Hospital District Board sets agenda for critical change, improvements

In a ten-minute meeting, the Val Verde County Hospital District Board today, Monday, June 23, 2008, announced a body of accomplishments and goals that may set the hospital on a track of improvements toward better communication between the Val Verde Hospital Corporate Board and long-range changes to ease difficulties of management and morale at the community's only central medical center.

Board President Frank Larson called the meeting to read a statement of six actions taken, two legal steps initiated with board attorneys, and three goals for the near future. Larson read the statement and adjourned the meeting, offering to remain in the boardroom for questions by members and media representatives. Here is Larson's statement, in full:
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Public Statement 6/23/08

Here are some of the actions taken by the Val Verde County Hospital District Board since May of 2006:

1. The District Board retained the Oppenheimer, Blend, Harrison and Tate law firm of San Antonio, Texas to analyze the contractual agreements between the Hospital District and CHC. The firm will also assist in negotiations and review of future contracts on our behalf.

2. The District Board contracted with San Antonio-based Core Research to compile a very comprehensive survey of public opinion and employee issues concerning the Hospital. This report was released to the public and delivered to CHC. The findings in this report have been the catalyst for many ongoing conversations between the District Board and CHC.

3. The District Board set up formal procedures for open communications with the general public in the following areas:

a. Resolution of customer complaints;
b. Procurement of public records; and,
c. Presentation of issues and ideas to the District Board at its monthly meetings.

4. The District Board has re-activated the annual audit of the District’s funds by a certified accountant. The District Board received a favorable audit performed by Schuler and Schuler for years through 2006. This summer an audit of 2007 will be conducted.

5. The District Board has been aggressively encouraging CHC and the local Hospital Corporate Board to take administrative and/or management actions:

a. To improve patient care in all departments through better staffing levels and training;
b. To become more proactive to the needs of the staff in relation to wages, benefits, hours worked, management attitudes and training;
c. To improve communication with the physicians to prevent any animosity and miscommunication between the medical staff and the administration;
d. To be more aggressive in addressing and resolving any patient dissatisfaction;
e. To hire more permanent employees and lessen the dependence on agency nurses; and,
f. To transition semi-private rooms to private room status as space and occupancy allows.

6. At the request of the District Board, CHC and the Corporate Board are considering adding three District Board members to the Corporate Board with full voting rights and all of the powers held by the current corporate board members. This action may provide a channel for much clearer communication between the two boards and will give the citizens better representation on the Corporate Board through their elected representatives.

In the area of contract negotiations with CHC, the District Board has made the following steps through its legal counsel Oppenheimer Blend law firm:

1. A loan from the District Board to the Val Verde Hospital Corporation was established in 2000 when the first contract was initiated with CHC. This was the amount of hospital receivables that were owed to the District for services performed before the contract started but collected after that date. These monies helped provide working capital to pay salaries and operating expenses to hospital staff in the first few months before the new Val Verde Hospital Corporation and CHC started receiving payment for services rendered from the contract date forward. This loan will mature on 7/31/08. The Val Verde Hospital Corporation will be paying the amount due to the District Board at maturity in July.

2. The current lease of the hospital buildings by Val Verde Hospital Corporation from the Hospital District will come up for renegotiation on 7/31/08 for the annual rental fee only. The rent for the hospital facilities has been $100,000 annually since its inception in 2000. The District Board has requested a reasonable increase in rent.

The District Board has several goals for the near future.

1. The current contract with CHC will expire on January 30, 2010. The District Board will be working over the next few months to prepare a Request for Proposals (RFP). Many of the issues from the Korbel Report and the recent Task Forces will be incorporated into the Request for Proposals. CHC will be invited and encouraged to present a proposal for continued management of the hospital. The request for bids for a new management contract is necessary for the District Board members to ensure that the hospital district is receiving the best hospital services at the most competitive rates possible.

2. The District Board will continue to be proactive in helping to resolve the issues of citizen concern in a manner that will be economically beneficial with no great financial harm to the Hospital, even though at this time we have no administrative power under the current contract.

3. The citizens of Val Verde County have elected the Directors of the Val Verde County Hospital District Board to hold this Hospital in trust for the community. Each of the Directors understands our duty to ensure this community has a first class Hospital for the use and benefit of our citizens.
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New board member Diana Zertuche asked Larson if Hospital CEO Jack Houghton (present at the meeting with Chief Operating Officer Jose Romo) and CHC President/CEO Mike Williams, Plano, Texas, had seen the statement in advance. Larson replied they had not seen or heard it until his reading at the meeting.

Larson was also asked when the Request for Proposals to manage the hospital when the CHC contract expires would be tendered. He replied that the RFP should be ready to issue in 45 to 90 days, and that a selection from respondents should be considered within six to nine months.

"What this does is recognize that we realize there's a lot of work to be done," Larson commented.