Hospital employees paid, citizens still concerned - UPDATE

UPDATE: The story below was published in the Dec. 20 issue of the Stigler News-Sentinel. This newspaper has received confirmation that hospital employees were paid on Friday, Dec. 21, as scheduled.

By Anita Reding
Staff reporter
Hospital employees and others have expressed their concerns regarding Haskell County Community Hospital after employees waited a week to receive their most recent payroll funds.
Payday was supposed to have been Friday, Dec. 7 for hospital employees, however funds were not deposited into their bank accounts until the next Friday, Dec. 14, according to CEO Don Buchanan.
When payroll funds were not deposited in the employee accounts on time, Dec. 7, Buchanan said he was told by EmpowerHMS, the company that operates the hospital, that the funds would be in the employees’ bank accounts on Wednesday or Thursday (Dec. 12 or 13). However, that did not happen, and hospital employees had to wait until Friday, Dec. 14 to be paid.
Buchanan said he was relaying information from the company regarding payroll, and Empower- HMS representatives have not provided an explanation regarding the delay. “It was a complete surprise to me that it didn’t get there until Friday morning,” he said.
Last week, three employees resigned the hospital, Buchanan said.
During the delay from scheduled payday to actual payday for the employees, (Dec. 7-Dec. 14), concerns for the hospital, the employees and the community were expressed.
Some of the posts on Stigler News-Sentinel’s Facebook page expressed the importance of Haskell County Community Hospital – and other rural hospitals – and disappointment and concerns that many of them are facing financial challenges.
Concerns were also expressed on the Facebook page for the patients at the local hospital and for employees who were waiting on much-needed paychecks.
Haskell County Commissioner Sandra Zachry said she has been assured by the hospital CEO that the hospital will remain open, and stressed the importance of HCCH for the community – which includes all residents in the county.
She said after payroll funds were not deposited as scheduled on Dec. 7, she received a lot of comments. “There were a lot of people concerned for the community,” she said.
During her recent visit to the hospital to meet with Buchanan, she was impressed by the actions and professionalism of employees.
“I understand the importance of the hospital in the county,” she added.
HCCH is one of 13 hospitals managed by EmpowerHMS. Employees at all of the hospitals did not receive pay on Dec. 7, Buchanan said.
All 13 hospitals also recently completed a restructuring, which included staff reductions, according to Buchanan.
In a press release presented to the Stigler News-Sentinel on Monday, Dec. 17, HCCH stated:
“On Friday, Nov. 30, Haskell County Community Hospital did a restructuring and made reductions due to shrinking reimbursement from insurance companies and the government.
This will allow us to be better stewards of operations, to our patients, hospital and community.
We will continue to provide excellent health care services to all of our community through delivering quality ER, inpatient and outpatient services.
The health care industry is changing rapidly, causing many small hospitals to struggle – Haskell County Community Hospital is no exception.
Haskell County Community Hospital has no plans to close but has big plans to transform to meeting our customers’ ever-changing healthcare needs, improving services and its future.”
Restructuring at HCCH included layoffs of five employees, Buchanan said.
Some of the financial issues facing the local hospital should be resolved soon after the first of the year, according to Buchanan.  
HCCH employees are paid bi-weekly. The next payroll funds are scheduled to be in the employees’ bank accounts Friday, Dec. 21, according to Buchanan.