Dear Sir:
To hand certain figures from the agency formerly known as H.R.S. It is clear from them that something is rotten, and it is a lot closer than Denmark.
We are told by Ormond and their successors the Adventists that indigent numbers are up and that they would like more money. That they would like more money is without question; Ormond would have to win the lotto for three months running just to be broke.
The following figures are extracted from the Discharge Data Summary Report (code DDBP500) for the first and second quarters of 1994 and 1999, the same provided by the agency formerly known as H.R.S.
| 1q94 | 2q94 | 1q99 | 2q99 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | |
| self-pay | 172 | 8 | 181 | 10 | 147 | 6 | 162 | 8 |
| charity | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 30 | 1 |
| medicare | 740 | 35 | 630 | 34 | 835 | 36 | 673 | 31 |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |
The term ‘‘self-pay’’ covers the indigents, who have no insurance or other third-party payer. The ‘‘charity’’ refers to care provided by the hospital without expectation of payment. Medicare (the largest payer) is or should be at least break-even; bad management may cause it to fail, and good management will make it profitable. I believe you are familiar with my views of Ormond’s management.
In terms of raw numbers as reported, the indigents are fewer now than when the Authority operated the facility. In terms of percentage, the indigents are a smaller portion than when the Authority operated the facility. The only way that Ormond can get away with the story that we are being overwhelmed by indigents is if you will refuse to check the figures.
These numbers are provided to (former) H.R.S. by the hospital. They are believed correct because the reports are public record, and there are penalties provided by law for falsification of public records.
The Adventists are asking to more than double the indigent funding for FY2000-01, and I don’t think that the population has doubled in the past year.
What we see is that when we hear from the hospital that there is an indigent problem or a serious increase in the number of indigents, we are hearing pure propaganda intended to play on our feelings and raid our wallets. I urge you to be most unsympathetic when confronted by claims of greatly increased needs since 1994. The numbers are not there.
Yours,
Tanner Andrews
CC:
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