CHARLOTTE -- In a report delivered Dec. 8, to the Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS) Board of Commissioners, CHS Chief Executive Officer Michael C. Tarwater highlighted recent growth initiatives involving new or expanded facilities in greater Charlotte, and new affiliations.
Mr. Tarwater emphasized the following:
• CMC-Steele Creek is “a genuine innovation in the CHS mix of facilities,” being smaller than a community hospital yet larger and more sophisticated than a traditional medical office building or urgent care facility.
• CMC-Steele Creek is one of five Healthcare Pavilions planned for certain communities in and near Charlotte. The Healthcare Pavilion at CMC-Waxhaw is scheduled to open in 2010. CON approvals have also been secured for Healthcare Pavilions in Harrisburg, Huntersville and Kannapolis.
• CMC-Steele Creek is the first facility of its type to be located in this part of North Carolina, and only the fourth in the state. It offers 24/7 emergency care; a single point of contact for related services such as lab, imaging and pharmacy; and offices for Carolinas Physicians Network practices.
• Surgical capabilities at CMC-Mercy were enhanced by the addition of 12 new surgical suites and the up-fitting of three existing surgical suites. In addition, CMC-Mercy is now the teaching hospital location for family medicine, with CMC residents training at CMC-Elizabeth Family Medicine, located in a new 150,000-square-foot medical office building. That building also houses new offices for OrthoCarolina’s Hip & Knee Center and Foot & Ankle Institute.
• A Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) was signed in late October combining business operations of Haywood Regional Medical Center (a 190-bed hospital in Clyde); Harris Regional Hospital (an 86-bed hospital in Sylva); and Swain County Hospital (a 48-bed hospital in Bryson City.) The new organization will be known as “MedWest Health System.”
• This is the fourth time that CHS has had a hand in creating a new, combined healthcare organization, the predecessors being Roper-St. Francis Healthcare in Charleston SC; Blue Ridge HealthCare in Morganton; and AnMed-Cannon, with facilities in Anderson SC and Pickens SC. MedWest will consummate a management services agreement with CHS in January 2010.
Mr. Tarwater introduced Roger Ray, MD, Chief Medical Officer, to provide an overview of the system's efforts to deal with the challenges of the H1N1 flu pandemic throughout the fall. Dr. Ray noted that the CHS Corporate Command Center (CCC) has been operational since mid-September. The CCC coordinates periodic conference calls and briefings with medical personnel and administrators representing all CHS-affiliated entities. Personnel staffing the CCC have expertise in immunology, supply, logistics, information services, communications, personnel management and liaison with physician practices.
Dr. Ray provided a summary of CHS efforts to ensure coordinated distribution of supplies and equipment; to assure adequate staffing; and to promote prompt distribution of scarce flu vaccines in accordance with specified national priorities. He also explained CHS efforts to coordinate activities with other healthcare providers and with county and state-level agencies involved in flu-related planning.
Summary of Financial Highlights through September 2009:
• During the first nine months of 2009 CHS experienced strong growth as measured by adjusted discharges. This is the industry’s standard measure for patient volume. Adjusted discharges for Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2009 increased by 6.2 percent at CHS Charlotte metro* acute care hospitals and increased 15 percent for the CHS total enterprise (all CHS-owned and operated acute care hospitals).
• Capital investments continued to be a focal point for activity. These expenditures totaled $277 million for Charlotte metro operations and $387 million for the CHS total enterprise. Since CHS is a not-for-profit system, all excess revenues-over-expenses are reinvested in the communities we serve in the areas of new clinical programs, capital improvements and new facilities to meet growing demand for services. Major projects currently in process include:
• Operating margin for the CHS total enterprise of $104.2 million was $45.3 million above the prior year. The increase was accounted for in part by growth in the System and also by increased patient volumes and improved operating efficiencies. Increases were also reflected in the operating margin for Charlotte metro operations, which totaled $67.0 million. Compared with the same period the previous year, this represented an increase of $33.2 million.
The CHS total enterprise showed an increase of 14.7 percent in net operating revenue for the same period reported in 2008. This was based on a total of $3.8 billion. Noteworthy gains occurred in the net operating revenue for Charlotte metro operations. The total was $2.5 billion, representing an increase of 9.6 percent over the comparable period for 2008.
• After a third quarter that yielded significant positive returns, net non-operating income, which consists primarily of investment results, including unrealized gains and losses, was $550 million above the first nine months of 2008 for the Charlotte metro operations. Actual investment returns were 16.3 percent year-to-date through Sept. 30, 2009 compared to a negative 17.1 percent for the first nine months of 2008. Although the markets have rebounded in 2009 from a dismal 2008, investment balances have yet to return to their Dec. 31, 2007 levels. In fact, the positive realized and unrealized change in fair market value of investments of $220 million through September 30, 2009 is just 41 percent of the total losses ($539 million) incurred in 2008.
* Charlotte metro operations include: CMC, CMC-Mercy, CMC-NorthEast, CMC-Pineville, CMC-Randolph, CMC-Lincoln, CMC-University, Carolinas Rehabilitation, Carolinas Rehabilitation-Mount Holly, Carolinas Physicians Network and Post-Acute Care Services.
About Carolinas HealthCare System Carolinas HealthCare System includes 29 affiliated hospitals in North and South Carolina. As one of the leading healthcare systems in the Southeast, Carolinas HealthCare employs some 1,400 physicians and serves patients at more than 500 care locations including physician practices, nursing homes, surgical and rehabilitation centers, home health agencies and other facilities. These operations comprise approximately 6,000 licensed beds and employ some 44,000 people.
CHS’s flagship facility is Carolinas Medical Center, an 874-bed hospital in Charlotte that includes a Level I Trauma Center, a research institute and numerous specialty units (heart, cancer, organ transplant, behavioral health, etc.). CMC also serves as one of North Carolina’s five Academic Medical Center Teaching Hospitals, providing graduate medical education for more than 250 physicians in 18 specialties.
Levine Children’s Hospital has been recognized as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S.News & World Report. Other CMC hospitals have also been honored by J.D. Power and Associates for maternity, emergency and in-patient services.
Carolinas HealthCare’s “community benefit,” which includes the value of indigent care, uncompensated medical services, education, research and charitable contributions, totals more than $770 million annually.
