New state hospital probe touches both Windsor and Springfield hospitals

By JEFF EPSTEIN
[email protected]
WINDSOR, Vt.— Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center has agreed to cooperate with a review of all eight critical access hospitals in the state by Green Mountain Care Board (GMBC, the state regulatory board for Vermont hospitals.

Gov. Phil Scott asked GMCB to undertake the financial review of the hospitals in the wake of the financial and organizational troubles at Springfield Hospital. Although Mt. Ascutney Hospital is not known to have any issues itself, it is the only other critical access hospital in this area.

“We will respond appropriately to all data requests by the governor’s office and the Green Mountain Care Board,” said Dr. Joseph L. Perras, the president and CEO of the hospital.

The term “critical access hospital” is a specific federal designation applied to certain rural hospitals since 1997 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and is intended to reduce the financial vulnerability of rural hospitals and improve access to health care.

“Given recent revelations about the serious financial challenges at Springfield Hospital, I request that the Green Mountain Care Board re-evaluate all of Vermont’s Critical Access Hospitals and report back in the near-term about their financial health,” Scott said in a Dec. 26 letter to GMCB’s chair Kevin Mullin.

GMCB already reviews hospitals annually as part of the state review of hospital budgets. This new review is therefore intended to turn up any additional information about operations at Springfield Hospital, and ensure Mt. Ascutney and the six other critical access hospitals in the state are in good health.

“We are currently developing the plan and timeline, this is a very high priority for the board,” GMCB Executive Director Susan Barrett told the Eagle Times.

Tim Ford stepped down Dec. 12 as chief executive office of Springfield Hospital’s parent company, Springfield Medical Care Systems (SMCS). His resignation followed complaints from hospital staff about unpaid bills and a planned change of emergency services providers, as reported in the Eagle Times Nov. 14. Ford’s resignation followed that of the chief financial officer, Scott Whittemore the previous week.

Soon after Ford’s departure, Scott appointed former Rutland Regional Medical Center CEO Tom Huebner to “evaluate, monitor and assist” SMCS officials in hospital operations. The review of the hospital is ongoing, and the new probe will give GMBC a direct view of it.

The Springfield Hospital budget for 2019, approved by the state, is $59,996,953, an increase of $621,755 over this year, about one percent. Mt. Ascutney’s budget for next year is $51,195,770, an increase of $2,513,461, or 2.5 percent.