Bay Area Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Brad Kessel, left, chats with eye opener breakfast speaker Alice Gerard, RN, of president and CEO of Bay Regional Medical Center, and Chamber President/CEO Mike Seward.

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Health Care 'As We Know It' Will Change Starting Next Year Says Bay Med CEO

Local Hospital So Far Avoiding Nursing Shortage That is Hitting Others

June 9, 2010
By: Dave Rogers

Jerry Crete of Ideal Party Store, (at microphone) and his father, Roy (seated) receive the chamber brick award for their new west side location on Salzburg Avenue.
(MyBayCity Photo by Dave Rogers)

Hospital association officials are still trying to predict the effects of the reform legislation passed by Congress this year.

Reform provisions are to phase in over 10 years, presenting an "extremely complex" picture, says Alice Gerard, RN, president and CEO of Bay Regional Medical Center.

In response to a question, Ms. Gerard said the affiliation with Flint's McLaren Health Care Corporation in 2001 "has helped a lot," especially in group purchasing by the seven hospitals in the McLaren group, third party negotiations and other combined activities. "It has definitely been a plus as a hospital to be part of the McLaren Health Care Corporation," she concluded.

Ms. Gerard was the speaker last Tuesday at another in a series of well-attended "eye opener" breakfasts of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce at the Bay Valley Resort Hotel.

BRMC last year provided more than 78,000 inpatient days of care and outpatient care for nearly 275,000 persons. The hospital admitted 17,480 persons, delivered 928 babies and performed 11,126 surgeries.

"If party lines change," the health care reform legislation could be altered, a potentiality that is "certainly possible," commented Ms. Gerard.

A new provision of the law will become effective every year through 2018, according to Ms. Gerard, creating "some very good outcomes because everyone will be insured."

The legislation, officially called the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," would expand health insurance coverage to an additional 32 million people by 2019, she said.

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the new law is the requirement that all U.S. citizens obtain coverage or face a tax penalty.

Hospitals like Bay Med, which has 2,046 employees, is Bay County's largest employer and has annual payroll of $92.3 million, will have to take reductions in Medicare reimbursements over 10 years -- calculated to cost the local hospital $76 million. "However, this doesn't take into account all individuals who now don't have health insurance," she said. "All hospitals are trying to calculate the effect of that provision."

Gina Kellogg of Citizens Bank and Tim Quinn of Bay County tell of benefits to employers of the Saginaw Valley Society of Human Resource Management.
(MyBayCity Photo by Dave Rogers)

Good parts of the bill cause hospitals to be accountable for the quality of care, such as the penalty for infections or for patients who return within 30 days to be treated for the same cause, she said.

There will be enhanced monitoring of fraud and abuse; hospitals that do well will be rewarded and those who do poorly will be penalized, she noted.

Health insurance plans now are prohibited from denying children coverage based on pre-existing conditions, a provision that will be extended to adults in 2014.

Even though Medicaid, a state program provides health care coverage for 1.8 million Michiganians (one in six), Michigan hospitals last year provided $240 million in charity care and experienced $557 million in noncollectable costs. BRMC last year had $9.9 million in charity care and $9.6 million in noncollectable costs, according to the hospital president.

BRMC is part of the Michigan Hospital Association that represents 144 institutions, she noted.

Meanwhile, a shortage of nurses made worse by difficulty nursing school graduates are having in finding jobs is not affecting Bay Med, said Ms. Gerard. Local nurses are not retiring in the same numbers as is occurring elsewhere, she said. A major problem, raised by a member of the audience, is that nursing students must wait three years to take the clinical portion of their training. ###

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Dave Rogers
Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read, respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City. More from Dave Rogers

nd 09-02-2010