Employees February 19, 2009
Talks to employees about economy
In the first two weeks of February 2009, Marna P. Borgstrom, president and CEO, and Richard D’Aquila, executive vice president and COO, held open-forum talks with employees about the declining state of the economy and its impact on hospitals across the nation, including Yale- New Haven Hospital.
Both executives updated employees on the healthcare industry in the state of Connecticut, noting the increased financial stress on hospitals and other providers, as a direct result of the economic downturn.
Even hospitals in Fairfield County are struggling with significant decreases in volume, attributed to massive cutbacks in the New York financial industry, which is leading to patients postponing elective medical procedures.
“Fortunately, demand at Yale-New Haven has not been impacted to the same extent,” Borgstrom told a group of employees in the East Pavilion cafeteria special events area. “We just finished the best year in our history and we were on budget for the first quarter of this year as well. But demand for healthcare services is declining nationally and across the state, ambulatory and ED visits are down more than inpatient volume. We were right on budget for December but we are experiencing some softening in volume for January against our budget.”
Borgstrom pointed out that “we are in good financial shape” and Smilow Cancer Hospital remains on time and on budget, and will begin a phased opening in October. Two Howe Street and 55 Park Street are scheduled to open in spring 2010.
But, she said, managing expenses will be key to the hospital’s continued ability to succeed in this challenging economy. “This recession is more significant than any of us has experienced,” she said. “Credit is extremely tight and we also must prioritize and sequence capital projects like expanding the ED and the interventional labs on the two floors above it. And we will need your help to stay on course.
“Each of you in this room has helped us perform well and we must continue to work together,” Borgstrom said. “We have to manage our expenses thoughtfully and we want to hear your ideas about how we can save – think about the hospital’s budget like you would think about your own family’s household budget.”
D’Aquila also addressed employees at the well attended meetings. “This is not a doom and gloom meeting,” he told employees. “We continue to invest in the things that will make us a destination hospital. Because of the distinguished physicians who are joining our staff and the safe, quality care we offer, Smilow Cancer Hospital will attract patients from throughout the state and New England.”
D’Aquila reminded the audience that for the second year, Yale-New Haven made the honor roll in the U.S. News & World Report issue on American’s Best Hospitals. He said that the hospital continues to attract exceptional physicians in all major service lines and specialties. “While others are announcing lay-offs, we do not have plans at this time to cut staff,” D’Aquila said.
“We are being particularly careful about filling vacancies, especially those which are not in direct patient care roles. You may have heard this from your managers, but we are asking everyone to think about ways to control expenses without diminishing the quality of care we provide.”
D’Aquila gave an overview of the next three months and noted that the hospital is budgeted for 800 patients a day. “We have built in additional beds and staff to deal with fluctuations in what we’ve planned for,” he said. “We will watch the ramp-up of patients very closely. Increased volume has been assumed in our budget and has to be carefully matched with additional expenses.”
D’Aquila asked employees to communicate ideas for expense savings to him. “Help us prepare for the uncertainty that is out there,” he said. “We have a $1 billion budget and there will always be opportunities to reduce waste and unnecessary expense. Tell us where you think we can save.”
“Our employees have gotten us to where we are today – which is a place of strength and success,” said Borgstrom. “And we are confident that they will help us get through this difficult time, as well. By harnessing the ideas and energy of 7,500 employees, we will continue to succeed and remain focused on providing the efficient, high-quality, safe care that has made us one of America’s best hospitals.”
Article originally appeared in the February 19, 2009 issue of the YNHH Bulletin (page 1)
http://www.ynhh.org/bulletin_archive/2009/021909_bulletin.pdf
