Southwest Health Systems reports higher patient use, stable Medicaid funding and plans nurse care coordination

Joe Thine, a representative of Southwest Health Systems, told the Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners at a workshop that the hospital is seeing higher use and improved cash collections so far this year.

"The short answer is, pretty well at the moment," Thine said, summarizing operational performance. He told commissioners patient activity in most clinical areas exceeded forecasts at the end of last year and that the first two months of 2024 show growth beyond the plan.

Thine said the system expects to collect about $85,000,000 in total revenue this year. He said Medicaid directly accounts for about 17% of those collections; when a state provider-fee program and its federal match are included, the hospital expects to receive about $20,500,000 — "almost 24% of our revenues this year." He added that the Joint Budget Committee and federal budget negotiations remain a watch point for future funding.

The hospital reported several operational and financial details: - Patient-days-adjusted: the hospital planned for 4% growth…