Hospital budget community feedback forums happening in June

The following news release is from Bartlett Regional Hospital:

Bartlett Regional Hospital continues to face operating losses at unsustainable levels. This situation requires significant changes to core hospital operations and a community discussion on non-core services to ensure Bartlett remains independent and achieves long-term sustainability.

As an enterprise fund of the City and Borough of Juneau, Bartlett must be self-sustaining. The hospital relies on fees from patient services to fund operations. Bartlett has not achieved an operating margin since 2019 and has been losing about $1M a month from operations since the summer of 2020. The hospital needs to reduce the operating loss for core hospital programs within the enterprise fund by a minimum of $7M, or more if additional programs are retained, to achieve a reasonable operating margin to ensure the organization can continue to provide the necessary resources to deliver quality care to the community. Under the oversight of the Board of Directors and direction of the CEO, the hospital has begun implementing several process discipline methods to improve operational performance and has conducted a thorough review of its portfolio of programs.

Over the last several years Bartlett has added several ancillary and public health programs alongside its core services. These important community programs have been cross subsidized by the hospital for several years, largely due to insufficient state and federal funding that has led to low reimbursement rates. A thorough review of each of these programs was presented to the hospital’s Board of Directors with proposed recommendations in last night’s board meeting.

The hospital’s Board of Directors is now seeking public comment on community healthcare priorities and non-core hospital programs. The public will be able to provide comment to the Board at Community Feedback Forums happening Tuesday, June 4 and Monday, June 10 at 5:30 p.m. on the hospital campus. A virtual participation option will be available for both sessions. Visit the hospital’s website for more information.

Public comment can also be submitted electronically, and an option is included to upload a document if preferred. Comments may be submitted in writing to the BRH Board of Directors at 3260 Hospital Drive, Juneau, Alaska 99801. Comments must be received not later than 4:30 p.m. on June 19, 2024.

The Board plans to review community feedback and make recommendations on non-core programs at its meeting on June 25.