County hoping to trim UMC’s subsidy

Wednesday, April 7, 2004 | 11:01 a.m.

Clark County hopes to reduce its subsidy to the University Medical Center system by $5 million in the next fiscal year, a move that the hospital chief executive said reflects the system's improving financial condition.

Lacy Thomas, who took over as UMC's chief executive officer in October, also said the reduction in the subsidy will have no impact on the quality of patient care at the hospital.

Dr. John Ellerton, chief of UMC's medical staff, will measure that commitment. Ellerton said Thomas "seems dedicated to good patient care."

The doctors and other medical providers at the hospital would prefer that the money issue "come off the table so the administration could take care of it," but he said that has not always been possible.

"I heard things were going to get tight," Ellerton said. "I guess this is it. I would hope that it would not have an impact.

"Hopefully, they (hospital administrators) will remain responsive to the patient-care issues," he said. "If they don't, we'll let them know."

UMC, which operates Nevada's largest hospital and a network of satellite urgent care centers, required an infusion of $38 million in December 2002 from the county. County commissioners, who serve as the system's board of trustees, warned that they could not continue to subsidize UMC at that level.

In this fiscal year, which ends June 30, the county budgeted $15 million to subsidize the system.

Last year the county began implementing cost-saving measures recommended by outside consultants and a citizens' task force. Those measures are making an impact, said Thomas, who ran Chicago's largest hospital prior to coming to Clark County.

"All this is part of the planned reduction of UMC's reliance on county resources," Thomas said.

Much of the emphasis for the hospital has been on doing a better job collecting financial information from the patients as they come into the system. That has allowed the hospital to stem the losses it experienced, most of them attributed to rising numbers of uninsured or indigent patients.

In the previous fiscal year UMC posted a $17.6 million loss. The year before that, the system posted a $23 million loss.

"There will probably always be some (county subsidy) but it should be reduced," Thomas said. "We're not there yet, but we are recovering."

Reducing the subsidy to UMC gives Clark County's tight overall budget some relief.

"It is a positive trend," County Manager Thom Reilly said. "But we're still going to have to manage it closely."

The $5 million has already been incorporated into the county's budget for the next fiscal year, Reilly said. The county has planned about $860 million for its general fund operating budget, but that allows fewer than 100 new employees for the local government.

Department heads at the county had cumulatively asked for 500 new hires to keep pace with Clark County's rapidly growing population.