Rob Allen told Chamber members that he’s been working on getting up to speed on hospital administration. “I’ve learned enough to be dangerous,” he said. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
Sitka Community Hospital is on track to lose just as much money this year as last year, but its new CEO believes this may be rock bottom.
Rob Allen spoke to a full house at the Sitka Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Wednesday (4-1-15).
Allen circulated a report among the audience showing a line-by-line comparison between revenue-generating activity at the hospital in 2013 and 2014: The number of in-patient admissions, the number of surgeries, the number of emergency room visits, lab procedures, births, and so on. The numbers are roughly the same, except for the bottom line. In 2013 the hospital had net revenue of $236,000. In 2014 it had a net loss of $1.4-million.
Allen believes that he and his staff have pinpointed part of problem.
“One of the main reasons we got into this cash situation is the direct result of our electronic medical records system.”
Allen said the new system, implemented last May, dramatically slowed down billing. It sometimes took as long as two months to get a bill out the door. He told the chamber that there’s no point in revisiting the decision to adopt the new system; staff would prefer to put their energy towards making it work.
Nevertheless, he projected that fiscal year 2015 would also end in a loss for the hospital of about one-and-a-half million dollars. Basically, a repeat of 2014.
But Allen thinks its fixable. Just last week he signed a two-year contract to remain at the hospital as CEO — a position he originally agreed to serve in for only a few months.
“We have some tough decisions ahead of us. We’re not sustainable having these $2-million losses every year. We have to figure out what is working and what we’re going to be doing — what we’ll focus on — that will make us sustainable.”
Allen also wants to make hospital finances more transparent. He proposed involving the public in a strategic planning process that will begin with town hall-style discussions and culminate in a board retreat.
He told the chamber that he’s been pleasantly surprised by the support he’s received both in and out of the hospital — even though there are some doubters.
“But I’ve also had a fair number who have asked, Are you crazy? Why did you jump into that? Originally it was just going to be an interim position, but when I got there and started working with the staff and senior leadership, it quickly became apparent to me that there was a lot of support for this hospital. A lot of passionate and very smart people willing to work on the problems and come up with some solutions. And it’s such a great mission to provide health care for the community.”
Allen admitted the experience so far has been a crash course in hospital management. His family’s business, Allen Marine, is an important regional player in tourism. Allen himself has been out of the business and living on the east coast for six years. The unusually large Chamber audience seemed to appreciate the humor when he said that the challenge was too great to pass up, and “I’ve learned enough to be dangerous.”
