North country healthcare providers receive over $70 million to cover pandemic losses, more money to come

Jun. 12--WATERTOWN -- North Country healthcare providers have received over $70 million in grant funding from the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund.

The Provider Relief Fund pays healthcare providers based on the number of people using Medicare that the provider served in 2018, and according to HHS.gov, providers should receive at least 2 percent of net patient revenue from 2018. A total of $175 billion was set aside for all national healthcare providers when the CARES Act was originally passed.

Some providers, depending on size and services provided, also qualified for Paycheck Protection Program grants, as well as some more specific grants intended for certain kinds of healthcare providers.

The funding from the Provider Relief Fund is meant to cover losses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the money-making services typically offered by healthcare providers, including elective surgeries in hospitals and regular appointments for other providers, were canceled when the COVID-19 virus first hit, resulting in major financial difficulties.

"Most of this money is meant for operating revenue loss," said Leslie DiStefano, director of communications and public relations for the Samaritan Health System. "In March alone we were down 40 percent on revenue."

The top five recipients of funds in the region were hospitals.

The single largest recipient of funding in the north country, according to data aggregated by the federal Health and Human Services department, was the Canton-Potsdam Hospital, which received $10,617,024 from the fund.

The recipient of the second-highest amount of money was Adirondack Medical Center in Tupper Lake, which received $7,619,494. Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone came next with $7,068,782, Claxton-Hepburn Hospital in Ogdensburg received $6,870,641 and the Lewis County General Hospital received $6,730,942.

For many providers, the money received does not make up for the loss in revenue they've seen as a result of the pandemic, and other cost-saving measures had to be taken.

"The money from the fund is significantly lower than our usual revenue, it did not cover our losses," said Amanda Hitterman, executive director of the Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center Foundation. "We furloughed about 175 employees, we've recalled 34."

Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown received $4,536,973, and Ms. DiStefano said that the Samaritan system had to furlough 230 staff, cut pay for management and physicians, and suspend all investment into their buildings.

Ms. DiStefano said that the Samaritan system is planning for these cuts to slowly scale back, and are currently planning to be back to full capacity with normal revenue flow by August.

The recipients of the second-highest amount of funding were nursing homes, with the Samaritan Keep Nursing Home receiving $1,215,901, Samaritan Senior Village receiving $933,860, United Helpers Nursing Home in Ogdensburg receiving $805,189.

Other recipients of large amounts of funding include the town of Massena, which received $5,200,767, and the United Cerebral Palsy Association of the North Country, which received $518,959.

Smaller providers received smaller amounts of money, with the smallest disbursement in the region going to Selena Bush, privately-practicing therapist and social worker in Gouverneur. Ms. Bush's practice received $69.

The South Jefferson Rescue Squad, a volunteer ambulance squad in Adams, received $7,609. That money is meant to help recoup losses from a reduction in call volume that the squad has seen during the pandemic. Debbie Singleton, executive director of the South Jefferson Rescue Squad, said that they have seen call volumes drop by almost 30 percent.

One issue the squad has run into is that, because billing for ambulance services can be a months-long process, the financial strains of the drop in call volume won't be felt until July or August.

"June, July and August are when agencies are going to see the financial impacts of the virus," Ms. Singleton said. "What we're getting paid for right now, through Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies, were calls done in January and February."

Disbursements from the CARES Act are still ongoing, and HHS announced on Tuesday that an additional $10 billion would be distributed to safety-net hospitals, which are hospitals that must provide care to patients regardless of their insurance status. Those funds are expected to start flowing this week.

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