HOSPITAL LOOKS TO BE OUT OF RED OFFICIALS ADOPT BREAK-EVEN $218 MILLION SPENDING PLAN.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer LANCASTER - Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Hospital has adopted a 2005-06 budget that projects breaking even over the next 12 months - which would be the first fiscal year without a multimillion-dollar loss in four years. The new hospital budget also calls for 5 percent pay hikes for licensed vocational nurses licensed vocational nurse n. Abbr. LVN A licensed practical nurse who is permitted by license to practice in California or Texas. , respiratory technicians and other support service workers and keeping open the psychiatric psy·chi·at·ric adj. Of or relating to psychiatry. psychiatric adjective Pertaining to psychiatry, mental disorders ward, which has experienced mounting financial losses. ``It's a break-even budget with a zero bottom line. We are at the final phase of the turnaround plan,'' said Leon Choiniere, vice president for finance. ``All economic indicators Economic indicators The key statistics of the economy that reveal the direction the economy is heading in; for example, the unemployment rate and the inflation rate. are moving in the right direction.'' Hospital officials are exploring contracts that could bring in more patients and revenue to the psychiatric ward, the only inpatient inpatient /in·pa·tient/ (in´pa-shent) a patient who comes to a hospital or other health care facility for diagnosis or treatment that requires an overnight stay. in·pa·tient n. mental health unit in Antelope Valley. ``With a new revenue stream and improving efficiency in that unit, we think we can at least minimize the losses to about the same level that we would have had had we shut it down,'' Choiniere said. If the mental health unit had been closed, the hospital would have incurred costs of holding patients and transferring them to other facilities, Choiniere said. Hospital directors last week approved the $218 million operating budget Noun 1. operating budget - a budget for current expenses as distinct from financial transactions or permanent improvements budget items, operating cost, operating expense, overhead - the expense of maintaining property (e.g. on a 3-1 vote, with director June Snow dissenting dis·sent intr.v. dis·sent·ed, dis·sent·ing, dis·sents 1. To differ in opinion or feeling; disagree. 2. To withhold assent or approval. n. 1. . Director Dr. Don Parazo was absent. Snow said she voted against the budget because support workers will have to pay more for health insurance. ``It's not the nurses,'' Snow said. ``The reason is the nurses have a contract. It affects the ancillary workers. That's not right. We shouldn't treat one group of employees different from another group of employees.'' Choiniere said the hospital has spent the past 18 months to two years trying to recover financially and was helped by implementing recommendations from a financial consultant. One suggestion was renegotiating managed care contracts to make them more profitable for the hospital, and another was managing patient flow more efficiently, Choiniere said. ``It's helping more patients get through the hospital faster. If you are able to put more patients through at the same amount of cost, you pick up more revenue,'' Choiniere said. The hospital lost $5 million in the 2004-05 fiscal year, which ended June 30. The hospital ended the previous year with a loss of more than $13 million, but it increased to about $24 million after auditors added an asset write-down of more than $9 million in connection with the conversion of a skilled nursing facility skilled nursing facility n. Abbr. SNF An establishment that houses chronically ill, usually elderly patients, and provides long-term nursing care, rehabilitation, and other services. to a women's and infants' center. ``The building had to be taken out of operation and no longer be available for revenue production,'' Choiniere said. The hospital ended fiscal 2002-03 with an operating loss operating loss The excess of operating expenses over revenue. As with operating income, operating losses exclude revenues and expenses from operations that are not considered a regular part of the business. Also called deficit. Compare operating income. of $5.7 million. Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744 karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com |
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