Alderman Rachael Moyer added to city council’s agenda on Monday Sept. 8 – an update on Hospital finances – having reviewed documents provided by the Hospital commission and facilitated by City Financial Director Michael Akins.
“We’ve been asking a question for seven months and that question is, what is the status of the financials for the hospital?” Moyer asked. “We’ve gone at it a lot of different ways and I think at the end there should be an answer about what the actual financial status is. We’ve been told that the hospital is breaking even or even making a profit, but the truth is that when you look at the financial record there’s a couple of things that stand out.
“One of those is that the bank account showed a decrease of over $2.1 million. That doesn’t suggest a break-even. The other thing that sort of came out from the workshop was this aging accounts receivable, a liability that’s been carried on the balance sheet.” She said the hospital failed to have a debt policy, contrary to history of monthly posted bad debt.
“If the hospital applied a federally adopted rule for bad debt” Moyer said, “and this is coming from the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services – anything aged over 120 days would be written off, and that means it would be moved from the balance sheet to the income statement.
“If you apply the federal standard of 120 days to the hospital’s accounts receivables schedule, it reveals that the hospital is failing to acknowledge a $1.1 million loss. So simplified, the reduced bank balance of $2.1 million and a $1.1 million amount in bad debt is less revenue – that’s what’s being reported to the council and the commission since the beginning of the year. That does not look like breaking even or a profit, that looks like a significant loss to me.”
Moyer concluded, “I hate being in this position, seemingly every meeting. But I do feel it is the responsibility of this council to respond to the community who brought this issue to us months ago, and we’ve done our best to follow through and I’m proud of this group for doing that.” She recommended third-party review and reconciliation of finances, as well as a revised 2025 budget.
Hospital CEO Tiffany Means was in the audience, and Mayor Butch Berry invited her forward. Means said there is a need for better communication and that she is working on getting a better grasp of hospital finances, noting she’s only been present “thirty-some days.” She said the hospital’s numbers were growing and that regaining trust will take time, saying she had a positive outlook for improvement by the end of the year.
Moyer addressed Means, “I feel for you in your position and that is actually part of what fuels me to continue to come here to the table and to say these things, because what I see in the financials is negligence and I hate for you to come into this position and to offer the leadership that the hospital needs and not have a solid financial footing under you.”
Means then shared that the hospital had only one contract-employee left. “We have hired a lot in the last thirty days. If you can imagine, three contractors equal around $52,000 savings over 13 weeks.”
Alderman David Avanzino asked if there is a bad debt policy written yet. Means said not that she could recall, “but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t one.” Means reported the hospital “officially finished our first full week, fully staffed, with our own staff,” telling alderman Harry Meyer that the lab has “fully qualified staff, 24 hours a day.”
In the ensuing discussion, alderman Susane Gruning raised concerns about former hospital staff and suggested creating action items to ensure follow-up on issues.
Berry interrupted, saying personnel matters are past issues and not for council discussion. Gruning explained she simply wanted to receive confirmation that certain actions were being carried out, such as an independent investigation to ensure the hospital is not operating under a hostile work environment.
Berry countered that a third-party attorney had already reviewed one case and found no grounds to proceed. Gruning said she was not aware of that, and clarified that council only wanted confirmation that an investigation had occurred, not personnel details. Means said that for the span of the last six months, about 80 percent of hospital staff were “new coworkers.” She set an intention before council to hold a 360-degree review now, and every six months.
Other Business:
- Commissioners Sharon Deramus and Willie Daniels were reappointed to Hospital Commission.
- Standing in for Simon Wiley was Deputy Director of Public Works, Sean Mellon. He reported that the leak on Van Buren over Labor Day weekend was an 8-in. main transition line that was unable to be stopped, which meant the crew had to repair it “hot.” Additionally, it was sitting in bedrock, which took a day to break through. That, along with the leaks on Armstrong and Prospect have been repaired, and a small one on Douglas remained.
- Fire Chief Gary Inman circled back with council to answer questions raised during the July 27 meeting, when Inman first requested approval for ambulance rate increases stemming from Arkansas State Act 867 of 2025. Inman and legal counsel suggested the simplest fix is to create an amendment allowing the ambulance service to charge healthcare insurers the 325 percent of the Medicare Ambulance Fee Schedule, as allowed in Act 867. This would mean rates would not need to be continually updated as rates change. Aldermen motioned to defer so that proper language could be drafted.
Council’s next meeting is Monday, Sept. 22, 6 p.m. in the Aud basement.