Positive trends continue at TRH

With each month that passes, Three Rivers Health continues to put more distance between itself and the financial abyss it was facing in the middle and later parts of 2023.

The health care organization, which operates between Greybull and Basin and includes a 10-bed critical access hospital along with Midway Clinic, documented 20% more patient encounters last month (1,403) than it did in October 2023 (1,167).  

The same could be said of clinic visits (663 last month, compared to 490 in October 2023) and ER visits (137 last month, 105 in October 2023).

One area of decline, however, was inpatient days, which came in at 17 last month compared to 23 in October 2023. 

TRH finished the month with an operating loss of $177,094, but Chairman Jeff Petty attributed the deficit to “some adjustments with the cost report having to do with inpatient days.”

Petty downplayed the monthly loss, saying the cost-report adjustment wiped out what would have otherwise been a small gain from operations.  He also put it in perspective, noting that the district has 74 days of cash on hand — in its darkest days, it was down to about 10 — and hasn’t drawn all year from its board service account, which is funded by tax revenue from the county. With a recent deposit of about $180,000, the balance of that account is now approaching $900,000.

“Most of the indicators of financial health in this hospital are trending better and that’s really important,” he said.

In other Nov. 20 news:

• Kelsey Sullivan, the director of clinic and ancillary services, said visiting nurse visits accounted for 20% of clinic visits in the first quarter of this fiscal year; that was up from 18% in the final quarter of 2023 and a step toward its stated goal of 25%.

“This is a great reflection of one of our goals to increase homecare services to the community,” she relayed to the board. “This does not include the home visits the providers are doing, which have seen a recent uptick.”

She added that TRH raised $956 for the Susan G. Komen of Wyoming through its recent silent auction and 5K run.

To date, 11 people have taken advantage of the mobile MRI that is making biweekly stops at TRH.  “Days are filling up,” she said, adding that it’s next stop will be Dec. 12. CEO Joel Jackson said TRH projected about 80 in its first year, adding, “It’s doing about as we expected.” 

• Director of Nursing David Black described receiving heartfelt thank-you notes from patients’ families as well as seeing staffers consistently go above and beyond.

• Tamara Sawyer, in charge of human resources, compliance and risk, said TRH currently has only two open positions. “Since I’ve been here, that’s as low a number as we’ve had,” she said. From January through April of this year, the number of open positions ranged from eight to 10. 

Sawyer added that TRH is planning “a small increase” in pay and a slightly better package of benefits for its employees.

• CEO Joel Jackson provided an update on his efforts to establish a foundation, pointing out that Billings Clinic intends to assist in the endeavor.  He plans to present a draft of the foundation bylaws at either the January or February meetings.

Jackson also announced the hiring of a fourth ER doctor who is expected to start on Dec. 16.  The new hire has 29 years of ER experience and has worked as a medical director and an EMS director.

With the addition, the four ER physicians will average about 23 years of experience in ER settings. “One of the things we’ve heard very clearly is, people value their physicians and they value experience,” said Jackson. “I hope people understand this is us demonstrating that we are hearing them.”