Columbus Regional Health has temporarily reduced work time for non-direct patient care staff across the hospital system due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
Under the temporary reductions, staff who are not involved in direct patient care, including CRH leadership, have been instructed to reduce their work time by 25% from April 28 to May 23, said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue.
The work time reduction impacts between 350 and 500 employees, or roughly 25% of CRH’s workforce, but does not include bedside clinical staff or impact the hospital system’s ability to treat COVID-19 patients or other medical emergencies, DeClue said.
Employees can use paid time off to avoid a reduction in pay, but employees who do not have paid time off, or choose not to use it, will see a 25% reduction in pay, CRH officials said.
DeClue said hospital system has not laid off any employees.
CRH officials will reevaluate the measure over the next few weeks as the hospital system continues phasing in elective procedures that had been halted in March to meet the health needs of potential COVID-19 patients, protect against exposure and potential spread of the virus, and to ensure that medical resources are readily available.
“This worktime reduction plan does not impact those areas of the hospital that are involved in COVID care,” DeClue said. “…We continue to have our staffing lined up to meet our current needs and also for the potential surge that we have been monitoring for from the beginning and planning for as the community continues to reopen and people get out and about.”
The temporary measure by CRH comes as hospitals across the United States face the financial impact of canceled and postponed services due to COVID-19 on their revenue, as well as additional costs associated with purchasing much-sought-after personal protective equipment.
The Indiana State Medical Association has released a report that offered a bleak assessment of the financial toll on medical providers across the state.
According to the report, 82% of physicians in Indiana estimate that they have seen a 40% decrease in patient visits and revenues, and 73% of physicians said their practices had reduced staff hours or instituted temporary layoffs, according to the report.
The American Hospital Association published a report that warned of “catastrophic financial challenges” for hospitals across the country due to the pandemic, projecting that hospitals in the United State could collectively see $202.6 billion in losses from March until June.
“Hospitals have cancelled non-emergency procedures, and many Americans are postponing care as they shelter in place to stop the spread of the virus. Treatment for COVID-19 has created incredible demand for certain medical equipment and supplies as the virus has disrupted supply chains, increasing the costs that hospitals face to treat COVID-19 patients,” according to the AHA.
CRH, for its part, is “in the same boat,” DeClue said, referring to the AHA report.
CRH canceled or postponed elective, non-urgent surgeries and procedures in mid-March and severely reduced certain outpatient services, including some surgical services and other critical or routine medical needs due to the pandemic.
On April 27, the hospital system started phasing in certain elective procedures again after Gov. Eric Holcomb gave hospitals the green light to restart procedures if they had “sufficient quantities of personal protective equipment.”
CRH officials, however, have found that some patients have been reluctant to reschedule appointments that were postponed due to the pandemic out of fear of being exposed to COVID-19.
With the first phase, CRH officials estimate that the hospital system will be at around 20% of its procedural capacity, DeClue said.
CRH officials plan to monitor patient load at the hospital and how the COVID-19 pandemic evolves over the next couple of weeks before attempting to scale up other non-emergency procedures that had been canceled or postponed.
“So many businesses and organizations in communities across the nation have been affected by this pandemic and Columbus Regional Health has too in our own unique way,” DeClue said. “…As we were continuing to put a lot of efforts and resources toward COVID-19 patients and communication and setting up those services, we were also having to kind of stop a lot of our outpatient services, other procedures and services directed toward general health and wellness.”
The AMA says hospitals will likely continue to see financial impacts from the pandemic for some time and its estimates “likely under represent the full financial losses that hospitals and health systems face.”
“It remains to be seen how quickly life will return to normal across the country in the months to come,” the AMA report states. “Hospitals will likely continue to see lower service use while treating COVID-19 patients beyond June 30, which would result in continued financial pressures.”
