Paris, TN – On Monday, December 6, the Henry County Medical Center Board of Trustees and the Henry County Commission met in the hospital’s cafeteria for a public meeting to address community requests for information, share recent hospital operations updates and ask the commission for a $4.5 Million dollar loan for necessary capital improvements.

The evening opened with an overview of HCMC and a review of the hospitals five pillars of service – Quality, People, Value, Community and Growth – and included time for questions about the loan request, the surgery center and CEO compensation. Several members of the leadership team were on hand to answer questions and present information, including the Director of Women’s Services Rhonda Crossett, CEO Lisa Casteel, CFO Brad Bloemer, Interim CNO Kim Bentley, Program Director of Medical Education and Hospitalist Dr. Finley, Chief of Staff and Hospitalist Dr. Yemane and Board Chair Dr. Whitby.

QUALITY: A review of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) quality ratings revealed that HCMC maintained its four-star rating in 2021 and exceeds the ratings of eight nearby community hospitals who, on average, earned a 2.9 rating in the same time period. The hospital has also achieved all quality and safety metrics for the year.

PEOPLE: Ninety employees with a total of 1,070 years of service to Henry County were recognized this year at the hospital’s annual Service Awards event. This is an average of 12 years per employee. Of significance, are the employees with 25 or more years. These employees are inducted into the Quarter Century Club: Debbie Jelks, Rhonda Crossett, Lisa Woodworth, Cheryl Owens, and Sandy Tyler.

In 2021, the hospital received stimulus dollars from the federal government. We are honored to share that the funding was distributed to employees, used for necessary supplies and equipment and to secure service lines for the organization. We can further breakdown the $7,587,353 for Salaries and Wages to show that based on FYE 2021 total annualized payroll of $45.0 million, the funds estimate a 17% increase in payroll dollars. Here is a breakdown of how the funding was infused into employees’ pay:

Moved to $10 per hour as Minimum Wage from $9.00 per hour
COVID-19 Direct Bedside Care: Automatic Time and a Half
Hazard Pay – A flat payout of $1,500
Hospital Retention Incentive Pay – A flat payout of $650 (direct patient care) and $250 (non-direct patient care) for 4 pay periods
Loyalty Incentive Plan – A flat payout of $2,000
For FYE 2022 $1.4 million was just given in pay raises, averaging a 5.1% increase.

Hospitals all over the country are experiencing staffing shortages, especially rural hospitals like Henry County Medical Center. In fact, Tennessee ranks eighth in the U.S. for National Travel nurse demand by state and seventh in the U.S. for National Travel Crisis RN demand by state and 78% of all current open RN jobs are listed as crisis.* HCMC is actively recruiting to fill the 38 open nursing positions across our organization and need travel staff to backfill the patient demand so we can continue serving our community. Additionally, HCMC is actively recruiting the following providers: Cardiologist, General Surgeon, Hospitalist and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists.

The entire team at HCMC — physicians, nurses, clinicians, support staff and managers — has been working under emotionally draining and physically exhausting conditions for more than 18 months. It’s a testament of the talents at all levels of the organization that the hospital has been able to remain open and serve our community uninterrupted despite a nearly overwhelming patient surge.

VALUE: For fiscal year ending 2021, there was a net increase in financial position of the organization of $5.6 million, with net revenue increasing $2.0 million and a decrease in long term debt of $4.4 million. A Moody’s report from The Advisory Board show hospital margins are wholly unsustainable with 42% of hospitals surveyed posting an operational loss during 2020 compared to a 2.4% profit in 2019.

COMMUNITY: Accomplishment highlights since 2020:

GROWTH: HCMC’s growth strategy is to deliver services, programs, and educational outreach that meets the community-defined needs. Currently, the hospital’s growth strategies include recruitment, growing market share, developing an interface with local provider’s electronic medical records for reference lab services, telehealth strategies and an ED redirect program. HRMC ended its FY 2020 with 62% market share, and an increase in surgeries and outpatient registrations by three percent.

Our future is met with optimism and we’re proud to share that we have a vision to equip future generations of providers to transform the health of our rural community. In July, we received initial Institutional Accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Review Board to begin an internal medicine residency program.

For the rest of our report, we invite you to download and review the presentation materials, which includes our COVID-19 Task Force Update, and requested information about our Surgery Center, CEO compensation and the $4.5 Million loan request: Joint Session of Board and County Commission December 2021.pdf

NEXT STEPS

At Henry County Medical Center, we are committed to being more open and transparent with information. Here’s what you can expect from us:

Monthly Information to Commission to include Administrative Report, Press Release, Program Reports, and Financials
CEO will be at monthly Commission meetings to answer questions and provide information
The establishment of a Long-Range Planning Committee – HCMC is glad to expand our team and include five new community members.
Patient Advisory Council – sign up for next customer service project to begin in February
Paris-Henry County Healthcare Foundation Board Member – The Healthcare Foundation Board is in need of three to four board members to join our efforts. Please contact Tory Daughrity, Director of Marketing at 731-644-8266.
HCMC Volunteer Auxiliary – To join the HCMC Volunteer Auxiliary, please contact Tory Daughrity, Director of Marketing at 731-644-8266.

To volunteer for a committee, council, or to volunteer, please contact Kelly Winston at kwinston@hcmc-tn.org. To learn more about the growth at Henry County Medical Center, go to our website at www.hcmc-tn.org and read about all the services we offer to care for our community.

The next Board of Trustees meeting will be Tuesday, December 21 at 5:30 p.m. at the Henry County Medical Center Classrooms 2 & 3.

About Henry County Medical Center

Located in Paris, TN, Henry County Medical Center is a progressive, integrated healthcare organization committed to serving the healthcare needs of Henry County and the adjoining region. Including a 142-bed hospital and 7 other facilities, the medical center provides a variety of outpatient services, as well as inpatient care. Henry County Medical Center is a county-owned and operated nonprofit institution. For more information: www.hcmc-tn.org.

*Source: Qualivis Market Demand Report 10.25.2021