated or partnered with the system. The layoffs reportedly won't all occur at one location. Texas Health said it "continues to grow numerous service lines and has plans to open two new hospitals in the next 24 months, along with expansion projects at existing facili- ties," according to CBS DFW. The system said that the layoffs and expansions are part of adapting to market demands and ensuring long-term com- munity needs are met. n