Dear Supporters of Shriners Hospital for Children – Spokane,

From where I sit today the future looks very bright indeed for our hospital and our system.  Just last week I was notified by headquarters that the Joint Board has decided to keep Spokane a hospital for the foreseeable future.  As you know, the delegates at last year’s Imperial Session gave the Joint Board the authority to modify the size and scope of hospitals to better fit their location, workload, patient demand etc.  I can tell you that we were given a thorough review.  When the facts were in it was clear that the best healthcare presence for the Shrine in Spokane was an acute care hospital.

Why the change of heart?  Simply put REVENUE!  We perform very high end surgeries here in Spokane.  When you determine how much revenue might be brought in as a result of billing insurance companies the dollars add up quickly.  So much so that by 2012 we will only cost the system a few million dollars annually to operate our hospital.

We just hosted a visit by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, a nationally recognized firm that is working with us on implementing 3rd Party Pay.  They worked side-by-side with our staff informing us of all the changes that will need to be implemented to collect insurance dollars.  I can report to you that it will be well worth it.  Our staff is excited to be part of this new venture and in some small way we all feel like we are helping lift some of the fund raising burden off of the shoulders of Shriners.  We expect to start billing here in Spokane on July 1, 2010.  This is a remarkable achievement considering no health system has gone from a cold start to billing and collecting in 12 short months.  But the delegates in San Antonio said do it and do it quickly and we have responded!

I want to thank those brave men that went to San Antonio and cast their historic vote.  We in Spokane have you to thank as does our entire system.  We know you put your faith in us and we will not let you down.

Thank you all so much for your support.

Sincerely,

Gene Raynaud, FACHE
Administrator