Becker's Hospital Review

12 CFO / FINANCE 14 hospital closures to know By Ayla Ellison F rom reimbursement landscape challenges to dwindling patient volumes, many factors lead hospitals to shut down. In the past year, financial damage linked to the COVID-19 pandemic has put many hospitals in a fragile financial position and forced a few to close. Below are 14 hospitals that have closed from July 2020 to July 2021. 1. MercyOne Oakland (Neb.) Medical Center closed July 1 aer years of declining inpatient and emergency department volumes. While in- patient and emergency services ended, clinics at MercyOne Oakland and its affiliate, Lyons (Neb.) Family Medicine, remain open. 2. Community HealthCare System-St. Marys (Kan.) closed in June, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. e Sheps Center defines a hospital closure as the cessation in the provision of inpatient services. e hospital's clinic remains open, and physical, occupational and speech therapy, X-ray, laboratory and other services are available. 3. Cancer Treatment Centers of America closed its hospital in Tulsa, Okla., in May. e hospital attributed the closure to patient access pressures and insurance limitations in the local market. About 400 employees were affected by the closure. 4. Olympia Medical Center, a 204-bed hospital in Los Angeles, closed March 31. Irvine, Calif-based Alecto Healthcare Services, a private company, sold the hospital in January to UCLA Health. UCLA Health told Becker's Hospital Review in March that it is preparing to renovate the facility and exploring services to offer. 5. Jellico (Tenn.) Medical Center closed March 1, days aer the city council voted to send a contract termination notice to the hospital's operator, Rennova Health. Rennova management said the city coun- cil's contract termination decision le the company with no option but to close the hospital. 6. Heights Hospital in Houston closed Jan. 18 aer its management failed to pay rent. e hospital was once an acute care facility but was offering outpatient and specialty care when it closed. Heights Hospi- tal filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June. 7. Kansas City, Mo.-based Saint Luke's Health System closed two community hospitals in Overland Park, Kan., on Dec. 30. "Two of our locations have seen lower patient volumes since opening, and as we look at ways to provide care while operating as efficiently as possi- ble during this challenging time, we have made the decision to close these two locations," Bobby Olm-Shipman, Saint Luke's South and East Region CEO, said while announcing the closure of the locations in October. 8. Perry Community Hospital in Linden, Tenn., laid off its workers and closed Nov. 27, according to a notice filed with the state Dec. 8. 9. Northridge Medical Center, a 90-bed hospital in Commerce, Ga., closed Oct. 31. e hospital closed less than seven years aer opening its doors on Jan. 1, 2014. It cited a decline in patient volume as the reason for the closure. Hospital leaders said all other options were explored before deciding to shut down Northridge Medical Center. 10. Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center in Cuthbert closed Oct. 22. e 25-bed critical access hospital announced plans in July 2020 to close. e hospital closed due to financial strain worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. 11. Shands Lake Shore Regional Medical Center in Lake City, Fla., closed Aug. 31. e hospital, owned by the Lake Shore Hospital Au- thority, announced in July 2020 that it was closing. e hospital said it had to borrow money to maintain operations, and declining patient volume and financial challenges resulted in losses that were unsustainable. 12. Cumberland River Hospital in Celina, Tenn., closed Aug. 7, 2020, and placed its license on inactive status. In a letter to the state health department, the hospital's owner and CEO, Johnny Presley, cited sev- eral reasons for the closure, including severe staffing shortages and the inability to secure financial funding or grants from the state. Mr. Presley later said the main cause of the closure was the local EMS not bringing patients to the hospital. 13. Bluefield (W.Va.) Regional Medical Center closed July 30, 2020. Officials said the decision to shut down the hospital was based on several factors, including declining patient volume and re- imbursement rates, and significant financial damage tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. 14. First Texas Hospital Cy-Fair, a 50-bed hospital in Houston, closed July 26, 2020, less than four years aer opening. Irving, Texas-based Adeptus Health opened First Texas Hospital Cy-Fair in 2016. When the hospital shut down, 62 workers were laid off, according to the Houston Chronicle, which cited a federally required notice. n OIG tags 820-bed Kentucky hospital for billing errors By Alia Paavola J ewish Hospital, an 820-bed facility in Louisville, Ky., reportedly failed to comply with Medicare billing requirements for several claims reviewed by HHS' Office of Inspector General, according to an Aug. 18 audit report. The hospital failed to comply with Medicare billing re- quirements for 38 of 100 inpatient and outpatient claims reviewed, the OIG found. The billing errors allegedly resulted in overpayments of $705,976 for the period reviewed. Based on results of the 100-claim sample, the OIG estimated that Jewish Hospital was overpaid $13.5 million during the audit period of 2017 to 2018. The OIG provided several recommendations to the hospital, including that it should refund Medicare $13.5 million, report and return any additional overpayments, and strengthen its policies to ensure compliance with Medicare's billing requirements. In written comments to the OIG's draft report, the hos- pital disputed almost all of the OIG's findings except for billing errors identified in three outpatient claims. After reviewing the hospital's objections and comments, the OIG maintained its findings and recommendations. n

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