CHC laying off five employees

June 06--With budget projections scaled back going into next year, the Cooperative Health Center board has notified five employees that they'll be laid off effective June 27.

The staff at the CHC was told of the layoffs late last week, said CHC Executive Director Kate McIvor. Along with the five layoffs, the CHC board is not rehiring for 3.5 full-time-equivalent positions that are currently vacant.

"We really didn't have any fat, we didn't have anyone who

wasn't working hard, so it was a really difficult decision," McIvor said.

The savings realized by reducing staffing levels by 8.5 FTEs will be about $425,000, McIvor said.

The CHC has struggled financially this year as patient revenue failed to meet budget projections early in the fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30. At one point the facility was $300,000 below revenue projections for the year.

However, that situation has stabilized but not rebounded, McIvor said. The CHC is now projected to finish the year $250,000 under budget projections because of a combination of expense cuts and decreased revenues. To make the budget whole, officials will have to use money from the CHC's $900,000 reserve fund, she said.

The budget for fiscal year 2015 will be $4 million. That is pared back from last year's budget of $4.7 million.

The cuts in staffing will reduce the workforce at the CHC from 45.5 FTEs to 37 FTEs, McIvor said.

Most of the cuts will be staff members who are behind the scenes, she said. However, one case manager position will be cut.

"A big part of our strategy was to make sure that the employees who have daily and hourly direct contact with patients are all staying," she said. "Our hope is that it will feel the same to patients."

The CHC funding includes both federal grants and county funds. However, the center relies heavily on revenue from patients, either through insurance payments or federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Though it serves an indigent and low-income patient base, the center also relies on patients who can pay their full bills either out of pocket or through private insurance, said Lewis and Clark County Commissioner Mike Murray.

Murray is one such patient, and though he's distressed with the budget cuts needed, he is optimistic the CHC staff is on the right track to turn the center's financing around.

Murray is also the Lewis and Clark County Commission representative on the CHC board of directors.

"I think they're taking proactive steps on recovering budgetarily," he said. "I certainly hate to see anyone laid off from their job."

Adding to the complications the CHC is facing is the current expansion and remodel project underway at the center, which is funded by a

$5 million grant that McIvor said was a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity.

The construction has complicated patient services, and doctors and patients have to work around the construction work, she said.

"One of the reasons that we're facing our problems right now is because we're remaining in the building during the remodel project, and it's hard for patients to even figure out how to get into the building," she said.

While the budget for next year is very conservative, McIvor is hopeful that revenues will exceed projections and she'll be able to bring back the employees who were laid off.

"If our revenues exceed expectations and we can feel convinced that they will continue to exceed expectations, we will start bringing the employees back," she said.

Those employees would also have preference for any other county jobs that come open for which they qualify, Murray said.

And though McIvor believes the budget going forward is sound, the layoffs to make it work are difficult.

"It's really tough because we're a tight-knit group who has been working together for a long time," she said. "We'll miss them personally and also miss their depth of knowledge, and it is very emotional for the entire staff."

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