Good Samaritan Hospital is expanding its campus footprint with the acquisition of the former Midwest Cataract Center right across the street at 501 S. Sixth St.
The former office of Dr. Ralph Stewart will allow the hospital to expand its Primary Care Clinic, now located just a couple of doors up the street, plus provide office space for the medical residents who next year will be seeing patients in internal medicine and psychology through Good Samaritan's partnership with the Indiana University School of Medicine in Evansville.
Matt Schuckman, vice president of operations, said the purchase is being made possible with funds from the Good Samaritan Foundation, which is paying the $312,500 asking price for the office.
He said the building will undergo renovations to adapt it for use by the clinic staff and the residents, who will be coming onsite in 2018.
Schuckman said the use of the Primary Care Clinic at 429 S. Sixth St. continues to grow, and finding a larger space was critical.
“We needed more room and Dr. Stewart's office is going to provide that,” he said. “And we were going to need offices for the residents as well for when they come on board next year.”
Rob McLin, the hospital's president and chief operating officer, said moving the clinic would also allow the hospital to expand the types of services it provides, mostly to those who either don't have insurance or whose coverage is limited.
“We're going to be able to offer dental care and mental-health services to a segment of our population who need that kind of care but currently can't access it,” he said. “Improving access to care is a priority for Good Samaritan, and having this building is ultimately going to allow us to do that.”
“Spring being a tough act to follow, God create June,” the sportswriter Al Bernstein once said.
At Good Samaritan Hospital, they know just what he meant.
The gains the hospital had made on its balance sheet the previous couple of months were all but wiped out last month, as Good Samaritan saw a loss of almost $725,000 — worse than a similarly bad month in June of 2016 when expenses exceeded revenues by $660,000.
But the hospital was in a better overall position last year to absorb such a financial hit.
Thom Cook, chief financial officer, told members of the hospital's board of governors that there was “no pleasure” in the report he had for them at Tuesday night's meeting.
“We certainly saw a few speed bumps” during June, he said. “It was a really tough month.”
Cook said there was a $200,000 “tax” payment that's part of the Affordable Care Act (the money is recycled to hospitals like Good Samaritan in marginally higher Medicaid reimbursements), plus the payor mix continues its trend in the wrong direction.
“It's been a continuation of what we've been seeing all year,” he said. “We're seeing higher percentages of our patients who either have no insurance or whose deductibles are so high they might as well not be insured.”
Plus, Cook said in June the percentage of Medicaid patients was the highest of the year — 17 percent.
The hospital generally is able to collect about 4 cents on each dollar of care it provides an uninsured patient. The reimbursement for treating a Medicaid patient is somewhat better.
The last couple of years the hospital had been successful in getting more uninsured patients signed up for programs such as the state's HIP 2.0 plan to better its chances of being reimbursed at a higher amount.
For the year, the hospital income is running almost $4.5 million under budget.
Total revenue of better than $342 million is actually slightly ahead of budget, but deductions from that revenue (for what insurers won't pay for, care for those who aren't insured, bad debts, etc.) are over budget by better than $3.5 million so far this year.
That, plus expenses running better than $2 million over budget have left Good Samaritan with year-to-date income of $21,044.
Last year through the first six months the hospital's operating income was just under $5.5 million.