Carolinas Hospital consolidating some positions
More than two dozen business office positions with Carolinas Hospital System will be consolidated by the end of the month, a hospital representative told the Morning News on Thursday.
“Last month, our hospitals announced that certain business office functions will move to a location shared with other hospitals on September 1,” said Kim Geiger, marketing director for Carolinas Hospital System. “Sharing resources is a common practice many hospitals use to operate more efficiently without affecting patient care.”
The move affects 27 Carolinas Hospital System employees at the Florence hospital. Geiger said the employees have applied for other positions within the company and will be eligible for severance. The services, like insurance follow-up and billing, will move to Fort Wayne, Ind.
“These adjustments do not affect the services or resources that our patients receive,” Geiger said. “Positions in our business office that interact with customers face-to-face will be retained at the hospital.”
QHG of South Carolina Inc., doing business as Carolinas Hospital System, owns and operates the hospital. QHG operates as a subsidiary of Community Health Systems Inc., based in Franklin, Tenn.
Carolinas Hospital System in Florence is a 310-bed, trauma center level III facility, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. Carolinas Hospital System-Marion is 124-bed facility in Mullins.
Community Health Systems is one of the largest publiclytraded hospital companies in the country. Through its subsidiaries, it currently owns, leases or operates 198 affiliated hospitals in 29 states with an aggregate of approximately 30,000 licensed beds.
Carolinas is the county's second largest employer with more than 1,800 employees, according to the Florence County Economic Development Partnership. McLeod Regional Medical Center is the county's top employer with 4,900 employees, as of 2014.
According to recent financial filings, the net operating revenues for the six months ending June 30 totaled $9.8 billion, a 9.5 percent increase compared with $8.9 billion for the same period in 2014.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization second quarter results were $769 million compared with $700 million for the same period in 2014, a 9.9 percent increase.
The consolidated operating results for the second quarter reflect a 1.9 percent decrease in total admissions, compared with the same period in 2014. Total adjusted admissions in the second quarter were also flat compared with the same period in 2014.