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Future Search Reunion Overnight accommodations? We are considering hotel-like services. The hospital may not provide these services but may work with an outside organization to facilitate this need. Fitness Club? We want to have fitness services on the new campus and might find a partnership opportunity to facilitate. Concerns related to personal workspace? The Workplace Resources Committee will create standards for employee work environments. Updates about specific departmental workspaces will come from area managers and directors. Outside walking track? We are considering a walking track and green areas for employees to rest as well as exercise.Hall of Stars? We will photographically document the Hall of Stars and then carefully remove each star. We hope to be able to return as many of the stars as possible to the original donors as a keepsake. The program will then be revamped at the new hospital to be more flexible while still allowing parents the opportunity to display their infants' names.What will happen to the hospital’s existing location? At the moment, it is difficult to predict. The hospital will remain in full operation at the existing site for the next three years, and no plans are yet in place past that time. Architect/Construction team? We selected the construction management team of JE Dunn Construction Group, Austin; Milton J. Womack, Inc., Baton Rouge; and Arkel Constructors, Baton Rouge.Additionally, ccrd partners of Dallas was selected to work in partnership with Baton Rouge-based consulting engineering firm, Assaf, Tauzin, Simoneaux, and Associates, Inc. ABMB has been selected to provide civil engineering services for the project. Woman's administration selected HKS Architects from Dallas in association with Ford|Dickinson of Baton Rouge to provide architectural services for the project.
Universally-Sized Rooms Blocking and Stacking In April, a group of 60 people from all areas of the hospital met to determine adjacencies or what will be next to each other. The process is called blocking and stacking. This process helps to determine what will be on each floor and provides the architects enough information to determine how the overall buildings will lay out.
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WOMAN’S HOSPITAL FILES LAWSUIT TO PROTECT NEEDIEST WOMEN AND INFANTS Tuesday, October 2, 2007, Woman’s Hospital along with a number of concerned beneficiaries filed suit in federal court, seeking to secure crucial funding for medical care for the neediest women and infants of Louisiana. “The refusal of the Department of Health and Hospitals and the governor to adequately fund the care for which the state is responsible has reached such proportions as to threaten access to many services that we provide to the community at large,” said Teri G. Fontenot, President/CEO.The state has repeatedly underfunded the Medicaid program, refusing to pay the actual costs of care while increasing Medicaid eligibility. “We have attempted to work with state officials, especially over the past six years, to secure reasonable Medicaid reimbursement through an appropriate adjustment of Medicaid payment rates, to no avail,” said Fontenot. “At this point, we are faced with the remedy of last resort—filing a lawsuit to secure reasonable reimbursement as required under federal and state law.” The lawsuit specifically requests that the state be held accountable to follow the federal regulations in place that govern the Medicaid program and to comply with a 2003 state law designed to protect providers who care for large numbers of Medicaid patients. Woman’s Hospital is facing an annual Medicaid shortfall that is growing in dollars and volume of patients. The losses associated with caring for Medicaid patients grew from $12.6 million in 2005 to approximately $18 million in 2006, with Medicaid paying only 77% of the actual cost of providing care. During the hospital’s fiscal year 2007, the percent of cost covered by Medicaid reimbursement is expected to be even less. “As a stand-alone, independent hospital, Woman’s must be especially vigilant about pursuing reasonable Medicaid funding,” said Nancy Richmond, Woman’s Hospital Board Chairperson. “This hospital plays a vital role in caring for women and infants throughout the region. With the growing number of those who are covered by Medicaid, it is inappropriate and unsustainable to expect employers and private patients to cover the shortfall when they seek medical care.” Richmond and the rest of the hospital’s Board of Directors feel that hospitals owe it to their communities to do everything possible to obtain reasonable Medicaid funding, especially when the federal government pays approximately $70 of every $100 spent on Medicaid care in Louisiana. The lawsuit claims violations of the Federal Equal Access Provision, federal laws and regulations, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as state laws and regulations. By Stan Shelton In the life of every construction project, there are periods of time during which not a lot of newsworthy stuff is happening – we are in one of those periods right now. So, I thought I’d share some interesting history with you. In reviewing some concerns people have expressed about moving to the new campus, there are some amazing similarities between the problems we are addressing and the issues that our founders were faced with more than 50 years ago.
I was amazed when I read Dr. Mullins words because currently we are faced with similar circumstances. Our piece of property is located outside the "medical corridor." Specifically, 10 pieces of property were seriously considered including three possible locations within Baton Rouge's "medical corridor." However, land available near Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center and the Baton Rouge General Medical Center at Bluebonnet did not provide enough acreage to allow for future expansion. Therefore, in selecting the Briarwood location, just like 50 years ago, we are not in the medical corridor of the day, we are a little further out than we hoped and the connecting Stumberg street has not yet been completed.
Design Development  second
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We will also be hosting another mock-up room open house on October 22 for the physicians and we will continue to show groups of employees at convenient times for their areas. Managers, if you’d like to schedule a session for your staff, please call Roxanne Butler at extension 8738.Your Thoughts
Media Coverage On Thursday, September 30th, The Advocate ran a news article regarding the status of payment to Woman’s Hospital for expenses we incurred two years ago for evacuating and caring for critically ill infants from flooded New Orleans hospitals following Katrina. I understand that this news has caused some concerns about the financial impact of the $1.1 million repayment that the state is seeking. I’d like to address those concerns and also explain our plans to more openly communicate with the public on issues of importance to our patients and the community. Regarding the demand for repayment, we were first made aware of FEMA’s intention to disallow the expenses in 2006 and contacted our U.S. senators for their assistance. Since then, both Mary Landrieu and David Vitter have personally contacted high ranking FEMA officials and worked on our behalf to reverse FEMA’s plans. Julia Lively, Monique Miller, and others have met numerous times with state officials to provide detailed information to substantiate our claim for payment. A meeting has been scheduled in early October with FEMA and the state to once again demonstrate the fine work you did and try to convince them that the payment is not only justified, but in fact reasonable and appropriate given the excellent outcomes of the infants and other patients that you cared for during the disaster. We have also asked a law firm to assist us. I have also heard that employees are worried that a repayment will lead to layoffs—this is absolutely untrue. The impact of the repayment request is a one time event and we intend to fight it vigorously. If we ultimately have to repay the funds, we are prepared to do so without any negative impact to hospital operations. It seems that Woman’s Hospital has been in the news quite a bit lately and this makes some of you uncomfortable. I, too, prefer to work through issues privately. However, we have tried for months, and in some cases years, to work with the state on numerous initiatives that are critical to our ability to provide high quality, accessible care to women and infants in fulfillment of our mission with limited success. Medicaid reimbursement has deteriorated while the number of Medicaid patients is increasing, which lead to the elimination of some positions and the closure of services used primarily by Medicaid patients that were reported a few weeks ago. When we communicated these actions to you, the media heard about it, contacted our public relations office for more information and chose to publicize the actions. When we were called upon to rescue infants post-Katrina, we received a lot of news coverage and the public vividly remembers how well you performed. So when people, including the media, learn that we are not being treated fairly, they want to know more about it and how they can support us. Plans for a new hospital have community leaders and future patients very excited about the opportunities the new campus will provide. It will also eliminate many of the current problems, such as inadequate patient rooms and lack of parking. Because the economic impact of the new hospital is substantial, the media is very interested in the project so updates on the new campus are reported on regularly to keep people informed of our progress. As a treasured institution that serves the public, we have an obligation through the print and television news reporting services to keep them apprised of our activities. Our public relations department maintains an ongoing dialogue about activities at Woman’s Hospital. When we know that a news story is going to be reported we make every attempt to advise you first so that you will have the information prior to seeing or hearing it along with the public. However, the media do not always tell us if or when a news story will run, as was the case yesterday, nor do we have the opportunity to see or hear what will be communicated by the media in advance. That is why information is sometimes shared with you after a newscast or article appears in the paper. We also must be careful what we put in print or email, particularly when we have retained legal counsel, so that we don’t jeopardize our position. Finally, I’m sorry to have to write that there have been instances when emails to all employees, such as this one, have been forwarded to people outside our organization, which has lead to the need to be very careful about what is written. The entire administrative staff and I are doing our best to keep you informed through emails, opportunities for personal communication through the cafeteria visits and recent open forums, the communications board, and Small Talk, which is now available in print and online. It is very important to me that you have as much information as you want and can access it easily. But there is always room for improvement and I hope that you will let your supervisor, director, VP, or me know if there is a better and more timely way for you to have the information you need so that you can assist in spreading the word about the great work being done at Woman’s. I also encourage you to share your ideas about how we may better address the challenges and opportunities before us. |
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Printed copies of Small Talk are available near time clocks and other convenient locations. |
