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	Franklin County, Kansas, USA

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Ransom: From ‘mistake’ to great, Felix says

By CLEON RICKEL, Herald Senior Writer

When Larry Felix came from Ponca City, Okla., to Ottawa to be the new administrator at Ransom Memorial Hospital in 2000, he knew the hospital’s finances were shaky.

The hospital had no cash reserves. The hospital had a significant debt. It depended on the county sales tax levy to keep the doors open.

When he started, Felix said he originally thought the hospital had two years of survival left before it went bankrupt.

Then he began closely examining the books.

“It was a lot worse,” Felix said. “I told my wife that I felt I had made a mistake (coming to Ottawa),” Felix said.

The hospital staff was spooked by the hospital’s finances, he told the Franklin County Commission Wednesday during his annual report to the county.

“They were in fear of losing their jobs,” Felix said.

By a careful program of reducing costs and improving care, the staff righted the hospital’s finances and now the hospital is debt-free and planning for a major renovation project .

Not to mention that after a multiple-phase, multi-year project, the roof no longer leaks.

“I’m proud of the hospital and staff,” Felix said.

“The culture is great,” he said. “It’s a culture that if there’s anything we can do to improve the quality of care we provide, we do it.

“I don’t have to say a thing.”

Now the hospital covers its costs from its revenues, he said. Money from the county sales tax can be salted away for building projects and equipment purchases.

Felix told commissioners he has tried to ensure that the hospital has no debt and that the money be in hand when the hospital embarks on building and improvement projects.

That has meant that the hospital does its projects over several years, including the work to replace the hospital’s roofs, which was completed last summer.

The next project is remodeling the patient care unit and converting the two-bed rooms into private rooms, as well as making other improvements including wiring, heating and air-conditioning.

Single-patient rooms will improve patients’ privacy and will limit the spread of infections while complying with government standards, he said.

Even more important, the staff offers the best possible care, he said.

“I can tell you that our staff has done an outstanding job,” Felix said.

The hospital is one of few in the area of its size to have Joint Commission accreditation and rates among the nation’s top hospitals on lists regarding patient care, he said.

“We’re treating our friends and neighbors,” he said.

However, Ransom Memorial Hospital faces some challenges in the future, he said.

The number of patients who are treated at the hospital, but can’t pay, continues to increase at a time Medicare and Medicaid are cutting their payments to hospitals and pharmaceutical companies are increasing prices for most drugs, he said.

President Bush has offered a budget that would slash most domestic spending, Felix said.

If it’s allowed to stand, the proposed Bush budget would cost Ransom Memorial Hospital more than $3.5 million over the next five years, he said.

“We can’t stomach that,” Felix said.

Many hospitals would have to close, he said.

Because of its financial standing, the Ottawa hospital could absorb some of the cuts, he said.

“We’re better prepared than most hospitals to weather this,” Felix said. “A lot of hospitals will fail before we do but we’ll be at risk also.”