Cash-strapped Cornell Scott Hill Health Center is cutting costs any way it can, including putting the kibosh on menorahs and mistletoe.
That’s one of the takeaways from a recent email to staff from Hill Health CEO Jamesina Henderson.
In a message the staff, Henderson detailed several new cost-cutting measures, including canceling the annual year-end holiday party and ending a subsidy for people doing Weight Watchers.
Those cuts come on the heels of other austerity measures — including company wide-furloughs and pay cuts for senior staff—laid out in a confidential memo recently delivered to Hill Health workers. (Read that memo here.)
Hill Health laid off 25 workers in February, after 30 layoffs last May.
Rob Rioux, Hill Health’s director of community relations and corporate development, told the Independent that the financial difficulties amount to “temporary cash flow issues” as a result of a factors including a staffing shortage.
The latest measures are “a few additional action items that we decided would be in the best interest of the health center,” Rioux said. “Nothing too dramatic.”
On the list of action items:
· Overtime for non-medical personnel is restricted until further notice. Any requests for overtime will require the advanced approval of your senior management and the CEO.
· Tuition reimbursement is suspended until further notice. Already approved reimbursements will be honored
· All expenses for training, conferences and seminars must be approved in advance by your senior management
· Food & catering requests have been restricted until further notice
· All purchase requests must be placed through our Procure-it system otherwise they are subject to cancellation
· The health center’s subsidy of the Weight Watcher’s program has been cancelled
· The December 2012 Holiday celebration has been cancelled
Rioux said the savings from these actions will not amount to “a huge number.”
“We’re not talking hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.
Revenue
The strategy isn’t all cutbacks. The memo also includes several action items intended to raise money.
For instance, Hill Health is looking to extend behavioral health services to Ansonia. That’s an “opportunity for immediate revenue,” Rioux said. There is a demonstrated need for behavioral health services in Ansonia, he said.
Also, Hill Health is negotiating to bring dermatology services back to the center, according to the memo.
“There’s a huge demand for dermatology,” Rioux said. Of all the dermatologists in New Haven, none take Medicaid, he said. “It’s a critical need for the community.” If a dermatologist were on staff, he or she would be “booked to the maximum,” Rioux said.
Report
Melissa Bailey Photo
Rioux said that an investigation by attorney Floyd Dugas into personnel complaints against CEO Henderson (pictured) has been completed and delivered to the board of directors. The probe stemmed from lengthy letter about alleged mismanagement, written in August by Chief Financial Officer Stewart Joslin.
Rioux said he has not seen the report and that the board has not taken any action based on it.