Money woes force hospital to halt Fayette HealthLine
Come Monday, The Fayette HealthLine, a medical advisory telephone service staffed by nurses and offered by Uniontown Hospital for the past dozen years, no longer will be available. James D. Proud, vice president of human resources and marketing for the hospital, said Wednesday that with higher costs and lower revenue this year, shutting down the line is a part of the overall cost-reduction strategy for the hospital.
He said the cost for the service was significant and the hospital would have had to lay off six to eight people to keep it in operation.
“We need nurses and assistants upstairs (in the hospital). It didn’t make sense to lay off nurses and keep Fayette HealthLine,” Proud said.
The employees that worked for the health line were retained and reassigned, Proud said.
Proud explained that when the service began in 1991, it started mainly as a way for patients who didn’t have a primary care physician (PCP) to obtain assistance in finding one.
However, in the last 12 years, with the significant advent of managed care, Proud said, most people now have a PCP, and in the last two or three years, the line has seen a definite decline in calls. In its heyday, the 724-430-3333 line received 1,000 calls a month, but that number has dropped since then.
“The primary purpose is pretty much no longer that necessary,” he said. “We don’t think this will cause a hardship for anybody.”
Although the line will not be manned, callers can leave their name and telephone number after a recorded message if they wish to receive in the mail a list of doctors for the hospital, Proud said. Another alternative is to go to the hospital’s Web site at www.uniontownhospital.com for a complete listing of physicians either alphabetically, by specialty or by type of insurance.
Those who call the health line number for emergencies will reach a recorded message that will instruct them to call 911. Proud added that the line has never been used for emergencies.
After people picked their PCP as a part of their managed health care, Proud said, some continued to call the health line to get health information and health advice, but now they’re going to have to call their PCP.
Proud said it has really been a difficult year for hospitals, and Uniontown Hospital recently had a staffing reduction of 24 employees. He said the hospital also has felt the impact of the medical malpractice issue, because it lost two orthopedic surgeons when Drs. Thomas B. Jones Jr. and Phillip J. Spinuzza left the state, and three obstetricians – Drs. Lawrence J. Glad, John A. Sunyecz and Christine B. Wilson – stopped delivering babies.
“Our own liability insurance is up to $1 million a year, which is nearly doubled, and there is very little in reimbursement increases,” he said, adding that the hospital has higher wages and supply costs that must be funded.
On a brighter note, Proud said a new orthopedic group soon will set up shop, and, hopefully, additional obstetricians will shortly join the staff. Also, he said doctors soon will perform angioplasties and stents. A second open MRI and a new CAT scanner are also on the way, he noted.