In yet another shot at the Open Our Hospital campaign, Jim Horn and Rollie have teamed up here:
https://www.sonomawest.com/sonoma_we...3b4f1cc04.html
Here is my response:
Sadly, Jim Horn continues his history of disinformation in this piece and Rollie aids and abets by printing what he knows to be false without presenting the true facts.
Let’s look at Horn’s statements and compare to the facts:
Horn: ‘Forty percent of SWMC’s projected new income comes from a “No Wait Emergency Room” similar to one developed at St. Helena Hospital in 2009.’
Fact: The plan for SMWC identified a number of opportunities for increasing revenue and is not dependent on any one of these to come to full fruition. What was identified was a range of growth opportunities of which, 1/3 might come to fruition. No Wait ER, was one of these opportunities.
The plan anticipates even more opportunities to be identified and developed as the business unfolds. Since it was written, A Geriatrician, a Breast Cancer Specialist, a Plastic Surgeon who specializes in wound care, a pain management physician and an additional General Surgeon have all been identified and shown interest in joining SWMC. None of these are listed in the plan yet half have already committed.
Horn: ‘However, there was no 50 percent increase in No Wait ER visits at St. Helena. State records show that ER visits increased by an average of about 3 percent a year from 2005 through 2014, with no appreciable difference in long-term trends before or after introduction of the No Wait in 2009. In terms of increasing visits, the success of the No Wait ER is a myth.’
Fact: Here is the information provided by the St. Helena ER physician group: ‘In the first quarter of 2009 the average [of ER visits] was about 14 daily visits and still falling. As we introduced the "No Wait" program the volume picked up. The early results were not as robust as later when the plan matured and we learned to optimize our promotional methods. By 2010 we did have some months averaging 21 daily visits… In just the last six months, according to the physician data, the SH ER visits have not dropped below 21 daily as an average and monthly average has been as high as 25 daily visits. Keep in mind this is in a community of 5,000, an area of 20,000, and over a half hour from next city, Napa, with only 100,000 people in that city. Thus, the geographic reach needed to pull in no wait patients is great.’
Horn’s own statement also rebuts his message that ‘the success of the No Wait ER is a myth’ when he states: ‘But state records do show a startling increase at St. Helena in inpatient admissions from the ER during this period. From 2008 to 2009, the rate of admissions more than doubled in the most severe category of ER patients. The rate of admissions increased yet again in 2010 and has remained high ever since. For the next most severe category of ER patients, the rate of inpatient admissions tripled between 2008 and 2010. Given St. Helena’s average net revenue per admission, this jump would have increased profits by nearly $10 million in just two years.’
To get around this obvious improvement in financial results at the time a No Wait ER was put into place, Horn wants us to believe that there was something fishy about this improvement and uses unproven allegations as his ammunition as follows:
Horn: ‘And a whistleblower lawsuit, recently settled by St. Helena’s parent company, Adventist Health, may shed light on this change. Terry Newmyer was the only individual defendant named in the suit among a host of corporate entities.’
Fact: Actually, the suit as filed named 28 John Does in addition to corporate entities and Terry Newmyer. It is standard practice to name the CEO in a lawsuit with any organization and to try to attribute blame to the actions of the CEO in order to pierce the corporate veil.
After listing some of the unproven allegations of the complaint, Horn adds: ‘Adventist Health did agree last month to pay $2.25 million to settle the complaint.’
Fact: Horn conveniently fails to inform the reader of any of the following: a) The settlement had nothing to do with the allegations of the original complaint. b) The settlement found no wrong doing by Terry Newmyer c) The settlement was for matters that had nothing to do with admissions from the Emergency Room d) The settlement was for practices started 18 months BEFORE Terry Newmyer was hired and e) The settlement acknowledged no wrong doing by any individual. Yet Horn still claims: ‘Given all this, it’s unlikely that a rebranded ER at SWMC will produce any significant new income.’
Horn: ‘On the expense side, the Foundation plans to reduce expenses by, among other things, cutting employee salary and benefits down to “industry averages”…In this case, the Foundation plans to cut labor costs to only 52 percent of patient revenues.’
Fact: The Sonoma West Medical Center calls for salaries and benefits to be 55% of net patient revenue, only 2% below 2010 when the hospital was last profitable. The SWMC plan anticipates outsourcing a number of services and creating efficiencies in middle management to accomplish this goal. The plan calls for only 3 less employees than were working for Palm Drive in early 2014 once full revenue has been reached. This plan has been very carefully worked out by experienced hospital administrators and CFOs.
The unfortunate truth is that Jim Horn is well aware of the information I have provided here since it was sent to him some time back. I leave it to the readers to understand his motives for trying to keep our hospital closed, I certainly do not.
Dan Smith