Jackson Health System executives announced plans to cut 900 positions and got blasted by a county commissioner for `gross incompetence.'
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
jdorschner@MiamiHerald.comChief Executive Eneida Roldan outlined a restructuring plan Monday that will eliminate more than 900 jobs at the financially troubled Jackson Health System.
Speaking at the monthly meeting of the public system's governing board, Roldan said she was planning quick changes that altogether will save Jackson $70 million to $120 million. The system is expecting a deficit of more than $200 million unless drastic action is taken.
Meetings of the Public Health Trust are usually tepid, but Monday's turned explosive when Miami-Dade Commissioner Sally Heyman blasted Jackson's executives for ``gross incompetence.''
Heyman took the podium to complain about her personal experiences at Jackson with bad billing practices, losing money by referring paying patients to other facilities, duplication of services and second-rate lobbying efforts. ``You can cost contain,'' Heyman said.
Roldan said she was working to get cash advances from the state and county to make sure the system doesn't run out of money by May. She was also talking to the University of Miami about finding better ways to partner and cut costs.
UM Medical School Dean Pascal Goldschmidt said he and Roldan were working with a consulting firm to improve their relationship. One possibility is Jackson reducing the number of post-graduate medical residents it has on its payroll.
`EFFICIENCIES'
Roldan said 413 positions -- some of them now vacant -- will be ``eliminated through efficiencies.'' Among other things, the number of patients at Jackson is down 4 to 7 percent this year, meaning fewer employees are needed for their care.
Another 500 full-time employees will be eliminated through cuts in specific departments, including revenue cycle, finance, the Jackson health plan and medical-surgical services.
The system employs 12,000.
Roldan said she would consult with the unions before finalizing cuts and wanted to partner with the unions to seek an extra $50 million or more in revenue from federal funding. ``We need our partners,'' Roldan said. ``We must act now.''
Martha Baker, president of Local 1991 of the Service Employees International Union, said Roldan's offer to work with stakeholders ``is the most encouraging'' message she has yet heard from the chief executive. ``I'm eager to follow up to see if her actions match her words.''
NEVER GOT BILL
Commissioner Heyman had appeared on television news Sunday night, complaining to WFOR-CBS4 reporter Jim DeFede that she had never been billed by Jackson for back surgery. That report led to a conversation Monday with Jackson billing people in which Heyman learned that an expensive magnetic resonance imaging scan she had in March 2009 had never been paid for.
Heyman said Jackson had billed her old insurer, Cigna, rather than her current insurer, Jackson Health Plan. ``I'm one of many who are wondering how much of that $712 million in supposed bad debt could have been collected,'' she said after the meeting. ``We can do better.''
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