Daily Archives: September 22, 2021

Ascension has posted an operating income of $676 million and an investment-buoyed $5.7 billion net income for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021.

The numbers are a clear turnaround from last years results, when the Catholic nonprofit landed more than $1 billion in the red with an operating loss of $639 million.

However, the systems management noted that COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and consumer hesitancy continue to have an adverse impact on the systems overall volumes during fiscal year 2021.

Government funding and favorable investment performance have contributed to the systems ability to sustain operations during this unprecedented time, the system wrote in an analysis accompanying its full-year operating results. Ascension is committed to managing discretionary expenses to focus on top priorities of caring for our patients and caregivers.

Ascension said that it has received $1.8 billion in Provider Relief Fund distributions across fiscal years 2020 and 2021 but estimates a systemwide COVID-19 impact of more than $1.9 billion.

Total operating revenue for the year came in at $27.2 billion, up from 2020s $25.3 billion. These yielded operating margins of 2.5% and negative 2.5%, respectively.

RELATED: Ascension posts $17M loss in Q3 but sees bright spots in patient volumes

Equivalent discharges and admissions were down 2.2% and 3.1% year over year. Emergency room visits dipped 10.7% from 2020 while urgent care visits plummeted 27.6%.

Ascension did see modest year-over-year volume gains among outpatient visits (3%) and inpatient and outpatient surgery visits (3.3%). Virtual care skyrocketed nearly 60% in the latest fiscal year, landing just shy of 1.5 million total visits.

Like other systems, Ascensions net profit for the year was boosted nearly $5.9 billion by its net investment return. It had lost over $418 million across its investments in fiscal year 2020.

Also seen across the industry was this years increase in total operating expenses. Ascension reported a $972 million (3.8%) year-over-year rise in its overall costs, with a jump in salaries, wages and employee benefits comprising $547 million of that increase (4.3%). Unexpected costs of contract labor also contributed an additional $164 million over fiscal year 2020, while supply expenses leapt $369 million (10.1%).

Ascension said it provided $2.3 billion in uncompensated care and other community benefits during fiscal year 2021. As of the end of June, it is sitting on 341 days of cash on hand.

Ascension employs roughly 150,000 associates and has 40,000 aligned providers. It operates over 2,600 sites, including 146 hospitals, across 19 states and Washington, D.C.

Its numbers for the year fit the trend reported by several other nonprofits. CommonSpirit, Mayo Clinic and Advocate Aurora have each reported a steady, but not full, rebound of volumes and revenue, although others, like Providence and Banner Health, stressed the rising impact higher expenses are having on their bottom lines.

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Ascension latest nonprofit to rebound with $5.7B net income for 2021 - FierceHealthcare

Nearly 250,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society. Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in men. While some types of prostate cancer grow slowly and may need minimal or even no treatment, other types are aggressive and can spread quickly.

Providers at Ascension Saint Thomas want to increase public awareness for the importance of prostate health and screenings, educating about risk factors and symptoms, and advocating for further research on prostate health issues.

Here are five things Ascension Saint Thomasphysicians recommend men know about prostate cancer:

1.) Having a father or brother with prostate cancer more than doubles a mans risk of developing the disease.

2.) Prostate cancer is rare in men younger than age 40, but the chance of having prostate cancer rises rapidly after age 50.

3.) Prostate cancer occurs more often in African-American men than in other ethnicities. African-American men are also more than twice as likely to die of prostate cancer than Caucasian men.

4.) Prostate cancer can often be found before symptoms start by testing the amount of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in a mans blood.

To lower the risk of cancer, including prostate cancer, men should focus on eating a diet that includes lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, lean meats and non-meat protein sources such as nuts and beans.

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Ascension Saint Thomas Physicians Recommend These 5 Things For Prostate Cancer Health - Wgnsradio

SAGINAW, MI Ascension plans to invest $125 million into its hospitals in Saginaw, Standish and Tawas City.

Ascension officials have announced a plan to invest $125 million in operational capital into the health systems northern Michigan health ministries, which includes Ascension St. Marys Hospital in Saginaw, Ascension Standish Hospital in Standish and Ascension St. Joseph Hospital in Tawas City.

In a news release, health system officials said this investment is evidence of the organizations ongoing commitment to the growth and success of its three northern Michigan hospitals that was initiated in May 2018 when $50 million was dedicated to facility renovations and upgrades, advanced imaging technology, various patient care enhancements and an $18 million emergency care center expansion at Ascension St. Marys Hospital in downtown Saginaw. In total, this equates to $175 million of investment into Ascensions northern Michigan hospitals.

This latest capital dollar commitment will support multiple strategic growth initiatives identified through the development of master facility plans including:

This exciting news is possible thanks to the dedication and commitment of our associates, physicians and hospital leaders who work hard each and every day to provide compassionate, personalized care, Ascension Michigans Chief Operating Officer Joe Hurshe said in a statement. We are thrilled these enhancements will be coming to fruition and our care teams can continue to be proud of the incredible work and service they provide to the communities we are privileged to serve.

Ascension officials plan to release additional details and timelines for the projects in the coming weeks.

I am so overjoyed by this announcement and Ascensions acknowledgment of the great work performed at our healthcare sites, Stephanie Duggan, MD, regional president and CEO of Ascension Michigan Northern Ministries, said in a statement.

Ascensions ongoing investment and commitment to the northern Michigan ministries is a validation of what we have been working towards. This is all about our patients, they are at the center of everything we do. Its a testament to our front line caregivers and medical providers who continue to fulfill our Mission of caring for all. We will be here for generations to come.

Ascension is a faith-based health care organization that has served Michigan for more than 140 years. Ascension operates 16 hospitals and hundreds of related health care facilities across the state, employing more than 23,000 people in Michigan. In fiscal year 2020, Ascension provided more than $311 million in community benefit and care of people living in poverty in Michigan.

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See more here:

Ascension investing $125 million into Saginaws St. Marys Hospital, others in northern Michigan - MLive.com

Ascension Parish President Clint Cointment will open talks with a Prairieville homeowners' association about costly repairs to their neighborhood's private drainage basin, even as some parish council members warned the move could start a precedent that would open a "Pandora's box" of requests from other subdivisions.

Drainage detention areas have become a favored way in Ascension and other Baton Rouge-area parishes to keep rainfall and flood water in new developments from dumping on neighboring homes. But almost all of the long-term maintenance of the ponds is left in the hands of homeowner's associations, which often don't have the funds or expertise to handle major problems.

Parish government is only involvedtypically through access rights to the centers of the ponds and their drainage outlets.

As the ponds have have proliferated, sedimentation, caving-in banks and other problems have cropped up. Some homeowners have sought help from local governments or the developers who built them sometimes through lawsuits.

Residents in the Shadows at Manchac neighborhood in Ascension Parish have asked the East Ascension drainage district for help with unusual dry detention areas in the less-than-decade-old subdivision. They have blamed chronic street flooding in the 158-home community north of La. 42 on the detention area's failures, parish officials have said.

Unlike the more common "wet" detention areas that have standing ponds, Shadows at Manchac has dry reservoirs -- four in succession around 1,000 yards long and separated by weirs -- that are only supposed to hold water temporarily during rains and flooding and slowly release water into Cotton Bayou.

But the detention areas have remained wet, becoming difficult for the association to maintain. Culverts and weirs that are supposed to control the flow of water have also been damaged, parish officials have said.

Officials in Ascension's eastern drainage district have been mulling what to do for months. A recent engineering analysis calls for nearly $380,000 in repairs to weirs, culverts and removal of mud but the parish would need expanded rights of access.

On Monday, Cointment called the problems in Shadows at Manchac a unique situation and said they presented a long-term drainage risk outside the neighborhood that legally justified public spending.

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"I think there is somewhat of an engineering flaw and a little bit of a flaw in the construction. The problem with this one is if it continues to degrade, you could not only have problems and possible flooding within the neighborhood but with adjoining neighbors to this subdivision, so a drainage problem beyond the subdivision," he said.

His comments came in response to a question from Councilman Joel Robert, who asked Cointment how many private detention ponds were currently in Ascension Parish. Cointment would not venture a guess, saying he didn't have a number.

Robert said he believes the parish needs to be more aggressive in inspecting the original construction and later maintenance of the ponds and forcing developers to put money aside for future costs.

"I dont feel like it's the parish's place to go in here. I do feel for them." Robert said. But without knowing how many ponds there are, Robert felt the parish could be opening itself up to a flood of expensive new requests.

Councilman Chase Melancon, the drainage vice chairman, also aired concerns about setting a costly precedent for the parish drainage district.

So did Councilman Aaron Lawler, whose district includes the property, though he supported allowing Cointment to talk to the homeowners association.

The district panel, which is made of the 10 of 11 council members who represent eastern Ascension, voted on a 7-1 vote to allow Cointment to start talks about expanding access to the detention areas and reach other legal agreements to do the work. The panel would need to take another vote to start the work.

Only Robert was opposed. Council members Teri Casso and Michael Mason were absent.

Excerpt from:

Should Ascension Parish help fix a subdivision's controversial flooding prevention reservoirs? - The Advocate

EBR and Ascension going halfsies on clearing Bayou Manchac following floods

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East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes have reached an agreement to share the expenses of clearing and snagging Bayou Manchac, a key drainage basin for both parishes.

Ward Creek and Bayou Fountain in East Baton Rouge Parish as well as Bluff Swamp and Spanish Lake in Ascension all drain into Bayou Manchac.

Clearing and snagging the bayou will help stormwater drain more effectively.

The projects cost is unknown but is estimated to be at least $400,000. Director of Transportation and Drainage Fred Raiford estimates Baton Rouges share of the cost will be about $200,000money he says will come from some of the parishs American Rescue Plan dollars.

Mayor Sharon Weston Broome has already pledged to direct some $40 million in federal pandemic relief funds to local drainage projects.

In Ascension Parish, the East Ascension Drainage Board has approved $200,000 so far for the project, which will come from the East Ascension Drainage Fund.

Though it might seem like a no-brainer for two parishes that share a watershed to partner on regional drainage projects, the collaborative approach is relatively new for the Capital Region.

Raiford says several factors came together to make this project happen:

The May 17 flood earlier this year underscored the urgent need for regional cooperation.

Federal funds that could be put toward the project became available, courtesy of the ARP.

The state agreed to remove for five years Bayou Manchacs scenic byways designation, making it easier to cut down trees and clear stumps.

Iberville Parish, which also shares the watershed, is not yet a party to the agreement. But Raiford says he expects Iberville will ultimately join Ascension and East Baton Rouge parishes in the cost-sharing arrangement.

Clearing and snagging Bayou Manchac is just part of the solution to addressing Baton Rouges growing drainage and flooding problems.

On Monday, the Planning Commission took up nine projects that are located wholly or in part in areas at high risk for flooding. Most of the developments received approval, though one was denied and another was deferred 30 days, according to news reports. Critics of the parish development pattern have argued that new development in areas that once served as a natural drainage basin has made the local flooding problem worse.

As parts of Baton Rouge experienced flooding (last week) from Tropical Storm Nicholas, it is alarming that the Planning Commission is considering approving new developments in the FEMA-designated Special Flood Hazard Zones in many of those same areas, says Baton Rouge Sierra Club Executive Commission member Angelle Bradford.

The Bayou Manchac proposal will be introduced at Wednesdays Metro Council meeting and will be voted on by the council in October.

This storyoriginally appeared in a Sept. 20 edition ofDaily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics,subscribe to the freeDaily Reporte-newsletter here.

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EBR and Ascension going halfsies on clearing Bayou Manchac following floods - 225 Baton Rouge

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) More people moving to Middle Tennessee is creating the need for more healthcare. The Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford hospital in Murfreesboro is expanding, but leaders said its something they always knew was coming.

We have been serving this community since 1927 and back at our old facility we had 216 beds and when we made the decision to move to this location we knew that we had to build the facility in such a way that it could be expanded to accommodate the population, said Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford President/CEO Gordon Ferguson. The driving factor of this expansion is our commitment to providing higher-level acuity services. A couple of examples of them include the fact that we are working towards being designated a Level II trauma center.

The $110 million projects will increase the hospitals bed count to 416, and include the following enhancements:

According to Ferguson, the growing population of Middle Tennessee warrants additional services and capacity. They are in the early stages of recruiting additional specialists as the hospital works towards becoming a Level II Trauma Center. Leaders felt this was necessary given the hospitals proximity to the interstate and its location between Nashville and Chattanooga. Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford also received approval earlier this year to initiate open-heart surgery.

We have just been very fortunate that with the specialties we are providing here that we are able to take care of individuals not just from Rutherford County but also our surrounding counties where were seeing quite a few of our patients from the regional facilities that are part of our system, Ferguson explained. I think really when you look at our location you certainly see a large number of our patients coming from Murfreesboro, Rutherford county, but we are also seeing more patients coming into this facility coming from the outlying areas. I think thats in part because some of the older population may not feel as comfortable driving up to Nashville for care.

Ferguson said he wants their staff to work in an environment where they are comfortable, especially in light of the stress being placed on healthcare workers who were on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Weve got a lot of natural light coming in, weve got areas of the hospital where our nurses can go to just be quiet, and really the centerpiece of our hospital is a chapel thats located just off the lobby. I think with our staff going through stressful times its important for us to have an environment that makes them feel there are areas where they know they can get away and have some respite, said Ferguson.

During our interview, Friday, Ferguson was dressed in scrubs as he said leaders wanted to visit with staff members who were giving their all day in and day out.

We made the decision to spend time out on the floors with our staff. I dont normally dress this way but our staff, I will say, are tired, Ferguson explained. I think there are some that honestly are somewhat frustrated that about 96% of the COVID patients that we have here are unvaccinated. We are going to beat the drum to really promote the vaccination. But Ill take my hat off to our staff. They are truly committed to providing care to all of our patients and work through some of the exhaustion that they are experiencing.

Construction is expected to get started later this year and is anticipated to be completed by 2024.

Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford opened its New Salem Surgery Center last month with work on the Westlawn Surgery Center Currently underway.

Groundbreaking is scheduled to happen Wednesday next door to that property off Veterans Parkway for a neighborhood hospital, Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford at Westlawn.

Officials said it will be a first-of-its-kind facility for the state of Tennessee to complement the main hospital and will include the following:

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Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford expands hospital, building new neighborhood hospital - WKRN News 2