Gov. Juan Luis Hospital Chief Executive Doug Koch updated the territorial hospital board Wednesday with the news that the hospital has reduced the number of contract nurses by hiring 17 registered nurses – enough to reduce the number of travelers from 49 last year.
Koch told the board that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted the three-year tri-annual Health Survey in December 2023 and the three-year tri-annual Life Safety Survey in January. He expects the final report soon.
“I had an update call with CMS earlier this week and they expected, within the next two to three weeks we would receive it. And we’re looking forward to receiving that so we can get things corrected,” he said.
Also, during the phone call with CMS, Koch reassured the federal agency that the hospital will confront any issues head-on while providing dialysis for St. Croix patients at the new location, east of Christiansted, the former Caribbean Kidney Center.
Dr. Walter Gardiner, director of CKC, had complained about the lack of funding for months – federal funding dried up towards the end of COVID. The V.I. Legislature appropriated $700,000 and Superior Court Judge Yvette Ross-Edwards issued an injunction ordering the facility to remain open.
“We’re concentrating on developing capacity. That’s all we can do,” Christopher Finch, board president, said. He said the longer-term plan is a location built out with FEMA assistance or a renovation at JFL. “For now, everyone is waiting to see what can be worked out.”
Koch said they are continuing to explore relocating dialysis services to a location in Estate Princess.
The CEO also displayed charts showing outpatient ratings of services.
“It looks like when people are here they’re getting good care, but the overall perception is not that.”
He said large hospitals have large outpatient services, but JCL’s outpatient services are combined with inpatient services and that causes delays.
According to Koch, the JFL Emergency Department scores below average partially because they are judged on timeliness and wait factors. One reason, according to the CEO, is that some patients use the emergency department as their primary caregiver, and that throws off the statistics.
According to Koch’s chart, for the most part, discharge patients rated overall services less than 50 percent positive in the first quarter of this year. That was down from almost 70 percent in the third quarter of 2023 and 51 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023. The key drivers of the ratings were the responsiveness of hospital staff, cleanliness and communication with doctors – almost 80 percent favorable.
Indeed, communications with doctors and nurses received the highest rating. But there was a drop from more than 80 percent in the third quarter of last year to around 74 percent in the first quarter of the third year.
Regarding finances, Koch said they are making “great progress” in balancing the numbers. For example, UnitedHealthcare, a Medicare provider, negotiated a new reimbursement rate that increases the rate at which JFL is paid. The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands is now the fiduciary organization for the Juan Luis Foundation.
Koch said the administration building, which is under construction, has been delayed by a water main break. Once the cleanup is completed, the construction will continue.
Speaking of employee motivation, the hospital celebrates birthdays and the employee of the year is chosen by the staff, Koch added.
After Koch’s report, the board approved two physicians for initial appointments of one year and four physicians were granted additional two-year appointments.
The board also held an executive session.
Board members attending the meeting were Finch, Dr. Jerry Smith, Kevin McCurdy, Dr. Frank Odlum, Greta Hart-Hyndman, Faye John-Baptist, Dr. Albert Titus and Justa Encarnacion.
