Outlook for McKay good as board revises budget

Savings, positive cash will aid facility's debts

PHOTOS: 1-4. Interim nursing home administrator and hospital superintendent Mary Prentice goes over the revised budget for the McKay Healthcare center as board chair Mary Ackerman and board member JoAnn Philbin look on.

Smiles and applause were the prescription after the McKay Healthcare Center's board of commissioners reviewed the revised budget for the remainder of the year.

The budget was one of the top priorities at the Soap Lake center's board of commissioners meeting Thursday afternoon, which covered a great deal of ground in nearly four hours.

Interim nursing home administrator and hospital superintendent Mary Prentice included a narrative for board members to follow along as they reviewed the budget revisions, which indicated net improvements in total revenue and decreases or savings in expenses in total patient care, food, property, administration, laundry and dietary expenses.

Two areas that will see an increase in costs in the revisions are maintenance and housekeeping.

Prentice said she looked at information from prior years, the current year-to-date and used her own experience in revising the budget.

"We reallocated some hours and positions, so the only people that are being replaced are those that have already advised us of their resignation for various reasons," Prentice said. "There's one position that's going to lose a few hours, but we probably can accommodate that person's hours in another area."

According to Prentice's narrative, the overall result of the revenue and expense revisions is a $259,452.40 saving between the budget revision and the prior budget for the five month period. The facility would have $38,477.00 in positive cash for the period that may be used to reduce its current line of credit with Grant County.

Prentice said that the budget will next be reviewed by McKay's accounting firm to make sure they feel that it doesn't need any adjustments.

The good news comes after the news McKay faced possible closure. The hospital owes Grant County $607,485 and its credit line only extends to $750,000, according to numbers provided by George Sharp, who works for the state Office of Community Trade and Economic Development but is acting as a volunteer facilitator for McKay, at a June 23 meeting.

In addition, the hospital had not received its federal Pro Share dollars for the last two years and faced other expenses, including a leaking hospital roof.

Also at the meeting, Prentice said that the hospital is eligible for between $340,00 and $370,000 in Pro Share dollars, which would be received sometime between October and June, and had received two bids from companies to work on the roof.

The board also went over strategic planning tasks and assignments for its short-term and long-term plans, including the possibility of a fund-raising calendar, and reviewed interview questions for the three candidates who turned in resumes to fill the open commissioner position.

Prentice said she thought the outlook for McKay was absolutely wonderful.

"We'll be able to start paying back our debt and it will be good for the staff morale, the families who have been very concerned, and the whole community, who's been concerned about our financial status," she said. "I think we've made good progress on that today, plus a lot of other areas."

"I think we're doing all the right things to get this district to move on and take care of our deficit," said Philip Trepanier, board member.

"I think we're very proactive and moving forward," said Mary Ackerman, board chair. "The budget revisions are excellent and you just have to look at the numbers to see that. Our outlook is fantastic - the board is behind everybody, the community is behind us, the people are behind us, the staff is behind us and we're moving forward."