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24 CFO / FINANCE Methodist Le Bonheur suspends debt collection suits amid backlash By Ayla Ellison M emphis, Tenn.-based Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare has suspended debt collection lawsuits over unpaid medical bills, according to NPR and MLK50, a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network. Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare halted "court collection activities" aer an inves- tigation by MLK50 and ProPublica. e in- vestigation provided details about the health system's collection practices, which include suing patients, some of whom are its own employees, according to the report. Meth- odist Le Bonheur Healthcare filed more than 8,300 lawsuits against patients from 2014 through 2018, according to records analyzed by ProPublica. "We recognize that we serve a diverse commu- nity, and we are always thinking about how we can do more and serve our community better," Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare said in an early July written statement to NPR and MLK50. "Over the next 30 days we will be reviewing our policies and procedures to ensure we are doing everything possible to provide the communities we serve with the care and assistance they need. Also, we will immediately suspend any further court collection activities during this period." On July 3, the health system dropped more than 24 cases that were set for their first hear- ings in Shelby County (Tenn.) General Ses- sions Court, according to the report. In an op-ed published by e Commercial Appeal on June 30, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare CEO Michael Ugwueke defended the health system's charity care policies. "Of the hundreds of thousands of patients we saw last year, we only went to court to collect debt from uninsured patients for less than one-tenth of 1 percent of all the uninsured patients we saw, and only then aer all other means to collect were exhausted," he wrote. He said the goal of reviewing the health sys- tem's policies and procedures is to ensure pa- tients get the financial assistance they need. "We want all patients to know and under- stand our financial assistance policies, and we want to ensure our policies reflect our mis- sion," he wrote. n Drexel to lay off 40% of medical staff due to hospital closure By Ayla Ellison P hiladelphia-based Drexel University is lay- ing off 40 percent of its clinical staff due to the closure of Hahnemann University Hos- pital in Philadelphia, according to CBS Philly. Hahnemann, which was scheduled to shut down Sept. 6 at the time of publication, served as the teaching hospital of Drexel University Col- lege of Medicine. In an email to CBS Philly, Drex- el said the hospital closure is forcing university leaders to make tough decisions. "[T]he abrupt closure of Hahnemann has brought the Drexel University Physicians (DUP) practice plan to a crisis point. We have been forced to make extremely difficult decisions, but please know that the long-term goal is to preserve as many clinical faculty and professional staff jobs as possible," the university said, according to CBS Philly. Drexel will offer employment to about 60 per- cent of the clinical faculty and staff within DUP. Those who are not offered positions will receive severance and outplacement counseling, ac- cording to the report. n Hacienda Children's Hospital to close due to 'enormous unbudgeted costs' By Ayla Ellison P hoenix-based Hacienda HealthCare announced July 19 that it plans to close Hacienda Children's Hospital in Mesa, Ariz., ac- cording to the Arizona Republic. Hacienda Children's Hospital, a 24-bed facility that provides none- mergency services to children in need of step-down care, will re- main open until all patients are discharged or until a new owner is secured, according to the report. Hacienda HealthCare is closing the facility in Mesa after incurring "enormous unbudgeted costs" over the past year, interim CEO Perry Petrilli said in a statement to the Arizona Republic. The company incurred unexpected legal expenses and costs asso- ciated with implementing new security measures at its intermediate care facility in Phoenix after a 29-year-old patient who had been in a vegetative state for 14 years gave birth to a baby boy Dec. 29. In January, one of the patient's male nurses was indicted on several charges of sexual assault and abuse of a vulnerable adult. He plead- ed not guilty, according to the report. "The tragic events of the past year have hit hard for so many people — everyone from the victim and the families impacted to Hacienda's employees to the communities we serve," Mr. Petrilli said, according to the report. "At the same time, there also has been a substantial impact to our business. This hard, but necessary decision is one more example of that." n