Harrington-Hubbard Hospitals Partner Up | Deal will keep small, struggling Hubbard afloat
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Ed Moore, president and CEO of Harrington Memorial Hospital.
When Hubbard Regional Hospital’s board decided the tiny, 22-bed hospital needed to find another institution to manage its operations, the list of candidates was quickly narrowed to two: Harrington Memorial Hospital in nearby Southbridge and Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam, Conn.
In the end, Hubbard came to an agreement with Harrington and as of Jan. 1, the hospital’s day-to-day operations are being managed by Harrington.
Floor Plan
Ed Moore, Harrington’s president and CEO, was quick to point out that “we’re not financially supporting” Hubbard, which posted an operating loss of $683,000 in the third quarter of 2008. Harrington itself reported an operating loss of $3.6 million for the same quarter, a slight improvement from the $3.7 million in operating losses it reported for the previous quarter.
Hubbard is about a third the size of Harrington and brought in $22 million in revenue last year compared to Harrington’s $70 million.
Moore did say that part of Harrington’s management’s mission is to improve the financial standing of Hubbard Hospital. “If it stays as is, it is going to deteriorate too quickly,” he said. “We’re going to look at all the financial statistics, and enhance or eliminate” operations that either help or hurt the hospital, Moore said.
He said Harrington could have a game plan for Hubbard within 45 days.
The arrangement puts a lot more on Harrington’s already full plate. The hospital is in the midst of building a $14 million, 21,000-square-foot cancer center it expects to open this year.
But Moore said Harrington can handle it. The cancer center is a joint venture between Harrington and Florida-based 21st Century Oncology. 21st Century, Moore said, “has taken on the lion’s share of the planning. Much of the work is on 21st Century.”
The process of finding a partner started for Hubbard as interim CEO Ellen Ferrante approached the end of her tenure. She’s been replaced by Mike Mimoso, whose title is president and CEO. Moore said he didn’t know how long Mimoso, who is also in the running for a position as COO of “a much larger facility” he wouldn’t name, would stay at Hubbard.
Although Hubbard has made investments in its intensive care unit, its emergency room is undersized and “is not current. It’s not where it should be,” Moore said. The hospital also does not offer OBGYN services, nor does it have either a pediatric or psychiatry unit.
According to Ferrante, about 58 percent of Hubbard’s patients are on Medicare.
Ferrante said that with the partnership, “we hope we can be more attractive” to patients in the community.
“In orthopedics, oncology and cardiology, we offer some, but not all, the same services as Harrington,” she said. “And organizationally, this was timely. It was time to find another administrator and find a relationship the board could build on.”
Moore said one of the most important tasks for Harrington will be getting Hubbard into a growth mode. In the last year, Hubbard has lost three primary care physicians that have not yet been replaced. “We need to figure out a strategy to keep the ER growing and for all services,” he said. “What is the right scope of services there to meet the community’s needs?”
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