Hospital Sees Greater Profits This Year
By Ryan Schlehuber

An increase in patients using Mackinac Straits Hospital for rehabilitation and recovery after surgery have boosted the hospital's profits to $181,934 in the first four months of its fiscal year, a considerable improvement over this time last year, when the hospital suffered a $381,866 deficit. The walk-in clinic and increased availability of specialists here have augmented the increase in profits, the hospital board of trustees learned Monday, August 27, in a report from Jason Anderson, the chief financial officer.

The board was reminded at the meeting by its auditor, WIPFLi of Green Bay, just how rough last year was.

Auditor representative Steve Thompson said net assets for Mackinac Straits Hospital's 2007 fiscal year, which ended March 31, decreased 18.5% from the year before, from $3.7 million to $3 million.

Mackinac Straits Hospital, which employs 250 people, has had to find ways to cut $900,000 from expenses. Some staff positions have been eliminated, however, most employees were given the option to transfer into another department and be retrained for another position within the hospital.

Hospital administrators hope the first four months of this fiscal year is the start of a strong recovery, especially with potential state cuts to Medicaid looming in October and the upcoming construction of a new facility in St. Ignace.

"Overall, the first four months are encouraging, and August is looking pretty well, too," Mr. Anderson told the board.

He attributes the turnaround to an increased number of patients in Medicare "swing beds" program, which allows small critical access hospitals like Mackinac Straits to provide necessary medical care and rehabilitation to Medicare patients.

"We've been doing a lot more recruiting [of patients at Northern Michigan Hospital] that we weren't doing before," said Mr. Anderson, pointing out that Mackinac Straits Hospital's director of the hospital's emergency department and acute care, Tamie Hartwig, visits the regional referral hospital in Petoskey each week, checking on local patients, offering them a chance to recuperate closer to home.

Medicare provides coverage for up to 100 days for each patient in the swing bed program.

Much of the Medicaid money that used to fund long term care is now funding home health care, which isn't as costly, so the hospital is putting more emphasis on providing swing bed rehabilitation services. Swing beds can only be used if all the long term care beds are occupied, however, so last year the hospital eliminated all of the empty long term care beds from its state license, dropping the number from 91 to 75.

"I think it's important that people realize why we didn't have any swing beds last year is because we couldn't use swing beds if we had room left over in our Long Term Care unit," said Richard Smith, the board vice chairman. "Then Tamie [Hartwig] went to work and began contacting people at Northern Michigan [Hospital]."

Since then, Mackinac Straits has had 686 days of swing bed occupancy so far this fiscal year, with 234 in July. Last fiscal year, not a single patient was occupying a swing bed until sometime in August, said Mr. Anderson.

The increased demand for patient care has required the hospital to add four temporary employees, including three certified nurse aides and a registration clerk. Another full-time person has been added to the radiology department, which will now provide physicians to have full-time capabilities of the hosptial's CAT scan.

In addition to the hospital's more efficient swing bed program and long term care service, specialists from Northern Michigan Hospital also have been available at Mackinac Straits Hospital more often, providing Mackinac County patients with care closer to home.

"We have a better relationship with Northern Michigan Hospital and our patients," Mr. Anderson said, "and it's showing."