Council, town reps meet with hospital officials

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
 HOULTON, Maine —A change in direction for the Houlton Regional Hospital prompted members of the town council to request a special meeting with officials from the medical facility.    Gathering Monday evening at the hospital, the special council meeting featured not only council members, but also department heads and members of the public. About 20 people attended the session, which also included an explanation of the many changes taking place at the hospital by CEO Tom Moakler.
Councilors Sue Tortello, Phil Cloney, John Fitzpatrick and Dan Peabody attended the meeting. Council chairman Paul Cleary and councilors John White and Rob Hannigan were unable to attend.
Last month, Cleary suggested the council meet with hospital staff, after some residents approached him expressing concerns about the change in direction the hospital was taking.
Those changes include closing its 28-bed, separately licensed nursing home facility located on the third floor and relocating the Positive Steps physical therapy division to that space.
Positive Steps is currently located in the Houlton Shopping plaza. That facility will be closed once the transition takes place. The residents of the nursing home division will be transferred to other facilities in town such as Madigan Estates or Gardiner Health Care Facility.
Moakler stressed that no employees were going to lose their jobs as a result of the change. The transition has been in the works for several months. About 11 employees were affected. Some of the employees transferred to other positions at the hospital, while others found employment elsewhere.
Through attrition, HRH has been reduced its staff by 35 positions over the past few years, but still is the town’s single largest employer with about 450 employees and an operating budget of about $34 million.
HRH is licensed for 25 acute beds and is one of 16 hospitals designated as a “Critical Access Hospital,” a designation it received in 2003. There are 38 hospitals in the state.
“It’s one of the few federal programs that have actually accomplished what it set out to do,” Moakler said. “Prior to us being a Critical Access Hospital, Medicare/Medicaid did not pay (in reimbursements) what it cost to provide medical services.”
About 75 percent of HRH’s patients qualify for Medicare/Medicaid, ranking the hospital among the top two or three in the state in terms of percentages. By becoming a Critical Access Hospital, HRH was able to receive more reimbursement for those services.
Some of the reasons for such a sharp decline in acute patients is that insurance companies make it more difficult to have a patient admitted overnight. The acute care wing on the third floor of the hospital used to average 18-20 patients a day, while the separately licensed nursing home unit, which had 25 beds, was often full. Over the past year, those patients dropped to about 10-11 per day at the acute care center and 16-17 on the skilled care floor, Moakler said.
The acute care beds at the hospital can be dual-licensed to provide skilled level care for patients, Moakler added.
Councilor Tortello asked if there was anything the town could do to help support the hospital in its endeavor.
“It’s to our benefit to have a vibrant hospital,” she said.
Moakler suggested the town could simply help by continuing to spread the word about the changes and to continue to provide support when needed. He also noted how fortunate the area is to have such a dedicated staff of doctors who have been with the hospital for a number of years.
“With the number of long-term doctors we have here, we are very fortunate,” Moakler said. “This is not true of other hospitals. We have been very blessed.”