NRMC announces steps to cut back expenses

Nevada Regional Medical Center is taking steps to weather the current economic storm and continue providing consistent, top-quality health care to the Nevada community. "High unemployment and uncertain incomes cause people to postpone medical treatment," said Cindy Buck, chief financial officer at NRMC. "Declining insurance and government reimbursement have also taken their toll on the bottom-line."

Over the last nine months, NRMC has had great success in physician recruitment. A number of new doctors have already signed to come to Nevada and several more are in the process. NRMC has also added several new service lines that have not been in Nevada before.

"The goal is to provide increased services to the community and to encourage our neighbors and friends to spend their health care dollars close to home," said Judy Feuquay, chief eexecutive officer at NRMC. "But, our efforts to increase revenue are not going to do the whole job; we are also exploring ways to cut expenses, especially in ways that will maintain and improve our service to the community. For example, the staff at NRMC has been asked to share their thoughts openly regarding cost savings, and they've had some great ideas."

Employee efforts have already yielded significant savings in supply costs. Beyond that, the hospital has increased the cross-training of existing employees, so they are better able to cover other areas of the hospital when their own work load allows. That way, the hospital can minimize having to send employees home when work slows. Additionally, the hospital has temporarily changed the amount awarded to employees for paid time off.

"These efforts will result in a large savings for NRMC," said Buck. "We're doing what we can to ensure we successfully navigate these tough economic times and have the least impact on the lives of our employees and their families."

"We are working very hard to avoid lay-offs," said Feuquay, "and our employees are stepping up to help. They understand the problem and are willing to be open and flexible to address it. These are some of the toughest decisions in my administrative career, but we have to be proactive and stay ahead of the curve. Great health care for our community is what we do, and what we're going to keep doing."