Definitions

Let’s review some definitions:

1) Lie
A false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood.
Something meant to deceive or give a wrong impression.

2) Equivocate
To use equivocal language intentionally.
To avoid making an explicit statement. See Synonyms (lie)

3) Misstate
state something incorrectly

Tuesday night we had our bimonthly Medical staff meeting at Floyd Memorial and there has been lots of talk among the staff and physicians about what was actually said and what we know to be factual.

The CEO stood up in front of the entire medical staff that attended and reported without specifics that the financials are not at goal and we need to “right-size”. He gave the example of buying a bigger house and how you have to sometimes make cuts to then meet the financial strains. He stated very clearly that “he has instructed all the directors to cut their budgets by 2 percent.” He also made statements saying it should not affect patient care areas or nurse to patient ratios.


First off, the directors have reported they were instructed to cut budgets by 5 percent not 2 percent. So, as one of the news stations say "We report, You decide". We'll let the readers decide as the physicians have which definition this describes. The problem is not the size of the cut, but it is whether the information recieved from certain individuals can be trusted. Physicians are unwilling to partner with people they cannot trust.

From a business perspective, when you tell each department the goal is to cut the budget, they really only have one major way to do that. Cut staff, hours and services. The goal should be to increase revenue and find ways to generate more income not just to cut costs.

So what has happened? Directors have and will cut their budgets, but by doing so we are losing good employees and nurses. Some have decided to transfer to other non-patient-care departments because the nurse-patient ratio is too high and they do not feel they can provide the care they want, some long term employees have been fired for various reasons, and some employees will just choose to leave.

Surgery made a unilateral decision to cut the time by two hours of running 2 OR rooms rather than 1 in the evenings. This was done without even consulting the Chairman of the Department of Surgery. Surgery generates revenue. By cutting the available times surgeons can schedule cases, it will cause a loss of revenue and a loss of good relations from the surgeons. Many surgeons are saying they are just going to do more cases at Clark where they can schedule when they want and not have it affect their personal time as much.

So each department may actually cut its expenses, but by doing so, it may actually cut the overall revenue. You may cut your expenses by 5% and lose 10% in revenue. These are probably not the wisest decisions.

Physicians in many departments had lots of suggestions, but no one felt it was important to ask their opinion and with no physician on the Board, there will be little to no input at that level.