Giddings presides over her last NCH meeting
Hospital reports $1.8 million operating loss; net income with contributions is $300,000
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
Last Thursday's 96th annual meeting of Nantucket Cottage Hospital was somewhat of an emotional swan song for president Lucille Giddings, who is retiring at the end of September.

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent file Lucille Giddings: "The challenges we faced and met together are impressive. We have accomplished so much and I know many more wonderful opportunities await this little jewel of a hospital."

Ever the professional, Giddings offered an overview of some of the hospital's accomplishments in the past year: its affiliation with Massachusetts General Hospital and Partners Healthcare; the hiring of Dr. Craig Bradley as a new primary care physician and continued recruitment of family physicians; receipt of a $750,000 grant to develop computerized patient care and medical records systems; and air conditioning the building's second floor. But Gidding's voice broke at the end of her presentation when she thanked her colleagues for their support during her 11 1/2 year tenure.

"It has been a privilege and a pleasure to know and work with each of you for these many years," she said. "The challenges we faced and met together are impressive. We have accomplished so much and I know many more wonderful opportunities await this little jewel of a hospital. I treasure the remarkable relationships and experiences we have shared. Many of you have become dear friends as well as colleagues, so I look forward to our paths crossing often as I move into this next chapter of life."

The meeting also provided a formal opportunity for MGH President Dr. Peter L. Slavin to address what he called his new "family." Slavin, a graduate of Harvard Medical School and head of MGH since 2003, explained that his hospital was founded in 1811 by an act of the legislature and is the third oldest hospital in the country. It is also the state's third largest care provider to the uninsured and conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation while still being considered a community hospital.

Slavin told the NCH staff, trustees and new advisory council members that Massachusetts General is about to embark on construction of a 530,000 square-foot, 10-story building on its main campus which will add 150 new private acute and critical care beds. It will also house a surgical center on three floors providing 29 new operating rooms and 70 recovery areas. The building is slated to open in 2011.

He further explained that in 2003, MGH began its Disparities Solutions Center to develop and implement methods to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care, though he also spoke on the disturbing trend of fewer doctors entering the field as primary care physicians. In 2005, only 20 percent of the country's third-year medical residents chose primary care over better paying, less time-intensive specialties. Slavin closed his talk by saying that every initiative taken by MGH and Nantucket Cottage Hospital is to ensure that patients receive the highest quality care and services possible.

"Working closely together we are able to take better care of the patients we collectively serve," he said. "In addition, we want to identify ways that MGH can help Nantucket Cottage Hospital expand and enhance the care delivered by the dedicated men and women who are the heart and soul of this beloved island health-care resource. Speaking on behalf of all of us at MGH, we are very proud that Nantucket Cottage Hospital is a member of the family."

Margaretta Andrews, Chairman of the NCH Board of Trustees, and Dr. Gregory Hinson, President of the NCH medical staff, also addressed the meeting, with Andrews focusing on the new affiliation that became effective March 1.

"The idea was not for Mass. General to sweep down here and save us - we didn't need saving," said Andrews. "Our hospital was and continues to be very strong, both fiscally and clinically, and the care our patients receive is of the highest caliber and quality. We continue to be responsible for our own governance, administration, finances and philanthropy, but now can leverage access to the resources of New England's largest, state-of-the-art health care system."

Andrews said that while many benefits of the alliance with MGH are invisible to the community, others are clear to see, such as an "in-house" loan through MGH that allowed the Cottage Hospital to buy four employee housing units that it previously rented, as well as a $5 million gift from MGH to be used for the local hospital's capital expenditures.

The hospital's financial overview was presented by Stephen Anderson, the NCH treasurer. Anderson reported that at the close of the 2006 fiscal year the hospital netted revenue of $26 million; however, because operating expenses came in at $27.8 million there was an operating loss of $1.8 million. That loss was offset by non-operating gains of $2.1 million from various contributions, the annual fund and unrestricted investment income. Anderson also reported that free care services provided in FY06 totaled $1.5 million and bad debt due to non-payment stood at $1.7 million.

"The challenge is to minimize operating loss and this is receiving the focus it deserves from the management team," said Anderson.

On behalf of the medical staff, Dr. Hinson expressed gratitude for Giddings' work over the last decade.

"In today's world, running a small rural hospital is a little like having the nicest deck chair on the Titanic," he said. "But Lucille has managed to do even more than just keep this boat afloat. She has done a great job of being the middleman, brokering the relationships between the medical staff, the board, the hospital staff, state regulators, insurance companies and managed care organizations and the unions. And yet, all along it has been easy to see that her background is in nursing. She has cared for this place

and will be hard to replace." I