DeJongh's legacy: JFL shuttered

Here's another reason JFL Hospital is such a disaster:

I hope Dr Appleyard sues JFL and takes all their ortho business.

From OrthoCaribbean/VI Ortho...

We regret to announce that as of September 8, 2014 Dr. Appleyard is unable to see patients in the US Virgin Islands. Like many doctor’s recruited from the mainland, Dr. Appleyard’s VI medical license was bound to her employment at the Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital. When the hospital refused to renew her contract on only two weeks’ notice, her license to practice medicine in the USVI was temporarily revoked as a direct result. Dr. Appleyard is currently in the process of taking the necessary steps toward obtaining a VI license not tied to employment by any USVI government agency, and she remains fully-qualified and licensed to practice medicine in the states of Florida and North Carolina.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused to Virgin Islanders in need of orthopedic and specialty spine care, and we regret that this action by the hospital seems to disregard the best interests of our friends, neighbors, and extended family members here in the Virgin Islands. Fortunately our physical therapy practice remains open, and our partner providers, Dr. Chase and Dr. Flowers, will continue to see patients in our St. Croix office while this situation is resolved.

Again, we are terribly sorry for the inconvenience that appointment changes and cancellations have caused our valued patients. While we will try to minimize the interruption of services through our other providers, you are encouraged to share this post and reach out to your local legislators for their assistance in halting the loss of qualified doctors from this island and ensuring that all Virgin Islanders have reasonable access to primary and specialty care.

Thank you.

IMO the hospital is a product of it's own demise. Surgical team is awesome, I know first hand.

However, administration and billing is crippled. I have insurance, pre-authorized surgery in March. I have yet to receive a bill from the hospital. How do they expect to earn money if they don't bill out?

Is this just JFL or does it include RLS too?

Any source?

http://www.viconsortium.com/business/medical-school-st-croix-committee-recommends/

“They will not fund this medical school unless it can get accredited, and in order to be accredited, it has to be partnered with an accredited hospital,” Buckley explained. “And our understanding is that right now Schneider [Regional Medical Center in St. Thomas] is the only one [that is accredited]; Juan Luis is not. [The donor] said that was their number one priority and criteria for determining where the medical school would be placed.”

IMO the hospital is a product of it's own demise. Surgical team is awesome, I know first hand.

However, administration and billing is crippled. I have insurance, pre-authorized surgery in March. I have yet to receive a bill from the hospital. How do they expect to earn money if they don't bill out?

Their crippling is absolutely of their own doing! I know for a FACT that they have little or no interest in fixing their Revenue Cycle, at least not to do what is necessary to fix it, by hiring the right people. I have decades of experience with fixing, and completely turning around hospitals Revenue Cycle, and taking troubled hospitals and getting them out of the red. I tried to apply for a job there, and couldn't even get a return phone call, or email! Given the number of people on St. Croix that are on Medicaid/Medicare, there is no reason why they aren't doing better. They need to realize that sometimes the best person for the job isn't a member of their family! And most likely doesn't already work for them.

I believe that is incorrect and that JFL is accredited currently. They are under a great deal of scrutiny but I think that quote on that website is incorrect.

Sean

Their lab is CMS accredited. The hospital is not

I was there just last week. This is why I have to leave STX. Shuttering JFL, or losing its accreditation, as devastating of a loss as it would be to this isolated community, is not shocking at all. Tragic, but hardly shocking to anyone who has been paying attention. As someone with frequent healthcare needs, I have watched it slowly deteriorate over the last decade. It is shameful and embarrassing and a horrific place to have to visit under any circumstances. I know they try to do the best they can with what they have, but you can't do nothin' with nothin'.

I'm sorry, STX. You deserve better.

Here's another reason JFL Hospital is such a disaster:

I hope Dr Appleyard sues JFL

Thank you.

Sues for what?
If they broke a contract she has the right to sue.
Meanwhile, the hospital may be soon laying off many more people.
And DeJongh laid of more than a thousand. Should they sue him too? And they had union contracts.

JFL is just the icing on the turd cake.

Hey- at least its pretty out!

DeJongh's legacy indeed
You need more?
How about deJongh refused to fill board vacancies for years so that now there is no functioning board. They have to wait until the Territorial Board meets to do simple hire fire contract stuff.
How about deJongh sends patients there from Corrections and doesn't pay his bills?
How about he dumped 700 people off the payroll? And the. Required them to pay early retirement themselves?

The chickens are coming home to roost. The schools have no teachers either. Brain Drain part 2

JUAN F. LUIS HOSPITAL LOSES ACCREDITATION, CMS PULLS OUT Featured / News / Virgin Islands / September 19, 2014

Now its official...thanks for the scoop Miss Justice. This is very bad news.

Uh oh. This does not seem good! But, with the possibility of new medical school(s) being built, do you think that the govt will do something about this and try and get the hospitals accreditation back? It seems so self destructive to not do anything about it.

Curious since the plan is to move to STX next year with the family.

JUAN F. LUIS HOSPITAL LOSES ACCREDITATION, CMS PULLS OUT Featured / News / Virgin Islands / September 19, 2014

Pretty sad news indeed. My last visit in January of this year I had need to visit the emergency room for an acute medical problem requiring immediate treatment. My actual experience was good, receiving prompt treatment from a competent ER physician and nurse. It was obvious that the facility was not up to the standards of our local hospital back home in Kentucky, but the actual care rendered was.

What happens now? Unimaginable that STX would not have a competent, fully functioning hospital. We'll be back again in a few months but this does make one a little more concerned about visiting, especially as one gets a little older.

MissJustice forecast was correct - Just bloody marvelous.

If our acting CEO wasn't such a prominent chucky supporter (and by association da-gov) then he'd be out on his arse. Deficient in 8 areas even after all this time. Disappointed doesn't even begin to describe it. I feel sad for the hard workers at JFL who have tried to do their best in the face of it all.

Maybe da-gov can pull off another hail mary, and find the next group of money-men who want to run a hospital.

Just remember, it will be our money being used to subsidize these Hospital woes and tremendous losses which have been ongoing for decades. All the new CEO's that have come and gone over the years have not made any difference, except for Rodney Miller and his cronies who managed to find their own creative ways to steal and pocket the money. The hospitals should be privately managed and owned not government subsidized.

Why they can't collect money is beyond me. I had some work done there a few years ago and had a 5 figure bill (no insurance coverage) when I was done. I provided all my contact info at the time of admission. I still haven't ever received a bill. Not holding my breath.

Sounds like they need to get some competent people working in the billing dept as well.

CMS pulling out is like a death sentence for almost every hospital. Only hospitals in very rich areas can survive it. But let's be clear here, CMS doesn't pull out over night! There are multiple warnings, fines, deadlines, and penalties that happen first. The CMS pulling out means that JFL has been out of compliance for YEARS! This is the cause of the hospital leadership. Maybe that's the governor, I don't know. But I do know that there are ways to set up the registration and billing to comply with the regulations. I also know that it doesn't have to be a death sentence. If they can PROVE to CMS that they are going to become complaint, with a detailed plan on what and how they are going to do it, they MAY be able to push the deadline of Oct 9 back by 6 months. If the CMS requirements can be met by a small hospital in south Baltimore, which has a very similar demographic/patient population as St. Croix, then JFL can do it also! This can be accomplished in 6 months!

The hospital need to get reviewed by an unbiased person who knows what to look for, and then a plan developed on how to fix the issues.

Based on my experience, I would bet that 90% of their issues are NOT due to staffing, or the "day to day" staff that deal with the patients. It's usually the process. Staff will usually do what they are trained to do, and what the system (HIS) will let/make them do, at any hospital. A strong, knowledgeable IT is crucial for this. I know they have a posting for a CFO, they used to have one for a CIO but that has been removed, I don't know if it was filled... they need BOTH, brand new, from the outside! These two positions need to work together, and they need to know what the hell they are doing! You also can't have a CIO that does nothing but the bidding of the CMO. The CMO's job is to get pretty clinical stuff, to "keep the doctors happy." That's pretty much their top priority. They think "if the doctors are happy everyone is happy." The CFO, thinks "I want my bills paid." It is the responsibility of the CIO to make both of them happy. It's not like this balance hasn't been found in most hospitals, it has.

I, for one, would love the opportunity to review their process, well me a couple of people I know that have more knowledge in other areas than I do. I have a vested interest in this hospital staying open. I'm a klutz that will be living on a sailboat in St. Croix. There will be ankle issues!

Why they can't collect money is beyond me. I had some work done there a few years ago and had a 5 figure bill (no insurance coverage) when I was done. I provided all my contact info at the time of admission. I still haven't ever received a bill. Not holding my breath.

I didn't receive bills either from RLS, but years later I started to receive calls from a collection agency, then a bill/letter from the collection agency. It happened to me twice. They don't bill you. They send it straight to the collection's agency from what I hear. Years later too.

Not good news at all,just bought on STX. Have senior citizen relatives that want to visit, but that won't happen now. Here in Los Angeles you won't leave Cedars Sinai Hospital with out seeing the accounting department with or without insurance, and you will get follow up calls about everything concerning your care. Hope they can fix this i truly love it here.

I started to receive calls from a collection agency, then a bill/letter from the collection agency.

I'm sorry...there's no one here by that name. Maybe they moved off island.