Quorum makes management proposal for St. Luke Hospital
Three officials from Quorum Health Resources, based in Brentwood, Tenn., made a management presentation at noon Thursday to the Board of Directors of Hospital District No. 1 at St. Luke Hospital.
John Peel, vice president, from Brentwood; John D. Short, president, Central Division, QHR; and Thomas H. McCall, group vice president, said the board could have until Sept. 30 to decide whether to accept the management proposal.
Short and McCall are based in Plano, Texas.
Quorum is the largest hospital management company in the nation and has been in business more than 30 years, Short said. It manages more than 200 hospitals, under multi-year agreements, in more than 40 states.
The company works with 38 critical access hospitals. It was formerly named HCA Management Co., but since 1989 it's been QHR.
They have five multi-year clients at present in Kansas. Half of the company's clients are city-, county- or district-owned. Hospital District No. 1 owns the bricks and mortar, and Banner Health Systems now owns the right to operate the hospital.
Banner has the contract to manage the facility through Dec. 31, 2004, but is hoping to shed that responsibility before that date.
The district gets about $450,000 in tax funding yearly, and is now debt-free. The hospital district expects to have about $1.2 million on hand in January 2004.
It does about $5.2 million worth of business per year.
Quorum's proposal would entail paying the company a fee of $185,000 for the first year it operated the hospital, Peel said, plus expenses. In future years, the fee would escalate based on the Medical Care Component of the federal Consumer Price Index, he said.
The chief executive officer and chief financial officer of St. Luke Hospital would be on Quorum's payroll, Peel said.
Transition services provided by Quorum during the time the hospital switches over from Banner to Quorum would entail a separate fee of $30,000 to $60,000 payable to QHR, Short said.
He said, at the end of the 65-minute meeting, "We think we're your best choice."
Board member Martin Tice requested a 15-minute closed session to discuss personnel after the presentation ended. No action was taken in open session after the closed session ended.
