CEO Quarterly Message
(This message is also included in the Summer 2008 issue of Health Signs.)
Then and Now
In April of 1959, the minutes of the Board of Director’s meeting document the fiscal year 1959-60 estimate of funds required to operate the hospital, Washington Hospital’s first annual budget. The cost of hospital operations, maintenance, salaries and wages were projected to amount to $1,288,478. Bond interest and redemption was projected to be $235,638. The labor force was expected eventually to reach as many as 350 employees. Later that year, in November of 1959, the Board minutes offer the following statistics: after 345 days of operation, the District had served 3,999 inpatients (approximately 12 patients per day), delivered 781 babies (about 2 a day), treated 3,146 patients in its Emergency Department, performed 1,888 surgeries, admitted 1,061 pediatric patients, served 50,101 patient trays, and served 77,720 meals in the cafeteria. At the outset, funding of operations was a true challenge, and the Board of Directors authorized the District to borrow money against the anticipated taxes in 1959 and 1960 in order to meet the obligations of the Hospital.
During the first years of operation the Board minutes reflect an ongoing debate as to who would be responsible for paying for the care of the medically indigent in the Washington Hospital Emergency Room, and the corollary issues of what the County Hospital’s responsibility should be in the care of the medically indigent, and how the local physicians would cover the staffing of the Emergency Room, issues that persist to this very day in most Hospitals across the United States.
Today, total gross patient service revenue amounts to $1,288,645,000; annual operating expenses for our Hospital total $348,845.000. Our contractual write offs, which did not exist in 1959-1960, amount to $932,795,000. We employ in excess of 1,300 full time employees. We admit approximately 14,931 patients a year, perform nearly 3,000 deliveries in the course of a year, perform 4,352 inpatient surgeries, and 113,916 outpatient visits. Replacement cost of the 359 bed Medical Center is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $1 billion.
Of course, it has been quite some time since we operated as simply a Hospital. We maintain four clinics located throughout the District as well as the Ohlone College Student Health Center. We are partners with our physicians at the Washington Outpatient Surgery Center where an additional 6,011 surgeries are performed each year. The Washington Radiation Oncology Center, the Washington Outpatient Rehabilitation Center, the Cardiac Surgery Program, the freestanding Outpatient Cath Lab, The Center For Joint Replacement, the Washington Women’s Center, the Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programs, The Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery, The Institute for Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery, Washington on Wheels, The Outpatient Imaging Center, the OB Hospitalist Program, the Medical Hospitalist Progam, the Pediatric Hospitalist Program, the Intensivist Program, the InHealth television channel, the Lymphedema Clinic, the Taylor McAdam Bell Neuroscience Institute, the Washington Gamma Knife Center which includes the Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion, the Cardiac Receiving Center, and the Stroke Center are among the many new programs and services offered that are a clear indication that our communities’ investment of $3 million in a 150 bed hospital has yielded an excellent return on investment.
Along the way there have been the usual and customary pessimists, who believe an independent, community owned Health Care District can’t possibly succeed. In April of 1948, the County Board of Supervisors officially ruled on the date of the election for forming Washington Township Health Care District. The local newspaper, The News Register, reported only one protest was lodged with the Board. Serafin Caldeira of Centerville, owner of 35 acres of land, protested formation of the District as unnecessary, and asked that his land be excluded from the area. Today, there are those who advocate privatization and corporatism of hospitals. They believe it isn’t possible to succeed under the burdens of local accountability. Fortunately, this Healthcare System is governed and led by a Board of Directors and administration that derives strength from its origins, and continues to maintain its relevance to the community.
Nancy Farber
Chief Executive Officer
Washington Hospital Healthcare System