Legal sparring continues over Larned hospital

Pawnee County officials file to lift stay, continue suit: CKMC files for dismissal

By DALE HOGG

LARNED – Following a 45-day lull, the legal battle over the fate of St. Joseph Memorial Hospital here heated back up Monday.

According to the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, the AG and the Pawnee County Community Health Organization filed in Pawnee County to lift the stay put in place to allow time for negotiations between the organization and Central Kansas Medical Center. St. Joseph is operated by CKMC and its parent company, Catholic Health Initiatives.

The action paves the way for the joint AG/PCCHO’s lawsuit seeking the Larned Hospital’s coveted critical access designation to continue.

However, CKMC and CHI filed Tuesday a motion to have the suit dismissed, said Sharon Lind, CKMC president and chief executive officer. A hearing on the motion has been set for 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 12.

No trial date has been set, but should this go that far, KAG spokesman Ashley Anstadt said it should take place some time in early December.

Under the stay granted Sept. 14 by District Judge Bruce Gatterman, CKMC would continue to operate St. Joseph and the PCCHO would put their suit on hold. In the meantime, the parties would negotiate a deal.

“The leaders of Central Kansas Medical Center and St. Joseph Memorial Hospital have worked diligently, over the past 45 days, to negotiate the transfer of the SJMH critical access hospital assets (land, hospital building, equipment, license),” Lind said. “We have made an offer to city/county leaders to transfer the critical access hospital assets (inclusive of the license) to the community.”

However, “to date, we have received no counter-offer, yet we stand ready and willing to continue negotiations,” Lind said, adding SJMH will remain open as CKMC attempts to continue negotiations.

In a telephone conversation, PCCHO spokesperson Mary Beth Herrmann indicated she would call the Tribune back with a statement and field what questions she could in light of a confidentiality agreement. However, as of late Tuesday evening, Herrmann had not called.

Along with the request to lift the stay, the AG and the PCCHO filed an amended petition that, in addition to listing CKMC Board members by name and wanting the surrender of the critical access designation, alleges CKMC violated the spirit of the stay.

The group, a non-governmental, not-for profit body, maintains the stay required St. Joseph Memorial Hospital to be “operated in the ordinary course of business,” but CKMC has “taken steps to constructively abandon the St. Joseph facility to the detriment of its status as a Critical Access Hospital and in anticipation of its closure.”

The petition goes on to say “... the failure to provide adequate staffing to allow procedures to be performed, cessation of the quality improvement function at the hospital, planned termination of staff coverage for codes and traumas, limitation of occupational and physical therapy services, failure to maintain lab services and substantial elimination of maintenance.”

However, “while we remain open, it is our intent to continue to maintain our Facility so any issues with repair and/or routine maintenance will be properly addressed so we have proper and safe facility to continue to care for patients and staff. Lind said. The round-the-clock emergency room, laboratory services, radiology, pharmacy coverage and support services (food service and maintenance) have all continued.

CKMC has also contracted with Jan Hipp (formerly chief nursing officer and chief operating officer of Clara Barton Hospital in Hoisington) to provide administrative support and oversight for SJMH starting this week.

Swirling in Larned, according to Lind, is a misconception that CKMC is not providing the “same, robust service” St. Joseph once offered. Along with this is the sense that CKMC plans to close it. But, Lind said no CKMC official has heard anyone complain to them. “We’ve had no communication.”

Lind said CHI and CKMC remain open to further talks. If officials in Larned need time to plan and get the necessary revenue streams in place, the transfer can be delayed. There can’t be a lapse in operation or the critical access designation will also lapse.

The critical access designation allows the hospital to be reimbursed at 101 percent by Medicare, important for a small facility. Rules for the federal program have changed, and should the designation expire, it is unlikely a new one would be granted.

CKMC is loosing between $350,000 to $500,000 per month at SJMH, and the hospital averages one or two patients each day, Lind said. The ER remains busy, but over-all admissions are down.

“It is our intent to keep the hospital open and CHI/CKMC remain open to continued negotiations of a potential transfer of the hospital assets,” Lind said.

On June 10, Central Kansas Medical Center’s board voted to close the Larned facility as of Sept. 30 due to continued financial losses.

On Aug. 24, Attorney General Steve Six joined with the grass-roots PCCHO in suing SJMH and its parent facility, CKMC. Prior to the legal action, initiated. Then, on Sept. 14, the stay was granted.

Prior to the legal action, Lind said CHI offered funds to the City of Larned for the cost of a new ambulance, an additional emergency medical technician, and training for two more EMTs. The offer was turned down.