Information received from Hospital Transition Task Force
Geary Community Hospital Transition Task Force has released information in their work , why it is necessary and business development and growth in the city
The task force includes: CEO Margaret Grismer; Facilitator Randy Peterson; Physicians Jason Butler DO, Thomas Craig MD, Anwar Khoury MD, Jimmy Jenkins MD; County Commissioner Patricia Giordano; GCH Board Trustees Theresa Bramlage, Cecil Aska, Beth Clark; Attorneys: Peter Rombold, Brooke Aziere
Geary County is on the precipice of positive change. Look around, if you are not seeing it then your eyes have been closed.
In the past 12 months, the school district celebrated the grand opening of Junction City High School, ground breaking of a new elementary on Fort Riley, and the sell and soon to be demolition of the old high school facilities.
After being designated one of three new Main Street America cities in Kansas, JC Main Street set a precedence illustrating how Main Street cities should grow. Within one year of this selection, Junction City has seen growth of current downtown businesses and the development of several new industries. We have seen the opening of G. Thomas Jewelers, The Furniture Store and Maple & Birch. There is currently renovation on the Bartell house where in the next few weeks we will see the opening of a completely renovated first floor and new restaurant. Maybe most is the new initiative to open a Microbrewery at the corner of 8th and Washington; look out summer of 2023!
If business development was not enough, last year’s Oktoberfest hosted over 4,000 people and promises to have an even greater showing this year. Most recently the spotlight has transitioned to the successful expansion of Fourth of July activities to include the Sundown Salute’s inaugural opening in Milford City, while Junction City is hosting their inaugural event now known as Freedom Fest.
Junction City has seen record sales’ tax revenue, continued debt reduction, increased cash on hand while progressively increasing its spending on city improvements.
Between business development, city revenue and ever expanding local events, the economics of Geary County seem promising now; but where is our future? The short-term future is now solely dependent on Geary County’s third largest economic sector; healthcare.
From a macroeconomic perspective, healthcare weighs heavily on business decisions while having an economic ripple effect across all industries. When businesses expand to new locations they weigh several options but in many cases healthcare can be the tie breaker.
A community that provides high quality, compassionate health care has healthier citizens and a substantially better quality of life. A healthy citizenry from the youngest child to oldest retirees will be active and engaged in the community, leading to a growing and vibrant Junction City. People will want to stay and be attracted to the region.
Being co-located with Fort Riley, Home to the Big Red One, the county has a large retiree population who are an essential backbone of our eco-system. Retirees typically spend a substantial amount of money in our community. The absence of good healthcare is equivalent to the absence of these incredible retirees.
Finally, to emphasize the impact of a hospital on a community you do not have to look far to see a real-life community who lost their local hospital. In 2015, Independence Kansas’ hospital closed. Residents today still vividly recall the panic, fear, and grief that accompanied the closing announcement.
The Kansas Leadership Center’s publication, The Journal, writing about the hospital closing, detailed the initial impact noting that the transition unfolds chaotically. Finding regional providers to fill in the gaps is possible, but filling every hole left by the absence of a hospital is difficult, if not impossible, to do on the fly. It sets up a scramble.
The majority of healthcare soon falls on the shoulder of a city’s Emergency Management System, quickly absorbing public revenues and straining the capacity of the EMS professionals. Healthcare professionals in Independence have vacated the city not only taking high paying jobs but also cutting into the dynamic of a community’s volunteer and charitable capability.
It is quite possible that the things that helped Independence weather the closing was its proximity to six hospitals within a 20-mile radius but most impactful was the building of an emergency facility by the neighboring Labette County Health System. As residents say, “We were lucky.”
As we bring you back to our local community we want to shift your eye towards the most recent report by the Kansas Hospital Association which lays it all on the line. In summary, health care is economics; and without it, it is unlikely the economic expansion we are enjoying will continue.
This report was completed in cooperation with K-State Research and Extension department and stated healthcare in the United States typically ranks among a regions 5 jobs and income sectors. Healthcare in Geary County is ranked 3rd behind the government sector and services. The Geary County healthcare sector employs 1,918 people which is equivalent to 5.6% percent of all job holders. Our health care sector also ranked 3rd in payer of wages and total income.
To make this more relevant and to give this a dollar value. Geary Community Hospital has a direct income impact of $156,552,000, with an economic multiplier of 1.11 which translates to a total impact of $173,514,000. There is essentially $16,962,000 in ripple effect economics. The hospital has a retail sales impact of $45,784,000 and $572,000 in sales tax. From a jobs
perspective, every 1 job created in our healthcare sector creates another 0.36 jobs. What does that mean? GCH is a massive economic driver for the community.
Why does this matter?
Over the past nine weeks a transition planning task force composed of a County Commissioner, County Council, GCH Executive Board Members, Interim CEO, GCH physicians and a facilitator have been meeting to evaluate the current status of GCH and to consider potential plans for financial viability going forward. The task force has recognized the crucial financial challenges that Geary Community Hospital is going through with the consistently negative operating margin over the past 5+ years and their depleted cash reserves.
It does not take a Masters level education to understand that more than 5 years of depleted cash reserve leads to financial despair, shuttered doors and ultimately city degradation, bringing all of the recent progress to a halt.
What is being done?
The writing was on the wall and the transition task force made many changes over the past nine weeks and is actively implementing its plan. To date this has included hiring an interim CEO, engaging BKD, LLP to complete a thorough margin improvement analysis which has evaluated the current GCH cost structure and revenue capture. GCH Board has terminated the management contract with CHC. The Interim CEO has secured interim financial leadership to assist in the transition phase and the County Commission has agreed to provide up to $3.5M in financial support to GCH. These funds have been utilized for the BKD assessment and plan, pay down accounts payable and to support operational cash flow needs. The absence of these funds could mean the absence of local healthcare.
Over the next 60 days a plan will be developed from this study to increase net revenue, decrease costs and improve operating margin.
A few strategies for the Task Force over the next 90 to 120 days are key to success for healthcare in Geary County. This begins with implementing the BKD Margin Improvement plan, while forming a leadership team that includes operational, clinical, financial and human resource expertise. Develop a staffing model and recruit/retain critical staff for this model. Conduct and implement a compensation analysis for all GCH staff that leads to a plan for GCH to pay market competitive rates for all job classes. Create and implement a robust, excellent primary care delivery model that addresses the health needs of Geary County and maximizes the Rural Demonstration designation.
The biggest take away includes engaging a robust healthcare partner that can provide the needed corporate infrastructure to make GCH successful in the future. Which may include full integration into another healthcare system to realize the full benefits leading to long term viability.
To achieve economic sustainability and vitality of Geary County, the hospital must remain open because to lose your healthcare is to lose your health and your community.