Posted by destiny (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 7:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)

OOKKAAYYY!!!!!!!!!....Now we know what the same ole sing- song is all about. But why does it always have to be such a giant smoke screen to relieve someone of a highly, exorbitant fee? 225K a year the taxpayers have been paying out???? Any layman, even a dummy could have figured that out in just a short time. It took our industrious leaders ( counting all heads together) 17 years to see it. Where's the voting box???? Or I'm I just reading it wrong?..... Maybe it was the new leaders we just elected that put a big stomp on it.... HUH???....JMP.

Posted by getrealnatchez (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 7:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)

2 down, one more to go, I mean, the Chairman of the Board. Hope the next CEO has some PR skills and reaches out to the local doctors who make a difference in hospital revenues. ( not the Board's Buddies)

Posted by justoneopinion (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 8:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)

And what money has NRMC ever received from taxpayers??? Your taxes have never gone up to fund anything at NRMC.

Posted by Teach4Peace (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 8:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Good morning all, here's the Clarion-Ledger's take on this issue, below. Also, it's just totally amazing how much money people are paid, to UNDERPERFORM or not perform their job duties at all and get paid, while someone who works at a gas station, struggles all day everyday, can be fired for not cleaning a toilet. Sad.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.d...

Posted by snatchez (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 8:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)

why the chairman of the board, getrealnatchez. do you know him. he is the one it seems is cleaning out the rats nest. I know him and he is smart, blunt and wants to do whats right. He also will quit over your kind of comments. I know he works tirelessly for that board trying to save jobs. Do you want his position and work for free.

Posted by kpage1 (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 8:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)

What I want to know is why do outside consultants have to be called in at the drop of a hat everytime a board around here decides to change directions? Don't we have any smart people around here? How would someone who lives 1000 miles away know best what we need?
Maybe that's the problem!

Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 9:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I agree teach -- many of these looser administrators are way overpaid

I'm glad to see these changes

kpage -- I agree with that, seems like the Supervisors could appoint their own advisory board to include doctors, nurses, Natchez citizens, accountants, etc to structor a better administrative plan -- without excessive expenditures

snatchez - thank you for that comment - who is getreal actually referring to?

good job supervisors for taking aggressive control and causing what appears a SHAKEDOWN & CLEAN HOUSE!

Posted by kpage1 (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 9:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I would hate to part with my money to pay them if I had a bill because of the crappy service I and many others have been complaining about this week. That may be one reason why people are refusing to pay. Why pay high dollar for something you didn't get and would have been better off laying on the couch or setting your own broken bone with sticks and duct tape??!!

To the handful of nice people there, I salute you. As I've said before, you're a diamond in the rough!!!

Posted by getrealnatchez (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 9:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Yeah snatchez, The chairman has worked tirelessly for the last year and a half for the Board. The mess we are in did not happen overnight. If this man could not see this coming, how do you expect that he is going to solve this problem. Healthcare business is the a very complex business, its not like selling real estate. You get paid months later for the work is done. The chairman of the Board should be one who can reach out to every one involved in this business. We do not want people who make unilateral irrational decisions leading the board. We need a change not the same old wine in a new bottle.

Posted by cchat123 (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 9:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Employees of NRMC...start seeking alternative employers now and don't be surprise when you report to NRMC one day and doors are chain locked!

A common site in most cities and a sadder site to see grown
people with a look of "What the _____? expression on their faces

Posted by ntztransplant17 (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 10:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)

If Mr. Bland, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, is such a great businessman, why has the hospital been allowed to continue in a downward spiral until it hit dire straits? I think everyone involved should have seen this coming long before now. By the way, Board of Trustees, it wouldn't hurt if you talked with employees about what's really going on in the hospital. I believe they could "enlighten" all of you. As for bringing in outside consultants, can you imagine the bill they will present for their services? It will undoubtedly be astronomical. Wonder if they will be told it may be a very long time, if ever, before they get paid.

Posted by dottie (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 10:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)

kpage you said it all. If I voiced my opinion on this
hospital, I would surely have a stroke. I hope some
drastic changes are made. I might add I've never owed
this hospital one dime. My complaint is with the poor
care given by some sorry employees, who far outnumber
the good workers.

Posted by Teach4Peace (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 10:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)

cchat123, I can only agree with you, if I were on this pending train wreck, I would have sewn up about 4 other possibilities in employment. Why wait to be left looking stupid, epecially with this much going on.

ntztransplant17, it is my belief, upper level management is not really concerned with what the employees think, believe or know. They want warm bodies to show up, and do a job, they could care less. This attitude is responsible in part, for fostering the low performance so many are touting here, when it comes to the work ethic of these hospital employees. Sure, the CEO, admin., will make an occasional appearance to the employees, usually to roll out some BS plan, but they don't really care about what's really going on.

Posted by topper (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 6:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)

You cant blame the entire hospital for poor performanceon one persons part. If you have a complaint with a particular employee you should report that employee to their superior. They may not be aware of the bad apple or they could be aware and just need one more complaint to fire them. There are alot of peoples futures who are at stake with this. I have heard that employees checks have been late, that supplies have been cut and it can and does interfere with patient care. We all need our jobs and our paychecks. It would not take but one missed check and I would be gone. I hope all works out for the best for all involved

Posted by ntztransplant17 (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 7:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)

topper - I agree that you shouldn't blame the entire hospital for poor performance by one or two employees and that they should be reported to superiors.

But also let me add that employee checks have NOT been late to this point. We can only speculate about the future, but so far they have been right on time.

Posted by MsKitty39120 (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 7:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

that same man your taking about Nat transplant is big in Beau Pray CC lol and i hear its about to go under too.. hummmmm thats what i been told.....?????? and tha boats too

Posted by MsKitty39120 (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 7:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)

ok now i am really ready to fuss i went to the NR ER last night at 600 and at 100 we still had not seen the back rooms yet still sitting out in waiting room boy boy aint that a shame.. so we got up and went to Community and was back home in 2 hrs
they did xrays all blood. all smiles

Posted by barnabas (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 7:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)

One thing in all of this that keeps bothering me is the constant excuse that the hospital only collected 46% of its
$113 million in billings. That seems too easy; look back over several years and compare the billing/collection ratio and see if it is consistent. If it is, why is this uncollectible revenue suddenly the only big bad wolf in this problem? Have the upper management/Board of Trustees adjusted spending accordingly to account for uncollected revenue? And why are the 2007 financials being restated? Have we just discovered that these receivables need to be written off or do other accounting errors exist that require this restatement?

Point: this problem is much more complex than uncollected billings. So, why don't the powers that be fully disclose the depth of the issues.

Posted by RiverRat00 (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 8:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I agree with many of the above comments. The employees of NRMC are for the most part, a wonderful group of dedicated professionals who try their best to give good quality medical care to every patient there. The administration has been a big problem. They don't give the employees the resources they need. They have fired good employees and doctors to save a few bucks and haven't taken care of their job (ie collections).
I heard that the reasons they let some physicians go was not that the physicians were demanding too much but rather that the hospital mis-managed their practices and only collected 20% of their billings(not 45% as was mentioned in yesterdays article). On top of that they just employeed a bunch of physicians who were already in the community (OB_GYN, Ortho, etc and will likely mis-manage them as well unless they get someone in who knows what it takes to run a hospital and medical practice. Lets hope this happens before it is too late.

Posted by getrealnatchez (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 8:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

One more reason why the Chairman of the Hospital Board should go. It was announced in the hospital staff meeting yesterday that the hospital is now employing a new cardiologist. We already have Dr Dulam, an establised cardilogist in town. Why do we need a new one? Most of the doctors we employed usally can't find a job anywhere in the world or come here to retire and collect a paycheck. By the way Cardiologists don't come cheap. I am sure the hospital is paying this cardiologist over $500K. Where is the money coming from. First of all we are broke and the board makes such stupid decisions. Tell me snatchez the chairman is wise....

Posted by ptrsdoe (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 8:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The hospital along with many other businesses in Natchez suffer from the same thing, the economy in Natchez is on a shoestring. All industry has left, as have a lot of the people. So therefore, the majority of NRMC patients are unemployed and uninsured and don't pay their bills. Admit it, if you or a family member are very ill, you don't stay in Natchez for health care, you travel to Jackson or elsewhere. Natchez needs growth and new business, then all else will fall in place. Until then, the bottom of the coffee pot is all that is left to deal with.

Posted by justoneopinion (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 9:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

If Natchez Regional didn't support, finance and own all of the physician offices that they do now it wouldn't be in the shape it is in.

Posted by getrealnatchez (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 9:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Justoneopinion, you are absolutely right. You cannot be spending thousands of dollars in the hope that an employed physician is going to make money for the hospital. The fact is none of the hospital employed physicians of Natchez Regional take call or do hospital work.( all they care about is their paychecks ). Why is the hospital paying over $250K to the Tillmans to take call for their hospital employed physicians? Mr Brown and Mr Bland were complaining that Riverpark was stealing their business. I wonder what business sense it made to the hospital and Mr Bland to pay the Tillmans to take call for their employed physicians. Great business sense I presume.....

Posted by topper (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 10:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

If the above comment is true it is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. Why are you not using all those employeed doctors to take call? Office work does not pay that well. If you are so worried about the Tillmas cherry pickin you gave they do not have to you have given them the cherrys alredy when the cover. I do not know who is managing things over there but no wonder there is debt. How much rent does NRMC pay on the doctors pavillion next door? I heard it was way up in the thousands per month to rent the unoccupied office space. How absured. Then to let someone put an after hours clinic in your own front yard it is comical the money mis management. The clinics only take paying patients.The owner of the after hours clinic still works at NRMC er? That seems like a conflict of interest.There are alot of questions out there that need to be answered to the public. Can anyone at NRMC explain why Dr Dulam does not use the cath lab there anymore? He is still in town he goes to Mccomb now to do caths. What did Wesselman do to that relationship. Has anyone called AMR or Metro yet to ask how many times they are turned away at the door with paying patients in the ER? I would like for one of the reporters to call and get and report that information.

Posted by RiverRat00 (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 11:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The Tillmans are not the problem. None of the staff physicians at NRMC or NCH want to take ER call. Only a few of the groups even take care of their own patients in the hospital. That is why Dr Jeansonne is my doctor - at least he will take care of you if you get sick enough to go to the hospital. That is why both hospitals have hired hospitalists to take care of the patients in the hospital.

Right now, only the surgical specialists and GYN's take ER call. No medical doctors in this entire city will do it because of the large number of uninsured patients that come through the ER and the hospital's unwillingness to compensate them for taking care of these patients. This is another reason the hospitals should do everything it takes to keep surgeons, cardiologists, and other specialists here.

I have several clients who are physicians here and they can't afford to provide the volume of uninsured care that comes through the ER and still have a profitable office. They are already working long hours and don't have enough time to spend with their families without this extra responsibility. If we expect young physicians to move here with their families and settle down in this community, we had better make it look more attractive to them. Otherwise, we deserve what we get.

Posted by speakup (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 1:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)

i was in nrmc 2 weeks ago. every thing and every one was great. my kin folks were in 2 months ago and we had a problem, i called mr. jeff 6 times in 3 days and left my name and number and he still has not returned my call had made up my mind next time i would just call medicare..how ever by working around him the mess was cleared up by another section and worker in the hospital, but jeff would not know that. shame on him..

Posted by getrealnatchez (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 7:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

RiverRat00 you are partially right. The fact is all the primary care physicians take call and take care of their patients in the hospital except the employed physicians of NRMC. Their patients are admitted to the Tillmans and the hospital is paying them for taking call for their physicians. What puzzles me is when the employed primary care physicians of Natchez Community Hospital take call and take care of their patients in the hospital, why not physicians of NRMC. The hopital went on a recruiting spree in the last six months and employed 4 new primary care physicians making a grand total of 6 employed primary care physicians. None of these physicians take call nor take care of their own patients in the hospital. They are admitted to the Tillmans. I would think that when the hospital has 6 employed primary care physicians, they should be taking their own call and cover every pateint that goes through NRMC ER, rather than the hospital paying someone else to take call for them. That would save the hospital a good chunk of change, like $250K.

Posted by justoneopinion (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 8:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)

There is no easy solution to all of this. I do wish that this community would start supporting the facility and quit bashing it regardless of whether you have had a bad experience or not. I tell you just as many people have had just as many bad experiences at NCH as they have at NRMC. If this facility closes believe me it is going to affect you regardless of whether or not you use it, or if you were not happy with its services. Do you honestly think that if it closes your taxes still won't go up? Sure they will. NRMC is the largest employeer in this community and everyone will feel the effects.
Now, whose to blame?? Bad management started back with Mitchell and continues on the until present. Jeff Davis had millions of dollars,Mitchell and a former physician decided to have that money put in bonds, well they messed up because the bonds could only be used for renovation not any new construction. So the idea of building a new facilty was shot down! Of course he didn't buy Humana when the opportunity arose. Bad decision. Then Quorum was hired to "manage" the facility, because the hospital was suppose to be able to get all these good contracts: supplies at a better rate, etc. Bad decision. Nursing tried its hardest to get rid of them!! They went to the Board of Supervisior meetings over and over to get rid of Quorum and to appoint Board of Trustees that were of a business mind and of the medical field. The Board of Supervisiors completely shut nursing down would not listen! So ultimately the major of where NRMC trouble lies is with the Board of Superviors of the county at that time 1997-98. Some who are still supvisors today!! Bad Decisions Board of Supervisiors!!!You should have listened! Then it snow balled,along with Quorum came repeatedly bad CEO's. J. Houghton probably the worst about money management and decision making. He put the faciltiy in the hole with the Heart Cath equipment. Knowing full well that this area can not support a Cardiac Cath center with one just 1 hour away, who by the way is not prospering they way they thought it would. And Wesselman had to pick up where he left off, not put in a good position, but not with too many bright decision making ideas either. The purchasing of physician practices being one, not just new practices but some who have been established for years. And the allowance of the after hours clinic next door. Bad decisions! So there are many place to lay the blame, but ultimately it goes back to your SUPERVISORS. Thats why you should never vote for a "friend". Vote for some one you know will do the job!!!!

Posted by RM (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 10:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)

NRMC rents doctors pavilion 2nd floor at $17,000/month!

Posted by woodduck (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 4:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Justoneopinion, You hit the nail on the head!!! All of the pleas, ideas, thoughts about the well being of NRMC from the staff have fallen on deaf ears for many years.Obviously, they (the board of trustees and administration) think everyone who works at NRMC is a serf! Show up , work hard, don't ask any questions, leave the thinking to us smart guys!!

One aside, I believe that the Supervisors were the ones who nixed Bill Mitchell's plan to purchase NCH. It was for the most part a done deal, but Mitchell missed a crucial step. He kept the supervisors completely out of the loop until the story started leaking. When they found out about it, egos and misguided emotions took over and they killed the deal. One of the supervisors, who was in office at the time, and I were talking about the buyout deal several months ago. He told me that in looking back it was probably the worst decision the board of Supervisors has ever made. We would have been a 1 hospital town for the last 17+ years, probably would be operating out of a brand new facility, and NRMC would be prospering rather than reeling from one crisis to the next like a punch drunk boxer.

As you mentioned we don't need a cath lab, it will never pay for itself with the utilization that it will have in Natchez. That was a Jack Houghton Ego trip to saddle NRMC with a pricy cath lab. One positive about Houghton, at least you could talk to him. He would listen, and occasionally he would do siomething right. Wesselman on the other hand is incapable of holding an adult conversation. He has never ttried to rebuild some of the ill will that Houghton caused with physicians. Rather he created more with his complete lack of communication skills. NRMC has a long and ignomious history of "shooting themselves in the foot" every time they acted. Unfortunately, the bad decisions have finally reached a critical mass and they can't be ignored any longer.

Supervisors better pay attention to this mess, they are the ones who are elected, and it's all going to fall back in their laps.

Posted by SayItRight (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 4:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I remember one time calling NRMC to see who the doctor on call for the ER was and they wouldn't tell me. I'm sure there is some legality or rule prohibiting divulging the information. I had just sent a neighbor to the hospital after finding her "out of it" in her bed. I wanted to know who would be attending to her so I could call her children who lived out of town and tell them. After I drove up there and went in to find about her, I don't know that I would have sent her there had I known who he was first.

Posted by MsKitty39120 (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 6:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Topper i can tell you we sat there6 hr and we have insurence and was 4 i dont know if it was amr but they all got in and there was alot of medicade sitting and going in and we have ins and had to get up after 6 hrs and went to comm.hosp. and my husband was admetted and got home today we had no trouble getting seen and took care of we were told by er nurse at NR that it woundnt do us any good to go that she had talk to the comm hosp and they were just as busy lied be cause i ask them they laughed and we got right in yea they had 3 in the back and 2 waiting but we were in and admetted in 1 1/2 hrs..

Posted by MsKitty39120 (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 6:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

got one for yall.. we only have 1 surgeon in this town and he is away and want be back for 12 days.. they told me that if my husband had to have surgry before he gets back he would have to go to McComb.. thats scarry

Posted by RiverRat00 (anonymous) on March 1, 2008 at 3:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Ms Kitty,

That is what I have been talking about. It was very short sighted of NRMC to fire a good surgeon in December and leave us with only one. That surgeon wanted to stay and told a friend of mine that he wanted to stay and actually talked with the Board and had an agreement which Weaselman then refused to honor. The other surgeon (DR Flattmann) used to do a lot of work at NRMC but cut way back after the CEO refused to meet with him about some minor changes that needed to be made - now he operates acroos the river because they are more user-friendly. Dr Flattman could not possibly cover both hospitals for a long time 24/7 - no one could do that.
Even if we had Dr Flattmann and Rubinstein comes back (I don't know if that is true - Woodduck says it is)that is not enough surgeons to provide 24/7 coverage of 2 hospitals every day. We would need at least 3 and there is little reason to believe this community will support 3 surgeons unless people with insurance (and therefore choice) start staying here to have their surgery.
Therefore, unless the hospitals offer specialists support to help build their practice and keep it going, we are doomed to being an underserved area. Either encourage the hospitals to do everything to retain these specialists when they get them or resign yourselves to living with the consequences.
As everyone who even considers moving their family or their business here wants to know about healthcare and schools, we are not in a competitive position. Let's move forward and make the first steps so there is somewhere decent to live and work when our children grow up and start to raise their families.

Posted by RiverRat00 (anonymous) on March 1, 2008 at 3:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Woodduck and justone:

You are correct that the cath lab is not making money for NRMC now and that is 100% because of the CEO. He fired Dr Dulam knowing that he was making more money for the hospital than any other physician there. Is it any wonder he moved all his caths to McComb and opened his own 64 slice CT scanner. Then Dr Rubinstein came and started using the cath lab and again was making a lot of money for the hospital - obviously he had to go as well. If only the hospital had someone competent doing their billing, they would be rolling in the dough. Now they have fired their cath lab director and moved the other cath lab personnell ( only a matter of time before they leave) - I guess this will help send all this profitable business to Riverpark which now has the only cath lab in the area. Maybe weaselman has stock in Riverpark - that would explain his actions in firing specialists and chasing others to competing facilities.
If he is serious about being open to any options, perhaps he should swallow his pride and approach Dr. Flattmann, Dr Rubenstein, and Dr Dulam about returning to this facility. Then perhaps the OR and cath lab would again be busy and profitable and help support some of the uncompensated care the hospital is obligated to provide by virtue of being the county hospital.
Just a thought - does anyone have a better one?....

Posted by tellmestraight (anonymous) on March 3, 2008 at 11 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Well, so much for NRMC learning from their mistakes! After getting themselves
up to their (excuse me, our) eyeballs in debt, guess what they have done! Well,
gone right out and signed a contract with another physician! Yes, folks, that's
right! With their backs up against the perverbial wall they went right out and
did it again! This time it's a cardiologist in his 50s who just happened to be
in town today. If it weren't in our little community it would be laughable.
Instead it screams of the gross incompetance of our esteemed hospital board.
Rather than utilizing the services of the cardiologist already in practice here,
they just couldn't resist the urge to go out and spend more money that they
(excuse me again, we) don't have! Just how long do you think he might stick
around? Long enough to complete his contract and collect those nice paychecks
for just being in town? What about the patients
Regional manages to funnel into his practice? What happens to them when he's
done his time here and moves on to the next town with a fat yearly contract?
It's one thing to buy out practices of established physicians, at least you are
relatively assured they'll be around for some time. With an older, out of town
doc, there's no reason to believe he'll stay here long enough to unpack his
diplomas, much less put down roots! You know the old saying "you can't teach an
old dog new tricks", well, I guess our old dogs can't get even get their old
tricks right.

Posted by bear45 (anonymous) on March 4, 2008 at 1:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Maybe once all the CEO's go the hospital will make a turn for the better!

Posted by getrealnatchez (anonymous) on March 4, 2008 at 6:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Dear Bear45, keep dreaming.

Posted by getitright (anonymous) on March 4, 2008 at 9:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

That is my hospital of choice, although they have made some terrible financial mistakes. Now, they are laying off a lot of staff members who have been loyal for years. It is a shame that the management was so weak, it turned to these drastic measures!

Posted by resson (anonymous) on March 8, 2008 at 10:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)

More detailed and comprehensive reporting on this issue is required.

Why are they only collecting 46% of billing? That would bankrupt any business.

When competition increases you reduce your expenses to match your expected loss of market share. You can look for ways to broaden your market or increase your competitiveness which might increase your expenses.

You institute activity measures for staff and other expenses to determine what is required. Then you act to conserve resources.

When this car wreck happened who was asleep at the wheel?

We need a strong leader who accepts responsibility and makes timely decisions. Who will that be?