The parent corporation of Ohio Valley Medical Center and East Ohio Regional Hospital has received national recognition for its ''$16 million financial turnaround.''
Ohio Valley Health Services & Education Corp. received the Amerinet Healthcare Achievement Award in the category of Financial and Operational Improvement.
Spokeswoman Shayna Varner said applications to be considered for an award in up to four categories are distributed to 60,000 hospitals and health care facilities annually. OVHS&E was one of 170 hospitals that completed an application and one of only three that received an award in the financial category.
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Celebrating national recognition for Ohio Valley Health Services & Education Corp., parent company of Ohio Valley Medical Center and East Ohio Regional Hospital, are, from left, Jerry Narcisi, chairman of the OVHS&E board of trustees; Lisa Simon, senior vice president and chief financial officer; Nancy Goff, medical records; and Michael Caruso, president and chief executive officer.
''What an honor it is to be recognized on a national stage for the turnaround that our administrative team, physicians and employees have worked so hard to accomplish,'' said Michael Caruso, president and chief executive officer of OVHS&E. ''In 2010, our hospital organization was faced with major struggles moving forward in the world of health care, and our team of providers and staff banded together to continue providing great quality care to our patients in the Ohio Valley. We couldn't be more proud of them.''
According to information from Varner, OVHS&E in 2011 earned $6 million in profit, a ''$16 million financial turnaround from the prior year and the largest profit margin the hospital organization has seen in over a decade. To date in 2012, the hospital system has continued to improve its operations with a year-to-date profit of $2.7 million.''
The corporation attributes its turnaround to the following: renegotiating third-party insurance contracts; better use of employees to match patient levels; better bidding of vendor agreements; improvements to billing process; improvement of patient care scenarios by working with community physicians and employees.
Varner added the West Virginia Health Care Authority approved a 5 percent rate increase earlier this year for the hospital corporation.
''However, this increase has not yet significantly impacted our current revenues or those that were considered at the time of the Amerinet application process. It is also important to note that throughout this period, OVHS&E remains above the statewide average in providing charity and indigent care in the community ... '' Varner said.
