OCR Text |
Show Health Care District gaining strength after financial crisis 1 J il Despite spending the last six months in a financial Inten- sive Care Unit, San Juan Health Care Services is making a comeback, according to data presented at a March 23 Health Care Board Meeting. The District had a second strong month in February and shows year to date net income of nearly $150,000. This is a remarkable turnaround from 1998, in which the District had losses through February of The Canyonlands basin is visible through Mesa Arch in the Island of Canyonlands National Park. Washerwoman Arch is to the left. in the Sky district staff photo The San Juan Record HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER FOR SAN JUAN COUNTY, UTAH Vo I 83 SINCE 1915 March 31, 1999 50 cents No 25 $13,000. Health Care officials attributed the turnaround to aggressive cost control measures instituted since September, when the Districts management contract with Southwest Health Systems in Cortez was terminated. The Southwest contract was terminated after a review found burgeoning costs, massive accounts receivables and very low cash. District. Hospital Administrator Reid Wood points out that there has been progres- Bank official says Y2K will frustrate, not destroy Things will go wrong, there will be some frustrations, but there will be no worldwide disaster caused by the Y2K computer problem, according to Lee Carter, Senior Vice President and Y2K project manager for Zions Bank. Carter addressed a group of 30 area businessmen in Monti-cell- o on March 25. While Carter said there would be no worldwide disaster, he said it is a mistake to assume that Y2K is no big deal. It is estimated that Y2K costs will be roughly equivalent to the financial costs of the Vietnam War. Carter addressed a large number of misconceptions about the problem, which is caused by computers that will not recognize the year 2000 in internal operations. Carter stated that Y2K is a technology based problem, its a very pervasive concern and a threat to correct data man- agement and manipulation. However, he said it is not a virus, will not result in the destruction of property, will not cause a worldwide financial meltdown, extinction of mankind or the end of the world. Carter summarized the Y2K as being a little problem, but a big project. Carter said, We are not going to fix everything, but we will fix the biggest problems. According to Utah Senator Robert Bennett, who is heading up the federal government effort to address the Y2K problem, recent efforts have re- sulted in somewhat surprising progress as people have gotten on top of this issue, have taken strides that we seriously thought they would be unable to take in time frames that we previously thought were too tight, so that the picture is more optimistic than it certainly was a year to a year and a half ago. Just 18 months ago, Bennett estimated that there was a 40 percent chance of power grid failure as a result of Y2K problems. However, three months ago, Bennett said that there was a 7 percent chance that the power would fail. By J une, he estimates that there is a zero percent chance of a power grid failure. Carter said that Zions Bank 4-- and other financial institut- ions have taken the Y2K problem seriously Jfions has comreview of pleted a system-wid- e their computer systems and is confident that, despite a few frustrations and problems, there will be no disasters. sive income since September. The goal is to cut expenses another 20 percent and institute tive Keele Johnson of Blanding and provides $500,000 for counties to map their roads. Local counties state that this mapping effort will be a critical component oftheir effort to fight the designation of large tracts of land as wilderness. 334, Mapping and Docy umentation of 7 and Other Structures, which provides grants to map roads and structures in proposed wilderness areas using a legal defense fund that could be used to fight wilderness designations. Johnson states global positioning technology. The bill follows the lead of San Juan County, which has been in the process of mapping county roads using high tech satellite technology for more than six months. The bill was by Representa- - cerned about the $1 million, since those funds were taken from the Community Impact Board funds and not from the state general fund. This legislation comes at the expense of the relatively few counties in RS-247- Right-of-Wa- An additional $1 million was set aside by the Legislature as that he was somewhat con- Utah that generate revenues for the CIB, including San Juan County, said Johnson. In addition, Leavitt signed HCR 5, a Resolution Express- ing Preferred Approach to Wilderness Designation, which voices support for an incremental approach to wilderness designation. It encourages interested parties to work together to develop a Congressional proposal for designating wilderness in Utah. The fourth bill which impacts rural Utah is House Bill 311, Appropriation for Rural Growth Management, which appropriates money to support Leavitts 21st Century Com- munities initiative. The would help bring accounts payable to a current status. In addition to the $185,000 for accounts payable, there are an additional $296,000 in accounts payable to Southwest Health Systems. Officials are hesitant to pay this, considering the financial status of the District when the Southwest contract was canceled. Officials are determined to offset this bill with the myriad costs that may be due to apparent Southwest mismanagement. For instance, the District has received auditing bills in excess of $42,000 in recent months, which may be due to the allegation that financial records were in disarray. Health Care officials have hired a collections agent to collect outstanding bills. The district has had four employees to handle billing, but until recently, no one for collections. Through February, there has been more than $1 million in net operating revenue for a hiring freeze. the District, which is $116,000 While discussing the financial situation, Wood said, more than last year. Even We have been in the black for writh the increase in revenues, months and are slowly pointexpenses have dropped. Operdiourselves in the ating expenses are $80,000 ing right rection. There has been a need less through February, 1999 to reshuffle the entire system than they w ere in 1998. The Montezuma Creek and that will take awhile, but Clinic continues to show a the situation looks positive. Wood described the frustrapositive net income, writh net income through February of tion of dealing with receivables, which total nearly $2.6 nearly $75,000. Wood states million. Roughly $850,000 of that performance of the clinic those receivables have been looks good, particularly on padue for more than six months. per, but points out that there Officials state that the longer are more than nearly $650,000 a bill is unpaid, the more likely in unpaid bills for the clinic. The Monument Valley it is that it will never be paid. Clinic continues to improve The District received approval from the Board to seek through February of 1998 the clinic had a year to date loss of $33,000, however through February of 1999 it has turned around more than $50,000 and shows a $17,500 net income. Board members reviewed the latest architectural plans for the proposed Blanding Governor signs four bills which address issues in rural Utah The Utah State Legislature recently passed four bills designed to have an impact on rural Utah. They were signed into law by Utah Governor Mike Leavitt on March 23. The bills include House Bill an advance on property taxes from the County. They report that a $185,000 advance of the annual property tax subsidy money will be used to assist local governments in planning for orderly growth. Senate Bill 187, The Disposition of Revenue from Certain School and Institutional Trust Lands, creates the Rural Electronic Commerce Communications System Fund and Board to preserve and promote communication systems in rural Utah. San Juan County recently sponsored a telecommunications conference with the Governor, which focused on the telecommunications black hole in southeastern Utah. The new fund and board will address the relatively poor telecommunications infrastructure in southern Utah. Medical Center. The medical center includes a clinic, two operating rooms for same-da- y surgery, a birthing center, and includes a CT scan and y space. The price tag for the proposed facility in Blanding totals $3.7 million. The Board is continuing to look for sites for the facility in Blanding, with three or four options under consideration. X-ra- The newest plans have increased the size of the clinic, with space for six providers. The clinic is approximately 24,000 square feet. Officials are aggressively pursuing financing for the center. A preliminary budget for the center is $300,000 for site work, $3 million for construction, and $200,000 for furniture and equipment. |