Local News
State: LCRH pricing OK
Somerset — For everyone who thinks Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital’s pricing is too high, here’s a news flash from Frankfort: The hospital’s pricing is well within the boundaries of state guidelines.
“For a hospital’s finances to be out of line, they have to be 1 1/2 times higher than their competitors,” said Jeff Barnett, the director of the state’s certificate of need office. “We did an in-depth study of the financial performances of all 119 hospitals in the state — we found several hospitals who exceeded 150 percent of the net means of state hospitals. But Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital is not on that list.”
In a visit to Somerset in late April, Gov. Ernie Fletcher told the Commonwealth Journal that the state CON office was doing a study into the finances of Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital. He said the results would play a huge role in the decision on a possible second hospital coming to Pulaski County.
According to Barnett, the results of the study have made the possibility of a second hospital in Somerset garnering a CON virutally nil.
“Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital appears to be well within the range of being cost-effective,” Barnett said. “This would certainly make it qustionable whether Somerset needs a second provider.”
Barnett said no application for a CON has been filed, despite year-long posturing from high-profile Pulaski Countians, such as Somerset Mayor JP Wiles and Judge-executive Darrell BeShears.
“We know there’s been a lot of talk about a second hospital down there, but we’ve seen no paperwork,” Barnett said.
Barnett explained the study ordered by Fletcher took into consideration every aspect of state hospitals’ financial conditions.
“We needed a fair way to assess hospitals’ financial performances,” he said. “We wanted to look at more than just pricing, because at times pricing can be very arbitrary and misleading.
“We wanted to make sure we were comparing apples to apples,” Barnett added. “We had to look at the provider and the types of patients the provider was servicing ... the type of procedures that were being performed at each location.”
Barnett said one hospital in the seven-county area around Pulaski County — the hospital located in Rockcastle County — exceeded the 150 percent of the net state means.
“But really, it makes sense that Rockcastle County would exceed our threshold, because it is considered to be a critical-access hospital,” Barnett noted. “It’s not surprising it would fall out of that range.
“We just wanted to see which hospitals were cost-effective for their patients,” Barnett added. “It would be fair to say that Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital would fall within that cost-effective range.”
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LCADTF could lose big bucks
Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force officials estimate that the City of Somerset’s lack of involvement in the task force could lead to a loss of some $250,000 in federal funding per year — a chunk which could easily force the task force to close its doors.
David Keller, deputy director of Appalachia HIDTA, a major funding source for the local drug task force and the reason why federal and state law enforcement officers are able to be a part of the agency, says the agency’s current situation is more serious than many people realize.
Keller says HIDTA has made a “huge investment” in the LCADTF, but that folks shouldn’t get too comfortable with the agency’s ability to obtain grant money at the federal or state level.
“This is not entitlement money. ... Our grant is performance driven, and it’s sought after by competitive forces,” Keller said. “If this agency doesn’t produce, they stand a risk of not having the task force funded. That money will go someplace else — to another county that would love to have it.” -
HOME STRETCH
Less than a decade ago, Pleasant Hill was a pastoral community. Modern homes were tucked among shaded lawns. Cattle grazed peacefully at day and fireflies blinked in darkness. The area was served by a friendly little road called Clifty.
Things have changed and are changing. In a relatively few days, huge electric bulbs will glow, turning night forever into day. Horseless carriages will trek in places where tailpipes have belched never before. -
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