The Coahoma County Board of Supervisors heard details last week of what will happen Monday, May 1, when their Board of Trustees takes over the direction of the county’s hospital.
Supervisors met with hospital board of trustees attorney Ted Connell April 21 in a Special Called Meeting with Connell and Board of Supervisors Attorney Tom Ross explaining the details of the transition and the next few steps.
“We’ve held four meetings with (hospital) employees, we are putting an interim CEO and CFO in place,” said Connell. “Trustees have been working almost daily since we initially announced plans to take over the hospital from DHS.”
Supervisors signed a resolution in mid-April to sever ties with Delta Health System of Greenville, establish a local board of trustees and develop a plan to move the local hospital forward.
Supervisors also agreed to commit up to $15 million from the county $30 million Hospital Reserve Fund to help the fledgling board operate, create a budget, buy items, make changes in the physical plant and – if needed – make payroll.
Connell said the new board of trustees was now asking for $10.6 million. He and Ross explained County Administrator Kimberlyn Seals will ask the firm holding the Hospital Reserve Fund to draw down that amount. At the same time Seals will create a bank account for that money and the newly formed board of trustees will draw from that account beginning Monday.
The hospital’s new Board of Trustees is made up of: Bowen Flowers, President; Donnell Harrell, Vice-President; Tripp Hayes, Secretary; Lela Keys; and Alan Byrd.
Connell also said he and Flowers made a trip to Washington D.C. to meet with Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde Smith and Congressman Bennie Thompson to explain the hospital’s situation and seek help from them.
The hospital’s application for the “critical access” designation is presently being evaluated by the Mississippi State Department of Health, which must sign off on the application before it will be considered by federal regulators. As a critical access hospital, the Clarksdale hospital would be eligible for a larger annual Medicare reimbursement.
The main hurdle to that application is a regulation that would disqualify the Clarksdale hospital because it is located within 35 miles of other hospitals, specifically in West Helena and Marks.
In the resolution the county agreed to earlier this month, the amount needed was estimated at $12 million and supervisors were also told it could be as low as $9 million allocated over three years. Funds allocated to the hospital board can only be spent on hospital needs.
Having this line of credit will allow trustees and Stroudwater to plan for improvements at the hospital. Items that have been discusses with supervisors are new computers and software, immediate repairs, paying vendors, recruiting doctors and nurses and possibly payroll.
While the county has hired Stroudwater as a consultant, they will actually be working for and with the Board of Trustees.
Last week’s meeting was called by Board of Supervisors President Johnny Newson asking for details and plans for the Clarksdale Hospital. Newson made the motion to direct Seals to set up the mechanism to transfer hospital reserve funds to the board of trustees.
In Mississippi, hospital trustees are governed by state law.
Connell pointed out the hospital has seen a lot of mid-range employees leave. He said efforts were in the works to recruit new doctors.
The Hospital Reserve Fund was serviced by lease payments and taxes paid by all three of the previous managers (Community Health Services, Curae and Delta Health Systems) since the Hospital Reserve Fund was created in 1995.
DHS Greenville announced in August it was having cash flow problems and Clarksdale’s hospital was part of that problem.
Coahoma County Supervisors met with leaders of Delta Health System in a special called meeting Aug. 30, to discuss concerns at the Greenville hospital. The board then hired Stroudwater to gather data on the local hospital and offer solutions to revamping services at the local facility.
The board also approved a letter of engagement with the legal firm of Wise Carter of Jackson in August and gave the nod to the chamber Hospital Committee to “develop a strategy to deal with current challenges and report back to the board within two weeks.”
The Hospital Committee was charged with working under the auspices of the Economic Development Authority of Coahoma County (EDA).
Healthcare is a major industry in Coahoma County and a factor in attracting industry and jobs to a community. It is a key component to a community’s Quality of Life.
And Clarksdale is not the only hospital with concerns. Most rural hospitals in the state are struggling. It has been estimated that almost half of the state’s 64 rural hospitals are at risk of closing or at least not profitable.
The COVID-19 pandemic, rising costs due to inflation and the shortage of nurses and doctors to staff hospitals have hit rural hospitals hard. Indigent care has also been a problem with emergency rooms required to treat a patient, but no guarantee of payment.
The complexity of the issue means there are no quick fixes and Stroudwater will work with the county for at least 18 months to see if there is a solution and way to make the Clarksdale hospital profitable.
