Oktibbeha County supervisors excluded Healthcare Management Partners Monday from a shortlist of finalists vying to conduct an upcoming financial and strategic analysis of OCH Regional Medical Center.
Supervisors unanimously voted to hold interviews at 5:30 p.m. Monday with representatives of BKD CPAs and Advisors, Horne CPAs and Business Advisors, Pitts Management Associates and Stroudwater after discussing the firms with OCH Chief Executive Officer Richard Hilton and board consultant Frederick Woodrell behind closed doors for about 20 minutes yesterday.
The board will allocate 20 minutes for each group’s presentation and 10 minutes for follow-up questioning. The interviews will be open to the public.
Hilton previously confirmed a shortlist of finalists that included HMP but said the firm, which co-authored a white paper cited during an April rural health care summit, could have a perceived bias toward recommending a sale or lease of the publicly owned and operated medical facility if it was chosen to handle the evaluation.
That report, “Understanding the Current Status of Mississippi’s Government-Owned Community Hospitals,” suggests governing bodies study the long-term viability of their publicly owned health care facility and reviews a number of strategic options moving forward, including: selling the facility or merging it with another system; conducting non-control transactions, like joint operating or shared service agreements; creating a free-standing emergency department; transitioning into an ambulatory care delivery model; and developing other short-term strategies to increase profitability.
“I just feel like with that predisposition, we would not get a clear, unbiased position up front. I was asked for my opinion, and that’s the way it comes across,” Hilton told supervisors. “Regardless of who does it, it needs to be done with no predisposition to what the end result should be.”
Hilton said he would share more specifics about the perceived bias behind closed doors, and the board, citing a potential sale or transaction of the hospital, entered into executive session to discuss those details.
“We were at that summit together. My personal perspective on it was … that they were strongly recommending assessments, and that they were trying to educate us,” said District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller before the board entered executive session. “We want an unbiased report. I came out of (April’s summit) knowing they were sounding the alarm bells (about the future of health care viability).”
After emerging from executive session, District 3 Supervisor Marvell Howard motioned to interview BKD, Horne and Stroudwater, but District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams added Pitts to the list to keep the board’s options at four firms.
Williams asked Woodrell, who was hired to help supervisors in the assessment process, why Pitts was excluded, and the consultant cited the firm’s high cost for services.
Horne’s baseline cost is projected at $35,000, but a “value-added option” to “explore strategic partnerships to discover superior value to the market” would add an additional $17,500 to the final bill.
BKD’s feasibility study’s price tag is $37,500, plus any travel costs and a 4 percent administrative fee to cover paperwork and other physical costs. Its proposal states the fees may increase if duties or responsibilities change.
Stroudwater’s proposal is listed at $45,000-$50,000, but not to exceed the $50,000 mark.
Pitts’ proposal ranges from $65,500-$92,500, depending on if it is tasked to conduct a valuation of the hospital ahead of a sale or lease.
A financial analysis is required by law before a governing body can formally explore a transaction of its health care facility.
In other hospital business, supervisors unanimously reappointed Linda Breazeale as District 3’s representative on the OCH Board of Trustees.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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