Blount Memorial Hospital marks major financial progress

Six straight months in the black could mean Blount Memorial Hospital marks one of its best years for finances in recent history.

The hospital so far in the 2024 fiscal year is operating at a loss of about $313,000. But that figure represents a major upward shift from last year, when Blount Memorial’s losses were over $10 million. It’s an even more abrupt break with the year before, when a $40 million debit helped fuel bitter disagreements with the Blount County government over hospital leadership.

And with days left until the next fiscal year, Blount Memorial is posting a $214,000 net gain. Hospital directors and executives applauded a Tuesday, June 25, announcement from CFO Brian Holloman, who said that when he looked over the numbers earlier that day, “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, (net gain) was a positive number.’ So it was very exciting to see a bottom-line number be positive.”

“We haven’t seen it in a long time,” noted Dr. Stephen Kiefer, the board’s president, during a Tuesday meeting.

“It’s been too long, Dr. Kiefer,” Holloman replied.

Financial improvements aren’t the only changes the hospital has confronted over the last 12 months. Blount Memorial’s charter and the state of its relationship with Blount County’s government have also transformed. It has a new CEO, Jonathan Smith, who took up the role on an interim basis after predecessor Dr. Harold Naramore last fall announced his resignation.

And more changes are coming, as leadership of the hospital’s board shifts and a prospective partnership with another health system looms.

Funds

The hospital’s stronger financial health stems from a few sources. Smith has told The Daily Times previously that recent growth comes from a focus on inpatient and emergency services. Changes in supply chain contracts have also decreased Blount Memorial’s costs, as has reducing expensive contract labor, he’s noted.

The summer so far has proved a windfall in other respects: Blount Memorial Monday received $2.5 million in long-awaited funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for COVID-era disaster assistance. The hospital applied for reimbursement from the agency years ago, amid the pandemic. It is still owed about $1.7 million.

“(We’re) still very, very pleased to receive at least a very large partial payment and to receive it before June 30,” Smith said Tuesday.

And a project designed to give the hospital a major cash infusion has neared the finish line. The sale of MorningView Village Senior Community and the hospital’s Transitional Care Center — valued at about $22 million — is set to close July 1.

More change coming

Healthcare is changing, and Blount Memorial can adapt, the hospital’s leaders have commented.

“To say the last year’s been tumultuous would be an understatement,” Kiefer said to other hospital directors Tuesday in his last meeting as the board’s president.

In that time, he noted, the board’s composition has changed, with the addition of five new directors. The hospital’s charter was rewritten, lawsuits against the county and a countersuit against the hospital have been settled and Blount Memorial now has clear terms for its relationship with the government.

With a search for possible partners from larger health systems underway, the changes will continue.

“Change is scary. It’s inevitable; it’s necessary,” Kiefer said. “All things change every second of our life.”

But for the hospital, he said: “The future is bright.”

Kiefer’s own term as board president has ended. Director Chris Flynn will succeed him in the upcoming year. Directors Amber Krupacs and Matt Haralson will both serve as vice presidents of the board.