Copper Basin Hospital District trustees and Copper Basin Community Hospital Inc. have taken steps that could avoid a lawsuit over the hospital lease. The plan calls for Brim Healthcare, a hospital management company, to study the financial situation for a month.

At that time, it will either offer to take on short-term management responsibilities or suggest other alternatives for the financially troubled Copper Basin Medical Center. If there is a short-term agreement, Brim would work on a plan to turn the hospital around, with an eye toward a long-term management agreement. Ray Ford with Brim was on hand for last week’s District Board meeting.

The plan was approved unanimously by the district trustees, who have been trying for months to get Copper Basin Community Hospital Inc. to agree to change its lease, which calls for the district to take on the debt when the lease comes to an end. The trustees say the lease was approved under pressure and threatened a lawsuit to try to get it changed.

Ducktown and the county commission have voted to provide financial help if a lawsuit is necessary, and Copperhill said it would provide support if it was not needed immediately. Those three governments make appointments to the district board, which was created by Private Act when the hospital was created in the 1950s.

Attorney Jim Johnstone told the trustees he had a productive meeting with Mike Stevenson, the principal owner of the corporation currently running the hospital. He said they talked about how to avoid a lawsuit, cancel the lease, achieve a change in management and get the hospital back on its feet financially. He said they agreed to a 30-day cooling off period during which Brim would be given full access to all hospital records, with a confidentiality agreement to be signed.

Johnstone said the sticking point has been the debt, adding he understands there are some debts the district will have to accept because they are tied to receivables. “I don’t know what’s appropriate to accept and what’s not,” he said. Stevenson agreed that certain debts are his, Johnstone said. “They’ll end up with some debt and we’ll end up with some debt.”

The trustees approved an agreement with Brim to do an organizational assessment and determine whether it is interested in negotiating a management agreement. Brim will be reimbursed only for expenses while it conducts the assessment, Johnston said, adding the funds provided for a lawsuit would be used to cover this cost, with anything left over to be returned. “This would be better than a lawsuit,” he said, noting, “If there is no agreement, we will file a lawsuit, but I hope we can avoid that.” He said it appears that Stevenson is being more cooperative.

“I hope we’re moving in the right direction,” he said. If Brim is interested, the goal is to cancel the lease and move in. He said there has been concern about the provider number required to operate a hospital, explaining that CBMC’s number has the financial problems attached but it takes a long time to get a new one, which is needed to get federal payments. “If we can work on the indebtedness, we can take the existing provider number,” he said. That would allow the trustees to take over immediately without a delay in federal payments if there is an agreement to cancel the lease.

“I’m  not saying this will succeed,” he advised, “but I feel pretty good about it.”

Ray Ford, vice president of operations from Brim, said his company works only with not-for-profit hospitals in small, rural communities. “Most of the time, with support from the community, we know how to make it work.” He said the Copper Basin community is obviously fired up about keeping the hospital open and “that’s what we’re all about. This is our niche.”

The Brentwood-based company, formed in 1971, currently operates 37 full-service, acute-care hospitals in 16 states. Brim does not own hospitals, Ford explained, noting  it enters into agreements with hospital owners.

Bea Tallent asked what other alternatives might be offered if Brim is not interested in a management agreement. Ford said sometimes the better alternative might be filing for bankruptcy with a workout plan. Johnstone said the hospital would stay open and employees would not be affected, but creditors would be paid through a plan approved by the bankruptcy court. He said he didn’t think it would come to that, adding he is a little more optimistic. “We want to hit the ground running.” Ford said if Brim comes in it would start with a professional Chief Executive Office and Chief Financial Officer to focus on revenue cycle management.

Johnstone said Brim would make the decisions necessary to turn the hospital around if they serve as managers. Ford said every hospital is unique and every plan is different. He said they have taken on hospitals that were “on the ropes” and turned them around. “We try to address the needs of the community, the needs of the hospital,” he said.

Johnstone said the trustees recently visited a hospital in Alabama that is managed by Brim and were impressed, noting the atmosphere was fantastic and the staff was happy with the way things were going.

More information about the management company can be found at www.brimhealthcare.com