Quincy Valley Hospital officials hopeful of progress

EPHRATA — Officials with Quincy Valley Hospital told Grant County commissioners on Monday they were hopeful arrangements in the work would put the hospital in a better financial position.

“There’s a big shift going on,” said Quincy Valley Hospital Interim CEO Glenda Bishop. “Hospitals are recognizing that their viability exists in numbers, in joint ventures and partnerships. Bigger health care systems see value in rural hospitals.”

Bishop told the commissioners that the hospital was looking at “three other potential partners” to help solve their current financial woes.

She did not name the potential partners, however.

Quincy Valley Hospital, which sits in Grant County Hospital District No. 2, is currently $4 million in debt to the county. The hospital is currently partly funded by a 40-cent-per-$1,000 levy which brings in just under $1.4 million every year.

In addition to finding a corporate health care partner to help with costs, hospital officials also working to improve insurance collections, partnering with the Port of Quincy on a new facility, and hope to pass this November an additional four-year, $1.4 million-per-year levy to pay off the hospital’s debt.

Randy Zolman, chairman of the hospital board and a chiropractor based in Quincy, said the hospital has seen an improvement in payments since it started working with Massachusetts-based billing specialist Athena Health two months ago.

“We’re working hard to get claims out of the system to insurers,” Zolman said.

Rather than take an up front fee for its services, Zolman said Athena takes a 2.9 percent cut of everything it bills.

“They only get paid when we get paid,” Zolman said. “They’re not just working for us, they’re working with us.”

Bishop said she and other hospital officials have been meeting regularly with officials from the Port of Quincy about a Port offer to issue a bond and build a new hospital facility. However, progress on the proposal is slow.

“We meet regularly, but they have so much going on,” Bishop said.

In fact, Bishop said she sees stronger support from the Port of Quincy than she does from the city.

While everyone wanted to sound hopeful, there also seemed to be some urgency among both hospital officials and county commissioners to get the hospital on something resembling a sound financial trajectory by the first of the year.

“There are a lot of moving pieces and some direction but no cohesion,” Zolman said.

“A lot hinges on this next levy,” said Commissioner Richard Stevens.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.