Col#290-6/25/26
AN ELUSIVE TREATMENT PLAN
Richard Davis
Should a municipality use its taxing ability to help bale out a local non-profit hospital?
That is a question that voters in Brattleboro may face if the selectboard’s plans go forward. At a recent selectboard meeting there was a unanimous vote to look into holding a special town meeting to vote on creating a one-time tax, of an undetermined amount, to help the financially troubled Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.
The selectboard’s intentions are good. The hospital board recently announced a plan to close its birthing center in the next six to 12 months. Town government and other organizations quickly rallied to work on a strategy to save the birthing center as it is projected to cause a $4.8 million deficit next year.
The hospital also faces a $14 million deficit for which there are no concrete plans to date to resolve. It is clear that the hospital board and its interim CEO’s are working hard to get the hospital back on solid financial ground.
No one wants to lose the birthing center or the hospital. That is clear. But I think using local tax dollars to help the hospital is a bad idea. Property owners and businesses have been taxed to the limit and people struggle to pay their taxes. If the town wants to give the hospital one million dollars of tax money it would cost the average home owner an extra $150 a year.
Support for the hospital is nothing but exceptionally positive, but the tax idea is not the way to go. It is easy to criticize without offering solutions so I will throw my two cents into the mix. I am not privy to what the hospital board is considering so my ideas may have been already rejected or may be in the process of being considered.
My ideas try to look at the big picture going forward, not just band aids on a gushing arterial wound. If major changes happen it is likely the Green Mountain Board will have to agree to them and it is possible the Certificate of Need process will have to come into play. Receivership is a road no one wants to go down.
Giving up control of our local hospital is a sensitive topic. The hospital’s ER is mostly controlled by an outside entity and that seems to be working well. Could a similar arrangement be made for the birthing center whereby some of the financial burden of running the birthing center is shared?
Could the hospital consider being absorbed by a larger hospital such as Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC)?
Would DHMC want to assume a $14 million debt and try to go forward with their own management team and have all of the hospital employees work for DHMC. It would be a complex move considering there are unions involved. It could be very polarizing. If the hospital feels it has reached a point of no return and has run out of solutions, a takeover by another entity may be the best option.
There could be incremental steps taken between BMH and DHMC to help save money. Perhaps a greater sharing of personnel and IT infrastructure or other internal processes. An even more drastic step would be to turn the hospital into a for-profit entity, but I doubt that could be a serious option.
BMH relies on elective surgery to make money. It is one area where there is a solid cash flow, but it needs to be increased. It has a lot to do with recruitment of doctors and that is always a difficult job for a small rural hospital. I hope they are putting their recruitment efforts into a higher gear. They also need some sort of marketing plan to lure people to BMH and show them that there is great benefit in staying local for most health care needs.
I hope the BMH board will share its plans with the public in the very near future. In the meantime they know they have the support of the community as long as taxes are not put into play.
