Taos, N.M.-based Holy Cross Hospital's CEO Bill Patten assured employees this week there is enough money to fund payroll for the next two pay periods, but noted additional cuts will be necessary to ensure long-term solvency, according to The Taos News.
The hospital has struggled financially in the past nine months due to a variety of problems, including a delay in Medicaid reimbursements, a new computer system roll out that didn't go as planned and a lawsuit from 2013, which boosts the hospital's malpractice insurance costs.
Due to the financial problems, HCH fell behind on salary payments in January, despite setting up a $2 million line of credit with the help of the Centinel Bank of Taos.
Seeking balance and a means to temporarily fund payroll, the hospital deployed various cost-cutting measures. Last month, the hospital laid off 12 employees, which produced approximately $300,000 in cost savings. In addition, in early February HCH received more than $700,000 in long-awaited reimbursements.
However, Mr. Patten notes more cuts are needed to ensure payroll costs will be covered long-term.
HCH officials are now working to identify which service lines are financially viable, but are also seeking public opinion about service line cuts.
"Rather than having the hospital on its own, talking about cutting here or cutting there, we need to talk to the public about cutting entire service lines," Mr. Patten said, according to the report.
The next board meeting to discuss potential cuts is scheduled for Feb. 28, and county and town officials will discuss community health March 14.