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11 CFO / FINANCE Missouri hospital abruptly closes, misses payroll By Ayla Ellison E mployees of Pinnacle Regional Hospi- tal in Boonville, Mo., got less than one day's notice before the hospital closed. Pinnacle Regional closed Jan. 15 at 7 p.m., about seven hours aer officials first an- nounced the hospital was shutting down. In a statement posted to the hospital's Facebook page, officials cited the need for costly repairs as the reason for the closure. Pinnacle Regional shut down about a month aer the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services inspected the hospital and cited it for sterile processing procedures. e health department ordered the hospital to stop performing surgery until the ster- ile processing unit was upgraded, according to KCUR. Hospital officials initially said they were working with the state to rectify the situation, but they ultimately decided to close the facili- ty instead of making the repairs. "Following further discussions with the Mis- souri Department of Health and Senior Ser- vices, it has been determined that the eco- nomic hardship of bringing the facility into compliance is too great to make the appropri- ate repairs necessary," reads the Jan. 15 state- ment from the hospital. Pinnacle Regional closed the day aer telling employees they would not be paid as sched- uled on Jan. 15, according to KOMU 8. "e inflow of cash during the holidays was extraordinarily low," Pinnacle Health Care System CFO Dale Farrell wrote in an email to employees on Jan. 14. "However, we are expecting some significant deposits this week and are optimistic paychecks will be available by [Jan.17.]" Pinnacle Health Care System bought the hos- pital in Boonville, formerly known as Cooper County Memorial Hospital, in 2018. n Rates charged by hospitals have soared, study finds By Alia Paavola T he rates hospitals charge for care, including inpa- tient, outpatient and emergency services, have sky- rocketed, according to a study published in Health Affairs. Authored by Thomas Selden, PhD, a director of research at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the anal- ysis looked at data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to determine the differences between public and private hospital payment rates, as well as hospital charges. The analysis found dramatic growth in hospital charges, which rose from three to five times Medicare payment rates by 2016. For example, emergency department charges rose to about 555 percent of Medicare payment rates in 2016, up from about 225 percent of Medicare payment rates in 1996. Inpatient charges rose from about 175 percent of the Medicare payment rates in 1996, to about 350 per- cent. Outpatient charges also grew during the time peri- od, from about 225 percent of Medicare payment rates to nearly 375 percent, according to the study. The same study also found that the gap between what private and government insurers pay hospitals widened between 2000 and 2012. However, that gap narrowed be- tween 2012 and 2016. n S P E C I A L G U E S T K E Y N O T E S John Bolton National Security Advisor (2018- 2019); U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2005-2006); Senior Adviser, Rhone Group Howard Dean MD, Former Chairman, Democratic National Committee and Former Governor of Vermont Nikki Haley Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. (2017-2019) John C. Goodman President, Goodman Institute for Public Polic y Research Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing Legend, Successful Entrepreneur and Author, The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring Shaquille O'Neal 4x NBA Champion, Co-Host of TNT's "Inside the NBA" Sarah Kliff Investigative Repor ter, The New York Times BECKER'S HOSPITAL REVIEW 6TH ANNUAL HEALTH IT + REVENUE CYCLE CONFERENCE October 13-16, 2020 | Navy Pier, Chicago REGISTER NOW! bit.ly/3bj3lnH | registration@beckershealthcare.com | 800.417.2035