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Hospital board names CEO finalists
Franklin Medical Center is one step closer to naming a new administrator, after the board of directors unanimously approved a list of three finalists for in-person interviews.
At its regular meeting Monday night, the board agreed to interview Mark Chustz, of St Francisville; Blake Kramer, of Winnsboro; and Robert Leonhard, of Burlington, Kentucky.
The board conducted a national search for an administrator, after the resignation of Robert Boullion earlier this year.
Since Boullion's resignation, Terri Spence has served as interim administrator and CEO.
Kramer is a familiar face to the board. He is currently employed by the hospital as its lawyer and chief financial officer.
No date has been set for the interviews.
In other business, Franklin Medical received a clean bill of financial health from Alexandria accounting firm Lester, Miller and Wells.
Independent auditor Paul Delaney was on hand to deliver the hospital's annual audit.
This year, the medical center received an unqualified opinion, the highest possible rating in an independent audit.
"It just basically states that the financial reports are factually correct," said Delaney.
Delaney noted the hospital has performed well, despite several years declines in inpatient services.
"Every year, those patient discharges have been decreasing," Delaney said. "This is the first year they've actually leveled off and started increasing."
Delaney noted one area of concern continued to be uncollected payments from patients.
In the 2008-09 fiscal year, Delaney said the hospital posted some $2.8 million in bills that have gone more than 180 days past due.
Delaney suggested one solution to move that money off the hospital's books: turn it over to a collection agency.
Currently, the hospital pursues its own debt collection activities.
"If they can collect from a certain patient, that's good," Delaney said. "But at some point, you have to send that over to a collection agency."
Following Delaney's recommendation, the board instructed hospital staffers to develop a plan to begin turning over bad debts to collection agencies after 120 days.
Delaney's report also highlighted other good news for the hospital. According to the audit, Franklin Medical's cash position is good. Also, its current debt load was good as well.
"If you compare to other hospitals, you have relatively little debt," Delaney said.
Delaney told the board that their cash-on-hand was sufficient and outpaced many hospitals of similar size.
"Basically, you can go 131 days without any other inflows of money to spend on normal operating items," Delaney said.
Last year, the hospital only had 89 days worth of cash reserves on hand, according to Delaney.
Chief nursing officer Sheila Mason said the hospital will host a mini health fair Friday, in the hospital lobby.
She said the hospital would administer flu shots for $10 per person.
Mason told the board that, so far, there have been no confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, in Franklin Parish.
Statewide, 1,600 people have been confirmed to have swine flu.
"If you think about the curve of what's really out there, it's probably more like 115,000 that are out there," Mason said. "They're only testing hospitalized cases, though."
She recommended continued use of good hygiene practices, including washing hands, to help mitigate spread of the virus. |
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