Year in Review: Stephens County Hospital

As we continue with this week’s Year in Review,

After 80 years of operation, Stephens County Hospital ends 2017 facing an uncertain future.

2017 saw the Stephens County Hospital Authority scramble to shore up the hospital’s sagging finances, blamed in large part on a $4-million loss in Medicare and Medicaid revenue, but also on steadily declining inpatient volumes.

In February, the Hospital Authority asked the Stephens County Commission to back $15 million in bonds in an effort to try and turn the hospital’s financial situation around.

Then in March, County Commissioners signed off on a $5 million short-term loan for the Hospital, and by June, the Hospital Authority had closed on the $15-million dollar bond.

Then in another cost-cutting move, the hospital’s third floor surgical unit was shut down in April and combined  with the general medical second floor.

By summer, the Board had hired an independent consulting firm to help with the effort to turn the hospital’s finances around, but in August, then hospital administrator Lynn Anderson announced the reduction of 61 jobs.

Anderson then announced the Hospital Authority Board was actively looking for a major healthcare facility to partner with Stephens County Hospital.

By October Mark Wilkinson, Hospital Authority Chairman, announced the sudden resignation of Anderson and named Roger Forgey as Interim Chief Executive Officer for Stephens County Hospital.

Forgey later told WNEG News all options for the hospital’s future are on the table.

As the year comes to a close, Fogey along with the Hospital Authority Board continue to look for a partner or a buyer for the hospital and search for ways to use the $15-million dollar bond efficiently.