SEIU local wants part in planning

The union said Forum employees are being asked for $24 million in concessions.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The union representing nearly 30 percent of Forum Health's employees says it is being shut out of the planning process for major changes being considered by the health-care provider.
District 1199 of the Service Employees International Union represents 1,400 of the 5,000 Forum Health workers and thinks it has some viable recommendations to help reduce costs and improve the bottom line, said David Regan, president.
However, the union hasn't been able to find an effective way to offer input into the process, he said.
Consulting firm
Forum has told employees that it lost about $30 million last year and could lose as much as $50 million this year unless it does some "radical restructuring," Regan said.
The union has learned that Forum intends to pay Wellspring Partners Ltd., a management consultant firm from Chicago, $14.95 million this year to oversee the implementation of that restructuring, he said.
The union believes Wellspring also was paid a considerable sum of money for its expertise in 2005 but has no documentation to back that claim.
Regan said a budget document prepared by Forum shows an additional $4 million in legal and other consulting fees for other, unnamed providers, is also earmarked for 2006.
Paying millions for consulting services doesn't seem prudent or appropriate for an institution that is losing money, particularly when Forum has indicated to employees that it needs $24 million in employee concessions, Regan said.
Response from Forum
Offering Forum's response Thursday night, Rick Giecek, senior vice president, wrote in an e-mail, "We value a positive working relationship with our unions and will continue to meet regularly with union leaders, as we have in the past, to share information and discuss our strategic plans and vision for Forum Health. We are engaged in an ambitious and thorough plan to identify our core strengths, address our financial challenges and create new opportunities for Forum Health and our patient care mission in this community.
"We consider the unions important partners in this process, as are our employees, physicians, civic leaders and financial partners," he continued. "We are committed to continue to communicate openly and honestly with all of our stakeholders throughout this transformation process."
Dr. Keith Ghezzi, interim president and CEO, responded to written employee questions about impending changes in an internal publication in late February.
He wrote that Forum's board of directors is reviewing Wellspring's recommendations and that definitive answers about changes regarding any specific facility or the structure of Forum Health are not yet in place.
The process has involved a top-to-bottom review of operations, revenues, costs, facilities, services and resources as well as the local market and trends that affect health care locally and nationally, he said.
Ghezzi said Forum is working to improve its communications with all of its stakeholders, including employees.
Union's view
Regan said the community needs to care that a vital local institution is being run by an outside consulting firm without local control or oversight, he said, adding that the union has been unable to get a look at just what recommendations Wellspring is making.
Regan said the union has a list of possible internal changes that it thinks could turn Forum's financial picture around. It can be done by the existing staff without help from outside consultants, Regan said.
Some of the suggestions deal with billing issues, such as establishing a system to assure appropriate charges are captured for billing and analyzing the coding process to ensure that bills sent to insurance carriers have the proper coding to get the maximum payment.
Reviewing purchasing processes and contracts, using internal expertise rather than hiring outside service providers and reviewing and renegotiating contracts with insurance payers to improve reimbursements would also improve the bottom line, according to the union.
Regan said he thinks the hospital is "overdramatizing" its situation.
Forum does about $500 million a year in patient revenue, and a $30 million loss, although cause for concern, shouldn't warrant a "radical restructuring," he said.
Jeffrey Weiss, consultant to the union, said a look at Forum's performance doesn't show a hospital in dire straits.Utilization at its Western Reserve and Trumbull facilities remains strong with patient days actually increasing at Western Reserve and remaining steady at Trumbull in 2005, Weiss said.
Admissions also were up slightly at both locations, he said.
A big chunk of the 2005 reported losses appear to be one-time expenses amounting to $21 million, Weiss said, noting they include write-offs for charity care, bad debt and architectural/planning fees.
Those losses shouldn't carry over into 2006, he said.