Hospital Finishes February in the Red, Still Showing Profit for Fiscal Year
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville Community Hospital posted an operating loss of $77,638 and a net loss of $46,140 for the month of February. However, the year-to-date figures show an operating income of $128,408 and a net income of $436,669.
Net income/loss includes non-operating expenses and revenue.
The 2013 budget approved at Monday's regular board meeting projects an overall income of $563,908 for the coming fiscal year. Gross revenue for the coming year is projected at $32,787,171. Net revenue drops to $19,012,944 after subtracting nearly $13 million in estimated bad debt, financial need, insurance discounts and losses through Medicare and Medicaid. Insurance companies get about a 20 percent discount on costs. Medicare pays costs, while Medicaid reimburses at a level below cost for medical services. Operating expenses are projected at $18,854,039.
In other business, the board:
approved a premium increase for employee health insurance and a co-pay increase from $10 to $20 beginning May 1. Healthcare costs have risen 7.5 to 8 percent over the last year. PCH is self-insured. Each year the hospital adjusts premiums based on the change from the previous year. The hospital pays 78 percent of the cost for employee healthcare and employees pay 22 percent. The division of cost will not change.
approved a cap of two times the annually accrued vacation days for employees. Vacation will still be accrued at the same rate. However, the hospital will pay the employee for any vacation time above twice the annual accrual rate at the end of each year. The payments will be made in January. Capping vacation time limits potential liability for the hospital and reduces overall costs. Vacation time will be paid at the employees current rate instead of being allowed to accumulate indefinitely then paid, at a potentially higher rate of pay, when the employee leaves.
tabled a discussion on capping the number of sick leave hours accumulated at 480 per year. The board wanted to be sure that employees who become ill would not face gap between FMLA coverage and long-term disability coverage. The issue will be addressed at the next meeting.