Covenant, CCH await attorney general nod

Feb. 27--The waiting game continues, as the approaching deadline for the takeover of the Claiborne County Hospital by Covenant Health Systems looms on the horizon.

Decosimo representative Ken Conner, acting liaison for the transaction, said last week the Tennessee Attorney General's office has been "quiet" since receiving the management agreement package over five weeks ago.

During what was to have been the last meeting of the CCH board of directors, Conner said the State Attorney General has about 45 days from the time the office receives the package to make its decision.

"We are currently in a wait and see mode," said Conner.

Since there has been no word, the board decided to recess the meeting and was to have reconvened on Feb. 25 for any last-minute business.

Once Covenant officially takes over the reins, the facility will undergo a name change to the Claiborne Medical Center.

Conner has been vocal in his assurances the lease agreement calls for little to no change in policies and few employment pool changes for at least the first year or so.

Seven Covenant Human Resource agents were at the hospital last week, conducting employee enrollment, he said.

The current CCH board of directors will be defunct, as a new Covenant board is rotated into position to oversee the Health Systems' agenda.

If all goes as planned, the takeover should occur around the first of March. Meanwhile, Covenant continues to tweak plans and work details, said Conner.

He said the employee insurance will remain in effect through the end of March.

One of the board's last functions involved approving a change in its bylaws. Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) certification will expand from the emergency room setting into the rest of the facility.

Administrator Tim Brown said there had been an influx of hospital admissions. However, surgery volumes saw a drop.

The hospital had a loss of some $342,000 for the month, an improvement of some $60,000 over the same month last year. A large chunk of that loss was due to two months of transaction fees, he said.

During the first seven months of the fiscal year, the hospital is $1.148 million over last year's costs for charity and uncompensated care, he added.

Brown said he foresees an influx of patients coming to the facility due to nearby Middlesboro Hospital's new policy refusing admission to those without insurance.

"They will still see them in the ER triage, but they will not admit them," he said.

The CCH currently has $1.2 million in combined reserves.

Jan Runions may be reached at 423-626-3222.

___

(c)2014 Claiborne County Progress (Tazewell, Tenn.)

Visit the Claiborne County Progress (Tazewell, Tenn.) at www.claiborneprogress.net

Distributed by MCT Information Services