Wooster Community Hospital projects higher volume, readies new ER; warns of near-term staffing and vendor costs
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Summary
Hospital presenter Jason Rohrer told the finance committee the hospital’s 2026 budget assumes a 2.5% rise in acute admissions, an 11.3% increase in ER visits tied to a new emergency center, and material staffing and vendor cost increases that together drive several-million-dollar shifts in the P&L.
Jason Rohrer, who presented the Wooster Community Hospital portion of the 2026 budget as the hospital’s finance presenter and a candidate for CFO, told the finance committee the hospital expects higher patient volumes next year as it brings a new emergency center online.
Rohrer said the packet’s service-and-demand assumptions show a projected 2.5% increase in acute inpatient admissions and an 11.3% jump in emergency-department visits. “We’re projecting, 11.3 percent based on a lot of the information that we’ve reviewed,” Rohrer said, adding that new ER openings often generate 15%–30% initial increases but the hospital is using a conservative 11% estimate for budgeting.
Those volumes feed both inpatient growth and outpatient lines. Rohrer reported an average inpatient length of stay of about 3.2 days and an adjusted patient-day projection of just over 76,000 for 2026. He highlighted several service-line investments that drive the revenue forecast: recruitment of cardiologist Dr. David Wells (added in October) and installation of a second MRI in 2025, which the presenter said reduced MRI wait times from as long as 13 weeks to about two weeks.
The presenter tied revenue gains and cost increases to workforce needs. The hospital is projecting more than 900 full-time-equivalent positions in 2026, up from roughly 886, and a target FTE-per-adjusted-patient-day ratio moving toward 4.35. Rohrer said the ER staffing plan adds five FTEs but will require roughly 12–15 people in practice to cover 24-hour operations. “We are adding 5 FTEs. But even in those 5 FTEs, it’s gonna be about 12 to 15 people just because we gotta have enough for a 24 hour service in the ER,” he said.
Rohrer explained a front-page $1.0 million wage-impact line reflects the 1% general wage increase shown in the packet; larger totals (about $5.2 million on later pages) reflect the combined effect of the 1% base plus performance-driven pay steps and the additional, higher-cost FTEs (notably RNs) required by the new ER. On why the packet previously showed 3%, Rohrer said the 3% figure was a keyed-in error and the budget is based on the 1% general wage increase plus separate performance-related increases.
The hospital also faced vendor changes that raised costs in 2025 and contributed to variance against budget. Rohrer said three hospital-based groups — pathology, anesthesia and radiology — issued notices last year; the hospital transitioned to new vendors (Rohrer cited OSU for pathology and Northern Light for radiology) and added anesthesia services under Bloomington Medical Services, which preserved services but raised expenses.
Rohrer emphasized operational risks the committee should note: a year in which a small number of very large employee health claims materially increased the hospital’s costs and staffing recruitment timing that will affect how quickly new specialists’ panels fill and generate revenue. He said oncology and some surgical lines outperformed expectations in 2025, and that recruiting new physicians should improve 2026 performance.
Next steps and timing: Rohrer said keys for the new emergency center will be turned over in January and the ER should be operational in February with open houses and staff tours planned in the weeks that follow. He invited committee members to ask follow-up questions and provided contact information for additional detail.
The presentation did not include a formal motion or vote; members scheduled additional budget review time and follow-up questions for staff.
