Category: QCCT Trust

Final Meetings of UofL Ad Hoc Operations Review Committee.

The University of Louisville has just announced the dates of two additional meetings of this internal review committee. Come on out and watch the fun!

MEDIA ADVISORY:
The next meeting of the UMC Ad Hoc Operations Review Committee will be held on Wednesday, May 9th @ 3:30 p.m. in the Glass Room in the basement of the Ambulatory Care Building at University of Louisville Hospital.

The agenda will include:
1) Update by Dixon Hughes Goodman

Note: A date of Wednesday, May 23rd has been set for Dixon Hughes Goodman to present its final report. Time would also be @ 3:30 p.m. in the Glass Room in the basement of the Ambulatory Care Building at University of Louisville Hospital.

Comment:
The Ad Hoc Committee was initiated by the University following revelations that it had failed in its oversight responsibility for of the Quality Community Care Trust (QCCT) that pays for some uncompensated care at University Hospital, and on the heels of a scolding and requirement by the Commonwealth to repay at least some of the funds intended for Medicaid patients that were diverted into other uses. I have written extensively about the background of these matters [Search for ‘QCCT’ in the box above.] and the conduct of the first three meetings of the committee elsewhere on these pages.

The University had originally promised openness in the conduct of its committee, but I have been less than impressed. We have been told that any final public report will not necessarily have any of the underlying data attached. To me that means that any report would be unverifiable. That is a shame and indicates that the University continues to operate in same secrecy that has served it poorly in regaining the trust of its public owners, and allows skullduggery by University employees to incubate more easily than it should.

Originally the University had hoped that the Committee’s work would be finished during the first week of May before the Kentucky Derby. Of course the University also had intended that its Request for Proposals to find a new partner for its academic, business, and clinical responsibilities to have been completed earlier this month. That process has been extended indefinitely among reports that the process collapsed completely. [I will report on my understanding of this matter later.] The University’s downtown medical center seems to be in chaos. Come on UofL, let your public help you! To do so, we first need to trust you and see the transparency appropriate for a public entity. If I am the only one who feels you are not living up to these obligations, then I apologize, but I do not believe that to be the case.

Peter Hasselbacher, MD
April 26, 2012

What should an agreement between the University of Louisville and a new hospital partner look like?

The University of Louisville seems desperate to find a new “partner” for its fundamental academic responsibilities. It claims its principal teaching hospital is failing and in some well-defined ways it is. Here is my best shot at what such a contract should look like and to be in the best interests of the University and the public is wishes to serve. Continue reading “What should an agreement between the University of Louisville and a new hospital partner look like?”

QCCT Fund for Indigent Medical Care in Play Again.

Good Time to Rethink Charity Care In Louisville Anyway?

Tom Loftus of the Courier-Journal reported last Friday that the Senate version of the state budget for the next two years would cut the amount contributed to the fund used by University of Louisville Hospital to pay for care for certain medically indigent patients by over $5 million per year– a total of $11.4 million less than the House and Governor’s versions over the the next biennium.  The QCCT (Quality Care and Charity Trust) is an ongoing agreement between the Commonwealth, the City of Louisville, and University of Louisville Hospital to fund medical care for certain medically indigent patients. Under the proposed Senate cuts, the QCCT would receive a reduced sum totaling about $15.1 million yearly. Continue reading “QCCT Fund for Indigent Medical Care in Play Again.”

UofL President Ramsey Calls for Evaluation of Indigent Care Fund

How do we provide the best health care to the underserved?

A few days after this Policy Blog, County Attorney Mike O’Connell, the Courier-Journal and others called for an audit of the Quality & Community Care Trust (QCCT) that funds indigent care at University Hospital, President Ramsey responded in acquiescence.  He had no other reasonable choice.  Given increasing criticism over its habit of secrecy, any dragging of feet would have had a devastating effect on the University’s tarnishing reputation.  The “Unsubstantiated C**p Defense” is no longer feasible.  A better course for the University would have been to be out in front with such an offer weeks ago when it was becoming clear that the Louisville Metro Council and others were having concerns about how this particular package of public money was being used.  Now we know that there was a good reason for that concern.  Nonetheless, better late to the table than never.

To their credit, the University is not using its “Private Organization” defense to limit scrutiny, despite the fact that the initial results of outside scrutiny were not good.  Board meetings have not been held for several years, and required records were not kept even as the University complained that it needed more money.  The University of Louisville has given away its best defense against criticisms of acting secretly or even irresponsibly.  The fact that this University-led Board was so careless in its management of such an important public function adds urgency to the many other calls for the University of Louisville to stop the secret internal shell game it plays with its many component foundations, corporations, institutes, and other entities. Continue reading “UofL President Ramsey Calls for Evaluation of Indigent Care Fund”