JACKSON, Wyo. — The St.John’s Health (SJH) Board of Trustees met on July 20 for a regular meeting and discussed the FY24 budget and the ongoing strategic plan.
CEO Jeff Sollis presented details about the budget including challenges that the hospital is facing. Sollis explained that operating expenses are growing faster than net revenue, due in part to staffing expenses, a payor mix shift and other inflationary pressures. SJH has been in a negative operating margin since the fall of 2022.
According to a press release from SJH recapping the meeting, a “significant reason that net revenue is lagging is that SJH is experiencing a payor mix shift, with a growing number of patients having Medicare as their insurance and fewer patients with commercial insurance such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield.”
“Commercial insurance reimburses at a much more favorable rate for SJH than Medicare,” the release said. “The impact of even a small shift can translate to millions of dollars.”
The budget includes a 3.5% average price increase as well as $2.5 million for employee compensation adjustments. Hiring new medical staff in Internal Medicine, Pulmonology, and the first full-time medical oncologist is also included in the budget.
Sollis discussed reinvestment in the community and noted that although overall emergency room visits are down compared to pre-pandemic numbers, SJH does not turn away any emergency department patients who are uninsured.
“Here at St. John’s we write off roughly $10 million to $12 million dollars of uncompensated care per year,” Sollis said. “I think that’s important to know because we are taking care of a lot of people that really need access to care but don’t have health insurance.”
He called the policy a “huge community benefit.”
Other reinvestments into the community include a remodel at Wilson Internal Medicine, new fetal monitoring equipment, new OR equipment and renovation and improvements at SJH employee housing units. Strategic capital investment will include an additional CT/ultrasound to reduce patient wait time and major updates to equipment and facilities in the surgical suites.
The board also discussed the ongoing work to develop a Strategic Plan, contracted out to Kaufman Hall & Associates (KHA).
KHA visited Jackson this past week to share preliminary information and according to the press release, on the national level, healthcare systems are struggling with post-pandemic conditions including low patient volume and high expenses which is driving a “negative outlook for the U.S. healthcare sector.”
KHA also shared themes from a recent staff survey which included feedback about issues with electronic medical record integration across the organization and the perception of market gaps in the areas of behavioral health, radiation oncology, gastroenterology, obstetrics and neurology.
The community will be invited to learn more about the strategic plan and offer insights on Aug. 7 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Jackson Room at the Wort Hotel. The next board meeting is Aug. 31 at 4 p.m.
