Erlanger CEO Kevin M. Spiegel meets with Governor Bill Haslam

Erlanger’s President and CEO, Kevin M. Spiegel, FACHE, met with Governor Bill Haslam in Nashville on Monday, September 30 to advocate on behalf of Erlanger, focusing on our critical role as the region’s only safety net hospital, Level 1 Trauma Center and teaching facility.

Mr. Spiegel continued to stress the importance of Erlanger gaining access to the Public Hospital Supplemental Pool (PHSP) which has excluded Erlanger since the Tennessee fund became available in 2010. Currently only two public hospitals in the state, Nashville General and The Med in Memphis, have access to this $70 million payment pool for safety net hospitals. Mr. Spiegel has repeatedly questioned state and federal officials why these funds were only made available to Middle and West Tennessee safety net hospitals, and not us.

For Erlanger to be added to this payment pool, the state would require approval from the federal government to amend the TennCare waiver, which is an agreement between the state and federal government on how the program is administered.

In his meeting with the Governor, Mr. Spiegel discussed the negative financial impact on Erlanger if TennCare is not expanded and if our access to supplemental funds continues to be blocked. He also assured Governor Haslam that Erlanger, like Vanderbilt, was making a number of significant moves to reduce costs, and adopt a more fiscally prudent and streamlined approach to operations.

Later this month, Mr. Spiegel will meet with our bondholders to provide an update on our cost containment measures, and efforts to secure supplemental payments. The outcome of that meeting will be communicated in a future “You Should Know.”

Did you know:

• That Regional Medical Center in Memphis received $26.8 million in funding from Shelby County taxpayers last year – plus trauma funds from Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee?
• That Metro-Nashville General Hospital received $32.7 million from Davidson County taxpayers last year?
• That the Erlanger Health System received $1.5 million from Hamilton County in 2012 – an amount that barely covers one day of operating expenses at Erlanger?