Fairfield Memorial Hospital is set to relocate two of its newest surgical providers, General Surgeon Dr. Lauren Williams and Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Kory Blank, from their current offices in the new $21 million three-story expansion to the former Southern Illinois Primary Care Associates (SIPCA) building.
CEO Mike Cooper confirmed the planned move, explaining that the hospital is exploring ways to improve Medicare reimbursement. As a critical access hospital, the reimbursement rates can depend on the location and size of the service area. Renovations are being planned for the old SIPCA building to accommodate Drs. Blank and Williams, although no specific timeline for the move has been established. Initially, the hospital intended to convert the SIPCA building into its physical therapy department.
Earlier this year, the hospital faced fiscal challenges, leading to an affiliation agreement with Deaconess Health Systems of Evansville. Under this agreement, Deaconess is providing leadership support by appointing its own Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Additionally, the Fairfield Memorial Hospital Foundation made a $500,000 donation to assist the hospital during this financial strain. The affiliation is set for five years, with provisions to extend or shorten the agreement based on certain conditions, including a Deaconess representative on the hospital board.
Recent financial filings revealed the hospital’s declining revenue. For the fiscal year ending June 2023, Fairfield Memorial reported a negative net income of $149,831, a stark contrast to the $5.1 million net income in 2022. In FY 2023, revenue amounted to $51.9 million, while expenses reached $52.1 million, resulting in liabilities increasing from $28.2 million in 2022 to $33.5 million in 2023.
The hospital’s highest-paid employees for FY 2023 included Dr. Kory Blank, followed by former Urologist Dr. Louis Remynse and Dr. Christopher Ballard. An unnamed source has informed WFIW News that Dr. Ballard just recently signed a new contact with a base pay of at least 10 percent less than he has been making to stay and help a small town hospital when he had better offers elsewhere.
At the time of her departure, former CEO Katherine Bunting-Williams had a reported salary of $313,702, according to the FY 2022 tax filing.
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