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Beds empty, revenues slowed at hospitals in West Virginia; CAMC announces hours reduction measures
WV MetroNews ^ | March 30, 2020 | Jeff Jenkins

Posted on 03/30/2020 3:07:00 PM PDT by buckalfa

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Some hospitals in West Virginia are starting to have cash flow problems with the doing away of elective surgeries and other procedures due to the coronavirus.

West Virginia Hospital Association President Joe Letnaunchyn said many services normally offered are being put off in the current environment.

“The Surgeon General said cancel elective surgeries and you cancel electives, you cancel other related ancillary services and the revenue stream dries up,” Letnaunchyn said during an appearance Monday on MetroNews “Talkline.” “So we’re trying to find alternate ways to provide revenue to the hospitals in the interim until the federal bill gets going.”

Hospitals are expected to receive some funding under the federal stimulus package signed into law last week.

Charleston Area Medical Center is cutting back hours of employees is connection with fewer patients.

“Due to significant drops in the number of patients and procedures, CAMC has asked managers to adjust staffing to meet the reduced demands it is experiencing,” CAMC spokesman Dale Witte told MetroNews Monday afternoon.

Managers are temporarily reducing hours of some employees.

CAMC President and CEO David Ramsey said during an appearance last week on “Talkline” his hospitals had 150 empty beds.

Letnaunchyn said his organization’s coronavirus task force is seeking ways to help the hospitals in the state including an advance from Medicaid on reimbursements.

“We’re working with Medicaid right now to try and get some advance on Medicaid payments to some of the hospitals. We’re working as quick as we can to synthesize how to get money flowing on the federal bill passed by Medicare,” Letnaunchyn said.

West Virginia hospitals have been struggling in recent history because of a high number of patients that are covered by government insurance plans and small percentage of patients covered by commercial insurers. The reimbursement rate is lower with Medicaid and PEIA patients.

But now it appears to be just the lack of overall patient numbers that’s causing the issue.

Letnaunchyn said it’s difficult to predict how long it will last. He said the hospitals may face a surge of coronavirus cases. He hopes not but they will ready if it happens.

“All the messages to the public about the distancing, the hygiene, washing, maybe that’s going to pay off for us and we won’t have the surge but we have to plan like we’re going to or we won’t be prepared,” Letnaunchyn said.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events; US: West Virginia
KEYWORDS: covid19; emptybeds; flubronies; hospitals; westvirginia; wv
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At least in flyover country, is the cure worse than the disease?
1 posted on 03/30/2020 3:07:00 PM PDT by buckalfa
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To: buckalfa

See what happens when people don’t live right on fricking top of each other?

CC


2 posted on 03/30/2020 3:14:23 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV)
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To: buckalfa

Same thing in Austin hospitals. My son’s worried about getting enough hours to make a check.


3 posted on 03/30/2020 3:14:25 PM PDT by SanchoP (Living your life in fear is merely existing. You might as well be dead already.)
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To: buckalfa
Well, why not destroy the hospital system as long as we’re destroying everything else over this? The irony here, of course, is that the imbeciles who are pushing and supporting all of the ridiculous overreaction to COVID-19, in their zeal to avoid “overehelming” the medical system, are actually going to cause a shortage of hospital beds and o her medical services.

Behold, Idiocracy in action...

4 posted on 03/30/2020 3:16:53 PM PDT by Sicon
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To: Celtic Conservative

Yeah agree totally. IIRC W.Va. was one of the last if not the last state to have any cases.


5 posted on 03/30/2020 3:16:58 PM PDT by V_TWIN
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To: Sicon

“o her” = “other”


6 posted on 03/30/2020 3:17:44 PM PDT by Sicon
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To: SanchoP

You would think Austin’s population density would make it worse. Climate make a difference?

CC


7 posted on 03/30/2020 3:17:55 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV)
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To: V_TWIN

I live an hour outside Detroit. Wayne county (Detroit) has 3195 cases. The county where I live, which is semi-rural and has one major city of not more that 35000 people has 25. Do the math.

CC


8 posted on 03/30/2020 3:22:10 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV)
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To: buckalfa

Sounds like they did a good job preparing for the upcoming onslaught. Good management there.


9 posted on 03/30/2020 3:22:25 PM PDT by BobL
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To: Celtic Conservative

He works in the OR and all surgeries have been canceled. He was going to try to get in some hours in the Emergency Room but they’re not that busy.


10 posted on 03/30/2020 3:30:37 PM PDT by SanchoP (Living your life in fear is merely existing. You might as well be dead already.)
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To: buckalfa

One of the interesting things about our republic, is how different, regions can be.

Perhaps this current time in history should illustrate that what works in WVA, and what works in the city of New York, can and should be different measures.


11 posted on 03/30/2020 3:32:07 PM PDT by Darnright (We live in interesting times.)
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To: SanchoP

Same thing in Austin hospitals. My son’s worried about getting enough hours to make a check.


Same in my part of Florida. There is going to be a bunch of irritated docs. They’ll be making a fraction of their normal salaries with the kibosh put on elective surgery.


12 posted on 03/30/2020 3:35:00 PM PDT by lodi90 (Flubro)
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To: BobL

Sounds like they did a good job preparing for the upcoming onslaught. Good management there.


No, they just cancelled all elective procedures.


13 posted on 03/30/2020 3:35:40 PM PDT by lodi90 (Flubro)
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To: lodi90

Yup - this entire approach globally is completely F’ed up. Please chicken with the global economy and our way of life to maybe save a few hundred thousand if the worst predictions are right (out of billions).


14 posted on 03/30/2020 3:36:21 PM PDT by rb22982
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To: SanchoP

I have argued repeatedly with others online that “cookie cutter” solutions don’t work under these circumstances. You see that being played out in W. Virginia.

CC


15 posted on 03/30/2020 3:36:57 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV)
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To: buckalfa

Why do they not send non-CV patients from new york to these hospitals? It’s a win-win.


16 posted on 03/30/2020 3:39:14 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: lodi90
There's a reason for that:

When all government ...in little as in great things... shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power; it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another, and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1821

Secession is the only remedy.

17 posted on 03/30/2020 3:40:24 PM PDT by SanchoP (Living your life in fear is merely existing. You might as well be dead already.)
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To: Celtic Conservative

My county has the 3rd most in our state — 79. In response, we are on lockdown, and the beaches are closed until June.

In the past 6 days, our case count went up by 101, 69, 144, 135, 151, and 130. Notice the lack of a trend.

We have 136 people in hospital now. We have thousands of beds, and 1700 usable ICU beds (lack of doctors/nurses/support staff). At our current rate, we should hit about 300 hospitalizations before the oldest start dying or getting better, so we are at under 30% of our total capacity. Of course, it could get a lot worse.


18 posted on 03/30/2020 3:43:33 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: Celtic Conservative
DC is not going to voluntarily give up their power. We the people are going to have to take it from them.
Trump,as good as he is,is only a bump in the road to tyranny.
19 posted on 03/30/2020 3:45:43 PM PDT by SanchoP (Living your life in fear is merely existing. You might as well be dead already.)
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To: buckalfa

Not possible! The Navy ships the Mercy and Comfort were sent into relieve these hospitals from their overloaded burdens.


20 posted on 03/30/2020 3:47:03 PM PDT by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Have!)
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