RNs Cite VRMC's Dismal Track Record Serving Medicaid and Charity Care Patients and Instability of Parent Corporation, Community Health Systems

National Nurses Organizing Committee - Florida, has submitted a letter to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration requesting that they reject Venice Regional Medical Center's Certificate of Need Application to build a new facility. 

National Nurses Organizing Committee - Florida, represents 8,000 registered nurses in Florida and is part of National Nurses United, which represents 185,000 bedside nurses throughout the country. In the letter opposing VRMC's application to build a new facility, NNOC Florida/NNU cited numerous concerns including VRMC's insufficient commitment to serving Medicaid and charity care patients, and the overall instability of it's parent corporation, the Tennessee-based, Community Health Systems (CHS). 

VRMC's Insufficient Commitment to Charity Care and Medicaid

According to the most recent state financial data, VRMC's percentage of Medicaid and charity care was 4.1 percent. This is significant given that the median Medicaid and charity care percentage for hospitals within the same bracket (medium urban hospitals) was 14 percent. According to the US Census bureau, 11 percent of Sarasota County residents live in poverty while 19.8 percent of people under the age of 65 in the county are uninsured. The need for greater charity care and Medicaid expenditure is clear and the commitment to it from VRMC is insufficient, nurses say.

“As a resident of Venice and a nurse, it is important to me that our patients get the care they need and that it is easily accessible. We just don’t trust Venice Regional’s parent company CHS to do what they say they will do," said Jane Long, RN. "With CHS' poor record on patient care issues, charity care and Medicaid and the overall instability of the company, we cannot be sure their plans won't fall apart and leave the community stranded with no hospital and less available health care services.” 

“As a candidate for the Sarasota Memorial Hospital Board and a registered nurse in the community, I support more access to care and believe that a public hospital, with an excellent record of serving the community through charity care and being responsive to RN concerns for patient care, would be a better option to build a new facility in Venice.”  Jody Davenport, RN.

Instability of VRMC’s Parent Corporation, CHS

This week, CHS’s share prices fell almost 50 percent and recently the company announced it would sell 12 of its properties. The company has also stated in a press release that it is considering a variety of options for its future, including a full sale. Noting these factors, the NNOC Florida/NNU letter concludes: "It is unclear what the residents of Sarasota County will gain from a hospital system whose future is so tenuous."   

Parent Company CHS Failure to Respond to Patient Care Concerns

In the letter, NNOC Florida/NNU, also cites CHS’s history of not responding to patient care concerns from RNs over the years. Nurses at several current and former CHS hospitals have documented ongoing concerns with safe patient care at those facilities, including inadequate staffing. RNs have also tried to submit formal documentation to CHS supervisors regarding insufficient technology at facilities, indicating that CHS has skimped on providing the technology required to provide quality patient care. 

“As an RN at a current CHS facility, I know that nurses have attempted to document concerns, as is required by the nurse practice act standards, and those concerns have not been considered by management.  We suspect that the decision not to accept our written documentation or even listen to our patient safety concerns comes from the parent company, CHS," said Brenda Meadwell, an RN at CHS-owned hospital, Bluefield Regional Medical Center in West Virginia. "As nurses, we see every day CHS corporate management's failure to prioritize quality patient.”  

According to the Certificate of Needs process, only acute care facilities may submit formal positions in response to applications.  Despite this, RNs hope that the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration will seriously review the information they've provided on CHS.