Paying off the line of credit to Centinel Bank was a great step forward to the financial security of Holy Cross Medical Center. ‘We have come a long way’ said Steve Rozenboom, CFO for Holy Cross Medical Center. ‘We still have more work to do in securing the financial future of Holy Cross, but we have made great strides this past year. ‘
Having the support of the Taos Community was key to Holy Cross getting back on track with our finances. Centinel Bank financed the line of credit to Holy Cross Medical Center which helped to prevent the interruption of local healthcare services. ‘We worked hand-in-hand over the past 15 months and we truly appreciated the flexibility Centinel Bank afforded us as we worked through a number of financial challenges during that time’ remarked Rozenboom. ‘We are very thankful to Centinel Bank for partnering with us in our time of need, said Bill Patten, CEO of Holy Cross Medical Center.
When asked what was accomplished this past year, Rozenboom cited several advancements ranging from internal procedures being established to being designated a critical access hospital. Signing a contract with TruBridge to assist in processing claims, improving internal billing processes, and training Holy Cross employees has been the most recent step Holy Cross has taken to address the cash flow issue.
It appears that the foresight of Holy Cross leadership to apply for Critical Access Hospital designation was perhaps the decision that made the biggest difference to position Holy Cross for a stronger future. ‘We received the designation a year ago, so we recently did a review of the financial impact of that decision. Looking at the first 10.5 months since this new designation went into place, Holy Cross received an increase of $1.3 million from Medicare reported Rozenboom. While the hospital still loses money from Medicare, without this new designation, the losses would have been much greater. Medicaid revenues also increased during the same time frame allowing Holy Cross to recoup a better return on the services they provide. Efforts to get bills out in a timely manner continue to be the focus of the business office.