Dear readers, let me commend to you a way to spend a rainy Saturday: at the Blue Hill Public Library, thumbing through old editions of our local newspaper, The Weekly Packet. What a wonderful record of local history is contained in these old papers!
Those who find change annoying will be relieved to know that some news never changes. From year to year, from the start of the Packet in the 1960s, government reimbursement was reported to be insufficient, the hospital struggled financially, yet the trustees and administration expressed confidence in the future.
They were right. We are still here. And those leaders of the past handed down their legacy to successors who also believe better days are ahead.
Government reimbursement is still insufficient. Our fiscal year 2005 saw challenges in the form of:
* A hospital tax that drained $260,000 in cash from our accounts.
* A hospital study commission that debated the closure of hospitals and the elimination of thousands of healthcare jobs, before settling on a recommendation to impose a new layer of bureaucracy on our healthcare system in the form of a "Hospital Consortium."
* An increase, to $856,000, in the amount of overdue payments from the state Medical Assistance program.
We still struggle with our finances. For fiscal year 2005, we expect to post an operating loss significantly greater than our budgeted loss of $297,462. Despite the variance, we feel that we are headed in the right direction and can improve our financial position.
In most areas, our volumes, revenues, and expenses were right on target or better than budget. The variance from our budgeted performance is primarily explained by three things. First, we realized the costs of including full-time physicians in our Emergency Department and we started a Hospitalist program. Second, we recognized losses from prior fiscal years. And third, we saw significant losses from the State of Maine's tax and match program.
When I look at the past year and compare it to the other years of our history, I think we did something of lasting importance for our community. We agreed to become a member hospital of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems. This affiliation will help us meet the quality standards of the future, increase the availability of healthcare services in our community, and enhance our financial viability - while preserving local control of our hospital and the culture of personalized care that we cherish.
And our board and administration continue to express confidence in the future. Here are some key features of our budget for fiscal year 2006:
* A 3.5% cost-of-living adjustment for our employees. This is the largest across-the-board pay increase BHMH has provided since 1996;
* Improvement over FY 2005's financial performance. Our strategic plan calls for a positive margin in the following fiscal year;
* Total operating revenue increase of $2,785,000 or 11.6%;
* Total expense increase of $2,114,000 or 8.5%;
* A targeted price increase of 6%. Average charges at BHMH will continue to be among the lowest of any hospital in Maine;
* Start up of the Hand & Shoulder Center;
* Anticipation of $655,000 in state taxes, as a consequence of the tax and match program;
* A capital equipment and renovations budget of more than $700,000.
Like the Founders and those who followed, we believe the challenges of the present day can be mastered. We have faith in the future. Our confidence is based as ever on our wonderful employees and medical staff and the steadfast support of the communities we serve. There is a resilience in this health system, a stubbornness of the finest kind, refined through years of practice. Some rainy Saturday, many years hence, you can read about it in an old issue of the Packet.
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