Trinity County Grand Jury
• 2007-2008
AUG - $ 2008 Superior Court of California a / County of Trinity By: Donna Hpi!ove s. :.1Pirrlf Trinity County Grand Jury*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 7 findings
F1
A special tax assessment was voted into law and is being levied on property owners in Trinity County. Many of the general public had the impression that the special tax money would be used to pay down the debt with vendors, not for operating costs. It is also unclear to the general public as to how the specific annual amount of the special tax was determined. In spite of the special tax assessment, Trinity Hospital has made no progress in paying down its debt. In fact, without the special tax money, the hospital would be unable to meet month to month operating costs. As of January 31, 2008, Trinity Hospital was still not making a monthly profit. The most recent information prior to the writing of this report is there was a net loss of $14,409 in March of 2008 and a total loss of $168,133 for the first three months of 2008.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Improve the communication between medical staff and the billing department by emphasizing timely and accurate charting, followed up by timely and accurate billing to gain the best advantage for Medicare/Medi-Cal and private insurance reimbursements. Explore all options to negotiate our burden of debt with vendors (a form of bankruptcy called Chapter 11). Explore all avenues for securing grant funding to offset the Governor's budget cuts that will affect rural hospitals.
F2
The intention of the Board of Directors and top hospital management is to move forward with the purchase of the Hayfork Clinic. There is public concern and controversy regarding this intention.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Inform the general public regarding the process of arriving at the purchase price of the Hayfork Clinic and obtaining an appraisal. Public meetings should be held in Hayfork to gain information regarding the willingness of the citizens of Hayfork and surrounding area to support the clinic by making their medical appointments locally instead of driving to Weaverville or Redding. Consideration needs to be made for the expense of a "benefit package" for employees. Monthly financial statements of the clinic should continue to be scrutinized if this transaction reaches escrow.
F3
It is difficult to recruit qualified professional staff to a small rural hospital. The hire of three contracted and qualified RNs from India increased the legal patient load to ten beds. However, it was not economically feasible to renew this contract, so the three RN's were let go which drops the legal bed availability to five.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
More effort should be expended for Trinity Hospital personnel to work in conjunction with the Trinity Chamber of Commerce to market this area directly to a number of nursing schools since hiring of employees by the hospital is less expensive than through a contracted company. Trinity Hospital should look into developing its own web site through the talent of local computer experts.
F4
The convalescent hospital (skilled nursing facility) consistently makes a profit. The Weaverville Health Clinic and the Dental Clinic have never shown a profit.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
The Weaverville Health Clinic and Dental Clinic need to be monitored over the next 6-12 months to see whether a more positive pattern develops. Explore all options to increase space and staffing so that the convalescent hospital (skilled nursing facility) could be expanded.
F5
There is neither a plan for what happens at the end of 2011 nor is there a fund to make any needed structural repairs on the building or required earthquake retrofits by 2013.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
It is understood that a first strategic planning session took place in February of 2008. The public needs to be kept informed of such planning sessions. A schedule for regular meetings needs to be made and announced in the Trinity Journal. The Trinity Journal also needs to have an opportunity to report on the results of the planning sessions.
F6
The hospital district has weathered a number of difficult staffing changes of key employees during 2007-2008 that could potentially jeopardize the operating efficiency of Trinity Hospital.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
Strategic planning sessions could address planning for the potential loss of key hospital officials. A contingency plan needs to be in place for the replacement of key administrative and medical officials in order to continue smooth operating procedures and service delivery to the community.
F7
The Board of Directors and top hospital management are diligent and dedicated to improving the financial situation for Trinity Hospital so that the citizens of Trinity County will continue to have access to emergency medical services and the ongoing medical services of a local clinic and dental clinic.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
The hospital board meets the third Wednesday of every month at 6 P.M. at the Weaverville Library. Members of the public who have concerns and questions are encouraged to attend and participate in these meetings. If the Hayfork Clinic is purchased, the possibility of rotating occasional board meetings to Hayfork could be considered in order to encourage participation from the community of Hayfork. It is recommended by the Grand Jury of 2007/2008 that future Grand Juries continue to review the financial situation of Trinity Hospital and report such findings to the public on an annual basis. This could be done by the Health and Human Services Committee, as was done in 2007/2008. Since Trinity Hospital is a special district, the Special District Committee of the Grand Jury could also give specific attention to the hospital on an annual basis. Consideration needs to be made to form an "Oversight Committee" of community members who regularly attend board meetings. The Oversight Committee would monitor progress and offer input to the board that could be invaluable in improving the perception of trust and collaboration between the citizens of Trinity County and MCHD/Trinity Hospital. . TECENELAUG 27 2008THOS COUNTY Owned and Operated by Mountain Communities Healthcare District To: James P. Woodward Presiding Judge of Trinity Superior Court Claire M. Kuczkowski, CEO From: Mountain Communities Healthcare District (MCHD) August 22, 2008 Date: Re: 2007-2008 Trinity County Grand Jury Report Mountain Communities Healthcare District/Trinity Hospital On behalf of the Board of Directors of Trinity Hospital, owned and operated by Mountain Communities Healthcare District and myself, I wish to express our appreciation for the Final Report from the Trinity County Grand Jury Health and Human Services Committee. I am responding to the seven (7) individual finding in the order of presentation as described in the report dated August 1, 2008.
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.