Local hospital's payroll delayed (UPDATE)
Editor's Note: The story below is published in this week's paper. It is based on information available at deadline - Noon Wednesday, Dec. 12.
UPDATE:
As of Thursday morning (Dec. 13), hospital employees have not been paid.
Don Buchanan, CEO of Haskell County Community Hospital, said information he provided for the story below was based on information he received from the owners of the hospital.
On Thursday morning, Dec. 13, Buchanan said he has been told that hospital employees will be paid on Friday, Dec. 14.
He also said that employees at the local hospital are making plans regarding how to best meet the needs of patients.
The Stigler News-Sentinel will provide additional information regarding this story as it becomes available.
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By Anita Reding
Staff Reporter
Haskell County Community Hospital employees had to wait several days to receive their most recent paychecks.
Employees were scheduled to receive bi-weekly checks Friday, Dec. 7. The payroll funds were not deposited and local hospital officials were notified that day that the management company was “working with a bank to get some long-term financing,” said Don Buchanan, CEO of HCCH.
Buchanan told the Stigler News-Sentinel that the funds for payroll were deposited in the bank at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11. He said Wednesday (Dec. 12) that employees would have their money deposited into their bank accounts on Wednesday or Thursday (Dec. 12 or 13).
The hospital on Northwest H Street in Stigler is one of several hospitals operated by EmpowerHMS. The building is owned by Haskell County and leased to the hospital.
While waiting on payroll funds to be deposited, Buchanan said on Monday the local hospital’s focus was on meeting the needs of patients.
“We needed to make sure we had staff here to take care of patients, because that was our biggest concern,” Buchanan said.
The CEO said he told employees during a meeting on Monday that he understood they wanted to be paid, but added that hospital personnel are not in the business “just for the money, we’re in the business to take care of patients.”
He said he told employees that he believed they would get paid and “it’s just a matter of them (EmpowerHMS) working out the details of it.” Buchanan added that he told employees he believed the issue was “just a delay in payment” and did not know the reason for the delay.
Buchanan said the personnel scheduled to work Monday had reported to work, and “I’m just waiting to hear back as to when they (EmpowerHMS) are going to send payroll through.”
On Wednesday, Buchanan said three employees had left the hospital. He added that they had received other job offers.
Buchanan said this was the first time that employees had not been paid on time, however one of his paychecks had been delayed by a day previously. Buchanan, who is on a different payroll cycle than the other employees, said he believed the delay was due to the funds just not being transferred at the right time.
Buchanan said the hospital has been operated and managed by EmpowerHMS since 2017.
The delay in payroll checks is not the only current financial issue affecting hospital employees. Some employees haven’t been reimbursed by the company’s health insurance provider for medical procedures, Buchanan confirmed.
Buchanan said the insurance provider has notified local hospital administration that Empower is delinquent on their payments to them. “So I guess they are not processing any claims until those delinquencies are made up,” Buchanan said.
Buchanan said he was contacted by employees affected by that issue, and has presented that information to EmpowerHMS.
“It hurts me, you know. I feel responsible for everyone here,” Buchanan said on Monday, adding that he was doing everything he could to make sure employees received their paychecks and help them while they were waiting for checks.