Paula Wilson is the chief executive officer of the Valley Community Clinic in North Hollywood, Calif. Healthcare Finance News associate editor Chelsey Ledue recently spoke with her about some of the financial challenges her practice faces.
Valley Community Clinic recently received $2 million in funding to improve healthcare access in San Fernando Valley. How will the funding be allocated?
The $2 million was used to refinance the current mortgage. It went back into the loan. The only thing we were able to benefit from was a lower monthly payment and avoiding a ballooning payment scheduled to take effect next year.
How has the recession affected your practice and the way you do business?
The budget year starts July 1 and I think it will be even worse than the one we’re in. There have been lots of financial cuts and we laid off 2 positions. The clinic also lowered patient visits by 1,000 and this could drag out through the whole summer. We hurried to get the refinancing out of the way in order to have a little cash flow to get through the summer months.
The clinic held staff salaries the same and couldn’t offer any adjustments last year; it probably will have to do the same for this coming fiscal year. Program cuts and a couple of layoffs are also possible. The clinic has received federal stimulus funding and used the money to retain two positions in the dental program. But I haven’t seen any light at the end of the tunnel.
What difficulties do you expect to face in 2010?
We’ve been forced to ask questions like “how are we going to keep staff morale up while adding more layers of work?” and “which programs will survive?” Valley Community Clinic currently serves patients through a full scope of primary care programs, prenatal, adult medicine, women’s health, and we’re launching an adolescent health program. There is also an HIV program, which includes early intervention for the disease, as well as a drug prevention program with drug education.
We have just opened 3 additional locations on high school and middle school campuses in the area.
In regard to ARRA reimbursement dollars, do you have meaningful use requirements on your radar?
We did receive the funding for the purchase and transition to an electronic medical record system. We’ve got a few vendors in our sights. The clinic is scheduled to have an EMR implemented by spring of next year. We use some volunteer doctors, so they are probably less inclined to learn the new system, although others have been more receptive to the idea.