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Friday, June 26, 2009 8:13 AM Wilson Medical Center to keep psych ward closed New Beginnings to stay closed By Janet Conner-Knox | Times Staff Writer The Wilson Medical Center's psychiatric ward, New Beginnings, will stay closed for at least another year while hospital officials try to improve their bottom line. Rick Hudson, chief executive officer of the medical center, said it would not be fiscally responsible for the hospital to open the ward at this time. "We think the economic situation is going to get worse for health care in the next 12 to 14 months as we see people get laid off from their jobs and we continue to see people here at the hospital without insurance," Hudson said. "Our bad debt and charity load is increasing. There are Medicaid cutbacks at the state level. And we know there will be some Medicare cutbacks also." Hudson said they will wait and take a look at how their finances are in September of 2010 before they reconsider opening the ward. Hudson said that when New Beginnings closed 18 months ago, the hospital operated the ward at a $400,000 loss per year. "We are working at break-even to date at the hospital," Hudson said. "To be able to reopen the unit the resource commitment it would take would put us in a major financial disadvantage." Reopening the unit would require nurses and social workers trained especially for a psychiatric ward to staff it 24 hours a day and would also necessitate hiring a full-time psychiatrist. Hudson said the hospital had been looking for a psychiatrist but was unable to land one. He said hospital officials had a candidate they had interviewed and thought would take the position, but the candidate decided not to move from Las Vegas to Wilson. Hudson said he believes the hospital would sustain losses in excess of $500,000 a year if they were to reopen the ward. Since the unit closed, Hudson said there has been a strain in the emergency room with psychiatric patients sometimes having to wait up to four days in the emergency ward before the appropriate bed can be found somewhere in the state. While waiting on a bed, the hospital provides staff that will sit with the patients in the emergency room, no matter how long it takes to find a bed in a state hospital. Wilson Medical Center will request keeping their license for the ward during the time the ward is closed, Hudson said. Hudson said it was not an easy decision because he would like to see the ward open and not closed. "We want to provide that kind of care for Wilson residents," Hudson said. "We know and understand the community needs New Beginnings here in Wilson. We are sensitive to that." janet@wilsontimes.com | 265-7847 |
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Lingy said...
I agree with Belinda because some of these people in Wilson are off the chain. IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!
Monday, June 29, 2009 at 10:02 AM
Belinda said...I agree with Belinda because some of these people in Wilson are off the chain. IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!
Monday, June 29, 2009 at 10:02 AM
If any town needs a psych ward, Wilson does.
Monday, June 29, 2009 at 12:26 AM
I hope it's the reporter that reported the name of the Psych department wrong, and not the CEO. If not, the board should look into why he doesn't know the name of the unit in question.
Saturday, June 27, 2009 at 11:26 PM
This so sad and shows the the age old fact that we still do not consider mental illness worthy of local care as much as a broken bone or other more talk-able diseases. Having to shop for a shrink then get the first Doctor that agrees to move to Wilson is not to good in my book either,How will this Dr. perform her/his job and if porrly we are back at square one.
Saturday, June 27, 2009 at 1:33 PM
Maybe they can stop paying the New Foundations nurses to sit around and surf the internet now. They've had a fleet of nurses on the payroll all this time getting paid PREMIUM pay to do nothing but screen the occasional ER patient. When asked to help in the overloaded ER, the attitude was often "if I wanted to be an ER nurse, I'd sign onto the ER." Some of them made $40/hour to sit in the back and read books. Nice work if you can get it -- and another reason the management at this hospital has to hire $300,000 consultants to come in and teach basic operations to the staff.
Saturday, June 27, 2009 at 10:31 AM
