HCHC board of trustees receive update on financial impacts to hospital due to COVID-19

HENRY COUNTY - The Henry County Health Center is seeing around a 50% decrease in revenues due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The HCHC board of trustees received an update on the hospital's COVID-19 response, including the financial impact the pandemic has had on the health center at their Tuesday meeting.

HCHC Chief Executive Officer Robb Gardner said the center's weekly revenues are 'about 50% off from what it normally is.”

'We started to stop all of our elective surgeries and nonemergent outpatient services. As you can imagine, our revenues are based almost about 80% on outpatient services so that has had a significant impact,” Gardner said. The decision to stop outpatient services is part of the effort to preserve personal protective equipment and keep both health care workers and members of the community safe.

'This has made a challenging fiscal year even significantly more challenging. We're not alone,” Gardner added. The CEO noted the 'statewide average is about 46%.”

'Like many other businesses, we are being hurt financially right now,” he said.

HCHC Chief Financial Officer David Muhs detailed some of the funds the hospital is accessing in terms of COVID-related relief. Muhs said HCHC received its application with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and received an email that the organization is 'on the docket” to be interviewed for funds.

Muhs also noted the hospital received $700,000 on April 10 from the federal stimulus which has been 'earmarked for reduction of revenue.”

'This is part of the $30 billion that went out. I believe there's another $70 billion that we really don't know how that's going to impact us yet. There's a potential for another stimulus package in the works also, from my understanding,” Muhs said.

In addition to the federal stimulus package, the CFO said he submitted HCHC's application for the Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program (SHIP), through which the hospital will receive $84,000.

'That went to computer equipment and PPE equipment up to a certain need. We should be getting that money shortly,” Muhs said.

The CFO also explained how the hospital could potentially use Medicare advance payments, a program for hospitals during the crisis.

'We'd probably get between $5-$6 billion. The thing with this is that this is a loan and per research, it's about timing and being prudent because if you pull this trigger too soon, the clock starts ticking,” he said.

Muhs explained the hospital can secure 100% of 6 months of Medicare payments and an additional 25% of payments, and would continue to be paid as usual for the following four months before the program would begin to recoup the payments for the following 12 months. Muhs said the risk with the advance payments is in not knowing how long the pandemic will last. Accessing advance payments too early would put hospitals at a 'cash crunch at some point,” Muhs said.

'If we do go down this route, my intent is that we would not use it at this point. It would just be there in case. This program is in affect as long as a national emergency is in effect,” Muhs added.

During the meeting, Gardner also reviewed steps the hospital has taken in response to the coronavirus outbreak including implementing stricter visitor restrictions, deploying face shields to all patient care givers as well as doing temperature screenings of staff at the beginning and end of their shifts. The hospital has also entered a regional partnership with Great River Health to provide a call center for Henry County Residents as well as offered a Respiratory Center Clinic.

Gardner also said the hospital is closely monitoring their supplies and currently are 'right around two weeks of necessary supplies, even closer to the two-and-a-half week mark.”

'We are prepared. As I've said before, we continue to be prepared,” Gardner said.