Despite money woes, hospital plans to expand services in Greene
The Daily Mail and The Register-Star
Dec. 12, 2008

This year, Columbia Memorial Hospital sought a $1.7 grant under Phase 6 of the HEAL NY program. In September, the grant was denied.

The hospital board is still moving forward with plans to expand services in both Columbia and Greene counties, but will have to rely on other sources for the money. The denial has also put some pressure on the hospital’s fund-raising arm to out-raise past campaigns.

Jane Ehrlich, the hospital’s chief executive officer, said that last year the hospital underwent a $2.5 million budget reduction, leaving the board to assess the need for management and secretarial staff and to negotiate contracts.

With a staff of about 1,400, the hospital is the largest private employer in Columbia and Greene counties. Any loss of medical or maintenance staff will hurt the quality of care patients will receive, so such staffing cuts are not an option, she said.

The hospital is also looking at possible cuts in the reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid, she said, and she predicted that the number of uninsured and underinsured patients using facilities will continue to rise.

Ehrlich estimated that this year, the hospital has spent $7 million on free care for patients, about a $1 million more than it did last year.

All of these factors have taken a toll on the hospital’s finances and although the hospital was about on target of staying within its $105 million budget this year, if these predictions come true, she said, the scope of the care the hospital facilities provide may have to be narrowed.

But patients, regardless of their insurance coverage or status, still need the be served.

“The practices have been building, and it’s getting to the point where it’s getting more and more difficult for new patients to get appointments,” she said.

Without the HEAL NY grant, plans to expand service and facilities have had to be scaled back and to be implemented incrementally. The first phase of the plan will extend hours various facilities will be open to patients. The hospital board is talking about consolidating services into a few locations.

From a real estate prospective, consolidating services will save the hospital money, Ehrlich said. She said that new buildings are still part of the hospital’s plan, but no moves will be made until the board can get a good idea of the real estate landscape, as well as the hospital’s own finances for the coming years.

And that’s where the Columbia-Greene Hospital Foundation can help the hospital.

The foundation solicits donations and grants from corporations, individuals and agencies that can be used for construction and renovation projects.

Keith Lampman, who will enter his eighth year as the foundation’s executive director in February, has seen the renovation of the maternity wing and the hospice unit, waiting areas and seven new surgery suites, as well as the construction of the two-story hallway connecting the hospital and the medical office building, all of which were made possible at least in part by donations.

This year, the foundation has raised $1,940,000, and although that figure is $300,000 shy of last year’s total, Lampman is enthusiastic that donations will keep coming in through the end of the year.

“We have three weeks left,” he said.

Lampman, who was born at the hospital, enjoys describing and showing some of the renovation projects, which have increased the amount of natural light in recovery rooms and hallways, have centralized nursing stations, and have made patient areas more private by replacing curtain partitions with walls.

The foundation raises money through its capital campaigns, annual appeals and special events, such as February’s Snow Ball, an event to raise money for Kaaterskill Care Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. It also holds a hospital ball in June, a golf tournament in August and a tennis tournament in September. While hundreds of thousands of dollars are raised at such events every year, smaller, individual donations play a large part in funding the hospital’s capital projects. Lampman estimated that 40 percent of the foundation’s donations come from individuals giving $100 or less.

“If all 50,000 households within Columbia and Greene counties gave $25 (less than 50 cents per week), we’d receive another $1,250,000 each year,” Lampman said in an e-mail.

The foundation works closely with the Columbia Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, which runs Second Show, on Warren Street in Hudson, whose proceeds also help fund hospital projects. Two years ago, the Auxiliary announced that in the previous 10 years, the thrift store had made $500,000 for the hospital.

“You can give to the hospital by donating you old clothes,” Lampman said, “by buying cupcakes through the Columbia Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, by giving an outright gift, either through the appeal or the capital campaign [or] by coming to one of our events.”

Next year, hospital staff will receive a new cafeteria through a $250,000 donation from the Kellner family. Jane Ehrlich said the board plans on applying for a Federal grant to construct elderly housing adjacent to the medical arts center, in Catskill. Housing units there will allow members of the increasing population of elderly people in the region to live independently but close to medical care.

Lampman is looking at future projects, too, and said that 2009 will be an important year for laying the groundwork for future financial donations and partnerships. Still, the tumultuous economic times and demands on state and federal grants will make make every gift even more important to the hospital than in the past.

“The foundation is going to become more important than ever as cuts come into place,” he said.