Greenwood (Miss.) Leflore hospital is going up for lease again as it continues to battle various financial challenges to remain afloat and open, Mississippi Today reported Aug. 23.
In the last year, Greenwood Leflore, which is co-owned by the city and county, has closed several service lines — including neurosurgery, urology, inpatient dialysis, andlabor and delivery units — applied for a critical access designation and laid off dozens of workers.
During the pandemic, the hospital's finances went from bad to worse, as costs increased and payments did not, according to the report.
In February, interim CEO Gary Marchand told Mississippi Today that the hospital's cash flow was very low and it was months away from closure. But he later told the publication that a credit line increase from its owners and a hospital grant program provided the funds it needed to stay open until at least 2024.
Since then, to make the hospital more financially viable, Greenwood Leflore leaders submitted an application for the hospital to transition to a critical access hospital, which would be reimbursed at a higher rate by Medicare, according to the report. The application has not yet been approved.
Greenwood Leflore was in discussions with the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson to lease the facility last year. However, UMMC pulled out days before a deal was expected to be finalized citing "healthcare economics," according to Mississippi Today.