BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — The impact coronavirus pandemic was too much to handle for the financially struggling Bluefield Regional Medical Center.
BRMC owner, Princeton Community Hospital announced last Friday it would be shutting down Bluefield’s inpatient and ancillary services by the end of July putting 340 people out of work.
“I think if Covid hadn’t hit Bluefield (RMC) like it did and when it did and as long as it did, they may have had a chance to continue,” West Virginia Hospital Association President Joe Letnaunchyn said Monday during an appearance on MetroNews “Talkline.”
BRMC has struggled financially for more than a dozen years. Tennessee-based Community Health Systems purchased it and then sold it to Princeton last year. Letnaunchyn said Bluefield has lost a lot of its commercial insurance paying patient base over the last several years.
“Southern West Virginia got hit years ago with the impact of the coal industry and all those jobs that were lost, a lot of those were commercial paying patients, and so we moved up to the trifecta of Medicare, Medicaid and PEIA that pay all below costs and you can’t make up the volume financially,” Letnaunchyn said.
Joe Letnaunchyn speaks with @HoppyKercheval about the decision to close Bluefield Hospital. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/QTyyE68Z30
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) June 1, 2020
The hospital has also suffered over the years with patient volume challenges, according to Letnaunchyn.
“Then Covid hurt them with cancellations of elective surgeries and connected services,” he said.
He said the good news is Princeton Community Hospital is not far away and there are some hospitals just over the line in Virginia that can provide care to Bluefield residents. He said if Princeton receives approval to keep emergency operations at Bluefield that would also be a positive.
BRMC becomes the fourth hospital to close in West Virginia in the past 18 months including Williamson Memorial, Fairmont Regional Medical Center and Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling. Letnaunchyn said the slide may stop for now.
“If you ask me whose next I couldn’t name one right now,” Letnaunchyn said. “I think maybe we’ve reached the point where the hospitals are moving forward operationally.”
He said it won’t be easy thought coming out of the pandemic.
“The larger facilities lost tens of millions of dollars in revenue and then they had increased costs dealing with Covid. There’s been some stimulus money paid to the hospitals but it’s probably in the 40 to 45 percent range of what they lost. So they’re struggling,” Letnaunchyn said.
BRMC workers are being urged to apply for jobs at Princeton Community Hospital.