Forum CEO expresses optimism
Walter Pishkur, President and C.E.O. of Forum Health, speaks to the public during an open forum on the company's economic situation at Northside Medical Center on Thursday evening.
YOUNGSTOWN — So far, so good is the message Forum Health President and chief executive officer Walter “Buzz” Pishkur is bringing to the public about the hospital system’s efforts to get out of bankruptcy.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kay Woods this week approved a motion by Forum to continue using available cash to operate. The hospital system had been operating under an interim order since it filed March 16 for Chapter 11 protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Under Chapter 11, Forum has protection from it creditors while it attempts to reorganize and become solvent.
Pishkur is bringing his upbeat view of events to the community in a series of public forums. The first was Wednesday in Boardman, which attracted about 30 people. There were about 10 people at Thursday’s meeting at Northside Medical Center in Youngstown. Two more meetings are scheduled, both at 7 p.m., on Monday at St. Demetrios Hellenic Orthodox Church Community Center, 3223 Atlantic St. N.E., Warren; and Wednesday at St. Patrick’s Church, 225 North Main St., Hubbard.
Further, Pishkur said Northside Medical Center, which is responsible for the majority of the hospital system’s $139 million debt at the time it filed for bankruptcy, is making progress toward financial stability.
He said that though Northside lost $2.2 million for the first three months of 2009, that is $3.8 million better than the first quarter of 2008, when the hospital lost $6 million.
The other two major Forum facilities, Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital in Howland, have either broke even or made money for the last several years.
The bondholders want Northside to be closed, but Chapter 11 status gives Forum some time to work on making it solvent, he said.
Despite the bankruptcy status, admissions have not regressed at Northside. Typically, admissions drop 20 percent for the first couple of months after filing, and then slowly rebound, Pishkur said. That Northside admissions have remained steady is a testament to the quality of care and excellent clinical outcomes of its patients, he said.
Pishkur said Forum has a two-pronged plan during bankruptcy, from which it expects to emerge in mid- December: To cut costs and boost revenues enough to become financially stable and viable, and at the same time build for the future.
In addition to seeking to regain a foothold in the Boardman area, Pishkur said plans are progressing for a $1.5 million immediate-care facility in Newton Falls and a physician office in Hubbard, which will expand to an immediate care facility in the evenings and on weekends. These moves will help increase patient referrals to TMH and Northside, he said.
To cut costs, Forum has already imposed concessions on its nonunion employees, including eliminating the hospital’s 401(k) match and requiring higher employee payments for health insurance. Pishkur said talks are being initiated this week and next with Forum’s unions, from which he is looking for similar concessions.
Questions from the audience included wanting to know why Beeghly Medical Center in Boardman was sold, and what is the status of the Tod Children’s Hospital Foundation money.
Pishkur said Beeghly was sold when Forum was trying to sell all of its facilities. However, efforts to sell TMH and Hillside failed, and now Forum found itself left with a hospital system which it is trying to restructure and save, along with as many of its 3,700-3,800 jobs as possible.
Regarding the Tod Foundation money, he said it is part of the Western Reserve Care System Foundation and was used to underwrite the debt, and as such could be pursued by the bondholders when Forum defaulted on its bond payments. It is a high priority to protect that money, he said.
“It’s daunting,” Pishkur said of trying to achieve financial stability. “But I think we have a handle on it and will give Forum Health a chance to survive,” he said.
Public meetings
The days and times for the last open forums to learn what is happening at Forum Health. The free sessions begin at 7 p.m. No registration is needed.
Monday: St. Demetrios Hellenic Orthodox Church Community Center, 3223 Atlantic St. N.E., Warren.
Wednesday: St. Patrick Catholic Church, 225 N. Main St., Hubbard.
Source: Forum Health
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