Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1383677
16 CFO / FINANCE Rhode Island hospital finance chief dodged 2 layoff attempts in the last year By Alia Paavola T he chief of operations and financial management at Eleanor Slater Hospi- tal, an embattled state-run psychiatric hospital in Cranston, R.I., avoided losing his job for months despite two layoff attempts, local news station WPRI reported May 10. e station reviewed dozens of messages, re- cords and other public documents that dis- closed that the attempt to lay off Christopher Feisthamel began in October 2020. Kathryn Power, the then-director of the R.I. Depart- ment of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmen- tal Disabilities and Hospitals, which oversees Eleanor Slater, provided notice to the state of her intention to lay off multiple employees, including Mr. Feisthamel. Human resources staffers told WPRI that shortly aer that, they informed him he could choose between leaving or taking a new position with Womazetta Jones, sec- retary of Rhode Island's Executive Office of Health and Human Services, that paid about $100,000 less than his $226,000 salary. "Chris would like a few days to digest the in- formation and determine the best option for him," Pamela Moscarelli, the state's deputy personnel administrator, wrote in a Nov. 5 email to multiple state employees, including Ms. Power. Mr. Feisthamel never took the lower-paying job and WPRI confirmed that his salary and title never changed. In February, questions emerged aer a work- er with the health department sent an email confirming Mr. Feisthamel never trans- ferred to the state health and human services department. "In view of this assessment and the fact that his official transfer to EOHHS was never completed, [Mr. Feisthamel] should be in- structed to return to BHDDH effective Mon- day 2/8/2021 and report to his previous su- pervisor," a Feb. 5 email to Ms. Power read. An hour aer the email, Ms. Power sent an email to Jennifer White, who was then the interim CEO of Eleanor Slater. "God almighty … can we lay him off ??" Ms. Power wrote, according to an email obtained by WPRI. Ms. Power then received authorization to lay off Mr. Feisthamel in February. "e purpose of this letter is to advise you that your request to effectuate the layoff of Christopher Feisthamel … is approved," R.I. Department of Administration executive di- rector of human resources Kyle Adamonis wrote in an email obtained by WPRI. "Please proceed with the formal notification to Mr. Feisthamel." Once again, the layoff didn't happen, and Mr. Feisthamel continued to work at Eleanor Slater, according to the report. Eleanor Slater Hospital has been in the headlines this year. Its interim CEO, Ms. White, was removed aer a no-confidence vote by nurses and amid an investigation into the facility by the state's attorney gen- eral. She had served as interim CEO since June 2020. e move comes aer Ms. White and three other top executives at Eleanor Slater Hospital received a no-confidence vote from members of the local unit of Unit- ed Nurses and Allied Professionals. e vote also applied to the hospital's chief of medi- cal services, chief medical officer and chief nursing officer. n OU Medicine debt remains high after HCA spinout, S&P says By Morgan Haefner O klahoma City-based OU Medicine's financial outlook is stable, but its profile still reflects "very high debt levels" after its spinout from Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare in 2018, according to S&P Global Ratings. In February 2018, OU Medicine assumed ownership of OU Medical System hospital facilities in the Oklahoma City area from HCA. At the time, OU Med- icine had planned large capital investments at the medical center and said it would hire 300 employees by the end of 2018, adding $20 million to its payroll. With the upcoming launch of its Epic IT system for revenue cycle manage- ment and EHR services, OU Medicine will close the last of its transitional agreements with HCA. S&P said it views that as a "significant achievement." Outside of the HCA deal and Epic installation, OU Medicine also returned about $36 million in CARES Act grants, S&P said. S&P said it expects the health system's cash on hand to possibly be improved by increased volume, added capacity and Oklahoma's expansion of Medicaid. n IRS raises limit on health savings account contributions By Morgan Haefner T he IRS raised the annual lim- it people with high-deductible health plans can contribute to their health savings accounts. For 2022, a single person with a high-deductible health plan can put $3,650 into their HSA, and an individu- al person with family coverage can put $7,300 into their HSA. Those limitations are up $50 and $100, respectively, for next year, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. The increases are effective begin- ning in 2022. n