The Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital & Medical Center appeared before the Committee on Budget, Appropriations, & Finance of the 35th Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands on Friday, July 26th.
Interim Chief Executive Officer Hazel Philbert accompanied by Senior Vice-President of Financial Services, Christopher Lewis; Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Mavis Matthew; Chief Nursing Officer, Darice Plaskett; Chief of Human Resources, Patricia Canegata; Chief Legal Counsel, B. Patricia Welcome; Chief Information Officer, Greg Bryant; Chief of Staff, James J. Rollins; and Executive Director of the Territorial Hospital Redevelopment Team, Darryl Smalls, presented a conservative balanced FY25 budget projection at $88,116,899.
(Interim CEO Hazel Philbert interacts with Senator Novelle Francis at JFL’s Budget Hearing Session)
JFL’s testimony highlighted a financial overview which included a forecast of the operating budget, accounts payable, revenues, uncompensated care, interagency debt, and human resources overview. ICEO Philbert highlighted many of JFL’s successes such as:
- the accounts payable have decreased from $54M to $19.4M over the past six years
- commercial payments have increased from $13.4M in FY23 to $20.3M in FY24, representing a 51% increase in commercial collections
- the billing collection process brought in more cash, yielding an increase in operating cash receipts from $17.8M in FY23 to $19.6M
- Hired 11 of 14 graduate nurses in 2022, 8 of 10 in 2023, and so far, 2 of 8 in 2024 have passed their NCLEX-RN, representing 21 locally trained nurses hired at JFL.
- completed the negotiations of the Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) with the Virgin Islands Licensed Practical Nurses Association (VILPN), the Virgin Islands Nurses Association (VISNA), and the Registered Nurse Leadership Union (RNLU).
- reduced the dependency on staffing agencies, specifically for our nursing staff and allied health professionals.
In FY24, JFL achieved significant accomplishments. However, the organization also confronted challenges related to staffing, uncompensated care, and Medicaid/Medicare reimbursements. JFL is unwavering in its commitment to delivering top-tier services and ensuring coverage for all specialties to guarantee safe patient care. To mitigate staffing , JFL consistently employs contracted staff including locum physicians, registered nurses, and allied health professionals to support full-time personnel and extend coverage across clinical units. These efforts ensure that the Emergency Department and all other clinical areas remain fully operational. We are projected to exceed our budget for staffing agency and locum (physician) expenses for FY24; however, JFL has made significant improvements in reducing the dependency on staffing agencies by strategically recruiting full-time staff for those areas.
JFL fully recognizes the critical necessity of augmenting revenue, to stabilize our systems and operations. This is important for enhancing access to care and providing top-notch patient care for the people of St. Croix. Our steadfast focus on efficiency and quality will undoubtedly lead to a substantial increase in patient volume throughout our facility. Furthermore, we also recognize the need to reintroduce several revenue-generating outpatient services, aiming to recapture a significant share of that market. Additional funding is imperative to support capital investments and projects to provide the St. Croix community with enhanced access to high-quality care and services.
ICEO Philbert expressed her deep gratitude and appreciation to the entire staff at JFL for their steadfast dedication and commitment to delivering quality care to our patients. She also extended gratitude to the Board of Directors, Governor Albert Bryan Jr., and the executive and legislative branches for their invaluable support.
JFL remains steadfast in its commitment to providing our community with the highest standard of care, through compassion, responsibility, responsiveness, teamwork, dignity, respect, and integrity.
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