The political defeat of Insure Tennessee will directly impact 1-in-12 Warren County residents who will remain uninsured, River Park Hospital CEO Tim McGill revealed during his State of the Hospital address.
“The impact will be 3,300 people in Warren County alone,” McGill told members of McMinnville’s Noon Rotary Club. “This includes the working class and veterans. The total impact is around 400,000 statewide.”
Insure Tennessee was swiftly defeated in early February by the General Assembly. McGill said the end result is those who do not qualify for ObamaCare because of income issues will slip between the cracks and not be able to get health insurance.
The impact locally is a loss of $8 million a year for River Park Hospital, which has to write off uncompensated care. McGill said Tennessee hospitals lose an average of $6 million every single day due to uninsured patients. McGill noted that has a dramtic impact on the economy since those losses mean there will be less money invested in the state economy.
“It’s Washington politics and anti-ObamaCare,” McGill said.
River Park is licensed for 125 beds and has an average patient population of around 50, McGill said, and is Warren County’s fourth leading employer with nearly 400 workers.
McGill said one major River Park accomplishment over the past year is the reduction in waiting time at the emergency room. The average wait time over the past year was 24 minutes, he said. It marks the third straight year emergency room waiting time has been reduced. McGill said at the same time, patient satisfaction has improved during those three years.
“I’m sensitive to the past,” McGill said of wanting to reduce wait times in the ER.
While reducing wait times and improving patient satisfaction, McGill said River Park beat its budget projections by 3 percent.
McGill said the goals this year are again to reduce waiting time in the ER and to improve patient satisfaction for those who say there are “very satisfied” with their River Park experience to 80 percent. This year McGill said the plan is to make getting tests done at River Park a simpler process.
“Our goal from desk to test is seven minutes,” McGill said.
In the Family Birth Unit, McGill said they plan to also improve the experience by having a celebration of life for each newborn which will include a candlelight dinner on site.
McGill said he also hopes to recruit medical talent to River Park and to retain the talent they have. The CEO pointed out nine employees were promoted from within this past year to leadership positions at the hospital.