Welcome to Peninsula Hospital Center

EXCERPTS FROM THE NASSAU HERALD ARTICLE OF DECEMBER 22, 2011

PENINSULA HOSPITAL CENTER
REFOCUSES ITS MISSION

            Chief Executive Officer, Todd Miller, plans to bring an entrepreneurial spirit and business sense to his effort to revive the Peninsula Hospital Center in Far Rockaway.

            Miller took over Peninsula’s operations on September 2, 2011.  “I saw a hospital that didn’t deserve to close,” Miller… said of Peninsula.

            Since MediSys had begun the process of closing the hospital, Miller said he found “gaping holes” in its operations.  To get the facility back on its feet, he had to restart some departments, such as billing and collection, to begin generating revenue again.

            Peninsula is currently making its way through bankruptcy proceedings and negotiating with creditors.  Local 1199, the employee’s union, is owed $20 million of the approximately $60 million in debt the hospital has accrued.

            “We have a reorganization plan and we are on track to emerge from bankruptcy in the spring,” Miller said.

            Earlier this month, the hospital’s board of directors voted on four competing loan proposals.  The board selected an $8 Million loan package from a Revival affiliate.

            Miller has begun updating the hospital’s computer systems to improve record-keeping, and brought in state-of-the-art digital technology to upgrade its X-ray department.

            After the acquisition, there were 51 layoffs, mostly of nurses, but since then, at least 10 nurses have been rehired and are being retrained to move into departments where they are most needed, such as case management and the emergency room.  Five executives, including former CEO Bob Levine, left Peninsula, Miller said, adding that a new management team should be in place by January 9.

            Department head positions have also been filled as Miller has gone about remaking Peninsula from a 173-bed hospital to a more service-oriented facility, at most, 120 beds.  It now has approximately 80 patients.  Peninsula’s mission, as Miller views it, is to serve the Far Rockaway community and understand how it uses the hospital.

            “To be successful, we have to have smaller in-patient staffing,” said Miller, explaining that the majority of patients use Peninsula’s emergency room for their primary care.

            He plans to renovate and expand the emergency room and renovate operating areas to accommodate more outpatient surgeries such as joint replacements and hernias.  Miller said he also wants the hospital to serve the community’s needs with more programs that stress daily health care.

            Hospitals such as Peninsula fell into financial distress when Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement changed from what Miller called a “day rate” for patients to “procedural payment” and the cost of maintaining patient beds rose exponentially.  “In the last four months, we are living within our means,” he said.  “We are doing what everyone should be doing:  understanding our costs and understanding our revenues.”…