Dayton Chronicle - Your Hometown News Source

DAYTON-The Columbia County Health System Board (CCHS) were advised Rivers Walk Assisted Living passed its final permitting inspection and is now open as of February 13 with 19 residents during the meeting on February 22.  Losses were reported for many of the last several months due to the delay in permitting for the facility. The bottom line reported for January was a modest net loss of $3449.

Rivers Walks Assisted Living Cottages B and C are up and running with hopes to have enough staff to open Cottage A in early March. Eighteen residents from Booker moved over to the facility on February 13, with another that was admitted just after from Starbuck.

CEO Shane McGuire pointed out to the Board that the deposits for January were $2.8 million and the monthly average for deposits has been $2.6 million over the past six months which he concluded was "extraordinary" because it reflects strong volumes, as well as strong accounts receivables which is currently at a "very collectable" $6.16 million.

Accounts payable have also increased by $328,000. They have been working to improve the collection time from date of service, to billing and collecting payment. Days cash on hand was reported at 24 which is down from 27 in December.

Expenditures were higher than budgeted mainly because of contracted salaries and purchased services. Though it was a high-volume month exceeding the budget by $648,000 in part due to coding errors, it was nearly a break-even month.

McGuire spoke about continued challenges that high volumes in the Emergency Room cause with staffing, particularly if patients require a longer stay while waiting for a transfer. Typically, they have had the option of pulling the nurse from the ER for other needs, but that is becoming less possible.

Updates were provided on Outreach and Business Enhancement Initiatives including the childcare facility and the Assisted Living. McGuire said they are working on obtaining funding for childcare. The operator recently did a walk-through of the facility space with the licensing agency.

Currently, the contract agreement is being worked out with the operator. Project plans have been submitted to County Planning and Building for review.

The next step is they plan to solicit for contractors and award a contract for construction to begin in early March.

McGuire shared an article published by The Commonwealth Fund which is an organization that focuses on Global Health. They published an article on how CCHS as a critical access hospital is filling the gaps in treating behavioral health issues including substance use and abuse through offering unused swing beds with skilled nursing to patients often from urban areas. This can be for extended days, if needed.

They offer this care through a partnership established in 2017 with University of Washington's Advancing Integrated Mental Health Solutions Center. The Center has a collaborative care approach where behavior health specialists offer guidance to primary care and hospital-based providers, as well as tele-health visits with patients.  This service has grown the average daily census at the CCHS from 1.7 to 14. The article has received a lot of positive feedback from around the health care industry, reported McGuire.