Medical Equipment News
News from : 2007/05
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Organization links free medical equipment with patients
After discovering the differences in acquiring medical equipment, Jaqui Joys started up the Lending Cupboard to connect people with items quickly and for free.
Since launching the Lending Cupboard last year, she says she's amazed at the response.
"We're open three days a week, and over the past year we've inventoried 1,500 pieces of equipment and we've had close to 1,200 people walk through," she said.
Interestingly, between 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the people obtaining equipment through the organization are from the rural communities, like Lacombe, that are found between Edmonton and Calgary.
Joys began her quest to help people after her husband, Alan, was sick and required a second bed. The insurance company said it would take up to a month for them to get the equipment they needed.
After a bit of searching, Joys was given the name of a man who had been gathering equipment, which he would lend out to people who needed it.
"We had a bed within 24 hours. My husband died two weeks later, so we wouldn't have had the equipment if we had waited for the insurance company," said Joys.
She moved back to Alberta, with 5,000 pounds of equipment given to her by Fred Kingsmill, who had provided her with the bed for Alan through the Masonic Lodge. She started AJ's Loan Cupboard in Alan's hometown of Medicine Hat, then decided to come north to Red Deer.
"I checked with the Red Cross and home care to see if they were offering a service in Red Deer, and they weren't," she said.
The Lending Cupboard has a range of equipment -- from wheelchairs and crutches to items for knee surgery patients. They are also looking to get special equipment for bariatrics, which would be able to support patients up to 500 pounds or 600 pounds.
Joys says while the demand is high, getting the equipment isn't always easy, and the Lending Cupboard depends greatly on donations, both in equipment and money.
"Because we're private, we don't qualify for any government funding, so donations are something we need. We can't let things fall to the wind with how we operate," she said.
Volunteers help out in a variety of ways, from sorting the donations to helping their clients to fixing or cleaning the equipment coming in. Joys estimated between 70 to 80 per cent of the equipment is recycled, and they are constantly repairing or upgrading the pieces.
Joys says the most important things for people to know is that borrowing the equipment is absolutely free and people don't have to wait to qualify. They can also hold onto them for as long as they need. "Anybody can come in," she said.
Right now equipment can be delivered to people within Red Deer and the immediate surrounding areas, and Joys says they hope to expand to the outlying communities, like Lacombe or Rocky Mountain House or Innisfail, in the future.
Trustees OK strategic plan to boost hospital's finances
Regional Medical Center trustees have approved a strategic plan designed to strengthen hospital finances, in part, by drawing in more patients and recruiting more doctors.
Trustees agreed unanimously last week to implement a nine-point strategy to help the hospital receive the highest return on investments and strengthen its finances and credit rating.
Illinois-based health care financial consulting firm KaufmanHall representative Mark Grube told trustees the key to the hospital's future success is:
- Increasing market share by reducing the level of out- migration by focusing on the health needs in the hospital's core and eastern markets.
- Focusing on physician recruitment, particularly for general surgeons, orthopedists and cardiovascular doctors.
- Improving its outreach to commercial and Medicare patients."Growth is absolutely critical for this organization's future success," Grube said. He said the latest census statistics reveal that the hospital's core and eastern market service areas are projected to see a decline in population over the next five years.
The plan entails the hiring of a chief medical officer to help implement a doctor recruitment and retention effort, enhancing hospital staffing levels, enhancing disease management and marketing campaigns.
Grube said the hospital needs to improve its profitability, a "weakness" on the hospital's financial statement. The hospital's operating margin year-to-date is 0.7 percent.
"It is marginal," he said. "The profitability stats are below the levels of Moody's and S&P."
Standard and Poor's credit rating agency looks for hospitals to have a 3 percent operating margin to be in an A- credit-rating category. Hospitals typically strive to receive an A bond rating.
Meeting either an A or AA standard demonstrates a hospital's financial strength and its borrowing capabilities. The better the bond rating, the cheaper it is for the hospital to borrow money.
Grube said the RMC's current S&P and Fitch rating is A-, but he said the hospital's 2006 profitability operating margin could be improved.
He said the hospital's plans to borrow come at a good time.
The hospital wants to borrow about $22 million, with half the money going to reimburse the hospital for expenses it has already paid with cash, to give it more cash on hand. The money was used for the hospital's breast center and vascular lab, and the addition of medical imaging equipment and facility improvements.
The hospital wants to use the other $11 million for future projects, including new facilities, computer systems and medical equipment.
Trustee Danny Covington said that while he is not against the borrowing, he wants to ensure the hospital will not be hurt in the end.
"I want to see what that $22 million will bring back," he said. "If it is a minus, I don't want to take it down as a minus. I want to be sure I am going to have a return on that money."
Grube said, "When you don't invest in the hospital, you become less competitive, doctors don't want to practice there and patients don't want to go to a hospital that has old facilities and equipment."
The hospital's borrowing plans have not been without scrutiny.
Orangeburg County Council has not yet approved the borrowing package, while Calhoun County Council has come out in favor of the borrowing. The hospital is owned by Orangeburg and Calhoun counties.
Covington said it is crucial the board monitor the strategic and financial plan to ensure the hospital is meeting its goals.
RMC President Tom Dandridge said the strategic plan is flexible going into the future.
"What this gives us is a basic slide path of what we will pursue," he said. "We are not lock step with this if we are not making these strategies."
In related matters, the Board voted to reinvest the $25.4 million placed into the Edisto Health Foundation in equity-link contracts or government-stipulated entities.
In a 6-to-5 vote, trustees voted to use $10 million to buy a three-year equity link contract based on a bond issued by World Bank in May, another $10 million for a five-year equity link contract based on a bond issued by World Bank in July and another $5 million for a five-year equity link contract based on a bond issued by Credit Suisse First Boston in August.
The equity link contract will enable the hospital to receive the principal back, as well as any index appreciation received on the stock market.
The remaining $400,000 will be invested in short-term certificates of deposit.
The EHF was created in January 2006 to allow the hospital to make investments it otherwise couldn't make as a government entity. The foundation was given $25.4 million of the hospital's money to invest.
Orangeburg County officials said the money was illegally invested. The hospital defended the legality of the investment, but agreed to return the principal to the hospital. The $3.4 million the hospital has gained in interest will remain with the foundation, to be handled according to government investment guidelines.
Dandridge said the decision to invest in equities provides a diversified portfolio while maintaining a protected principal.
Dandridge, reiterating a presentation by David Yon, principal of Yon-Drake & Associates Inc., noted that diversification of the portfolio with bonds and stocks reduces the risk and yet increases the return.
Yon presented a historical overview of portfolio allocation, saying that a 50 percent bond/stock allocation is no more risky than a 100 percent bond portfolio.
"It is worth the effort to do it. It is new and exotic, but it is in the best interests of the hospital," Yon said.
"That is what we are banking on," Dandridge said of the higher returns.
Covington, who expressed his opposition to the equity link contract, said he would rather invest the money into certificates of deposit, where the hospital would receive the principal and a guaranteed return.
Covington estimated placing the money into a CD would guarantee interest with projected gain of about $2 million.
"Are we being responsible for tying this money down for that time?" Covington asked. "You are risking losing $2 million and hope to get an additional $400,000."
Covington said when looking at historical statistics, the hospital has not fared as well as it has bargained for with previous equity link investments.
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me," Covington said.
T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories at TheTandD.com.
SterilMed and The Scope Exchange Merge
MAPLE GROVE, Minn. -- SterilMed and The Scope Exchange have reached an agreement to merge. The merger is part of SterilMed and The Scope Exchange's strategy to help healthcare providers conserve their resources by extending the life of medical devices, instruments, and equipment. Combining the two companies' expertise in the repair and reprocessing of medical devices will provide customers with a comprehensive single-source supplier.
Brian Sullivan, SterilMed's CEO and president, commented "We are excited about the opportunity our two companies will have to provide healthcare facilities with unique and superior services. We help our customers save money by reducing their expenditures for new medical devices, instruments and equipment. These savings can be redirected to other important investments in their employees and facilities."
"The Scope Exchange has built an extensive technical infrastructure and service capacity over the last 10 years," said Brian Newton, CEO and president of The Scope Exchange. "We saw a great opportunity to combine our capabilities with SterilMed"s sales and service network. The Scope Exchange has a strong presence in the flexible and rigid endoscope service and is the market leader in providing quality pre-owned endoscopes and support equipment. With our shared focus of quality and customer service, we are confident we can become an even larger presence in the marketplace."
The merged expertise, combined with SterilMed's broad market presence, will further strengthen the breadth of services provided, including industry leading technical capabilities and showcase repair facilities. The newly formed company is now one of the top five repair companies in the country, and the only one that can offer the benefits of an integrated reprocessing and repair service approach.
SterilMed offers services designed to help healthcare providers lower their medical device and equipment costs by maximizing the life of single-use medical devices, surgical instruments, power tools, endoscopes and video equipment. This allows healthcare facilities to free up critical financial resources through better device and equipment utilization while maintaining the highest levels of patient safety. In 2006, SterilMed saved healthcare providers over $60 million and diverted more than 600 tons of medical waste from landfills.
The Scope Exchange, founded in 1997, has grown to be one of the leading equipment repair service providers and pre-owned endoscope equipment specialists. They have earned a reputation for high quality and extensive technical capabilities. Their facilities in Greensboro, North Carolina are state-of-the-art and include repair labs for flexible and rigid endoscopes, power equipment, video cameras, and surgical instrument systems.
Source: SterilMed
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