The situation at Yoakum (Texas) Community Hospital was no different than other rural hospitals. The 25-bed critical access hospital about 80 miles outside of Austin was struggling with collections and physician relations, among other issues, according to a Community Hospital Corp. case study, and was losing money.
Yoakum and CHC had worked together in the past — in 1998, CHC set up a private organization and leased the hospital’s assets from the local hospital authority — but in 2004, the hospital and CHC worked together in earnest to get the hospital back in the black.
“It goes back to 2004. We were losing big time money,” Robert Foret, Yoakum Community Hospital’s CFO said in the report. That year, CHC started working with Mr. Foret and the rest of the leadership team to improve the facility’s finances and overall operations. CHC focused on several key areas with Yoakum’s leadership team, including:
• Upping operational accountability
• Bettering physician relations
• Creating new programs that bring in revenue
• Consolidating the business office with another CHC facility in the area
Results
Yoakum Community Hospital’s finances have improved dramatically since 2004 due to the leadership’s team imitative and help from CHC. Cash on hand days went from 10 in financial year 2004 to 41 in 2012 and earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization went from negative $182,000 to $2 million. From financial year 2005 to 2012, days in accounts receivable decreased from 59 to 24.
“With CHC resources and support, we’ve really turned the hospital around,” Mr. Foret said in the report.
