Monday, April 30, 2007

More LPNT corporate financial news

LifePoint's Sinking Feeling
thestreet.com
4/27/2007 11:46 AM EDT

LifePoint (LPNT) investors seem lost after the sudden departure of the company's respected CFO.
They have to wonder why Michael Culotta, the company's veteran finance chief, has chosen to leave so soon after CEO William Carpenter's arrival. The company itself has offered no explanation.
"The company does not know if he has resigned to take another position," says Sheryl Skolnick, senior vice president of CRT Capital Group. But "Carpenter did say that a search for Mr. Culotta's replacement has already begun -- so how sudden could this 'resignation' have been?"
LifePoint has assured investors that no major accounting problems loom. Yet, without further information, the company has left Skolnick and others worried that Culotta departed because of conflicts with management. Now, everyone seems to feel a bit uneasy about LifePoint's remaining leaders, particularly Carpenter.
Meanwhile, Skolnick has already expressed concern about the "team player" that Carpenter said he will seek as Culotta's replacement.
"Sorry, but we don't think the CFO should completely be a team player," she said. "At the end of the day, the CFO needs to be the one to say: 'The buck stops here' on financial matters."
Peter Young, a business consultant at HealthCare Strategic Issues, believes that Culotta is a competent CFO who sees trouble on the way. Young notes that LifePoint operates hospitals in rural Southern towns where manufacturing plants -- which often rank as the largest employer -- have been struggling to operate and moving elsewhere as a result. Notably, he says, LifePoint loses lucrative commercially insured cases when that happens.
Moreover, Young adds, tough industry conditions have only made the situation worse.
"When economic hard times befall smaller towns and the payer mix deteriorates, doctors and other in-demand licensed healthcare providers move on to greener pastures -- but the hospital is still there," he explained. "I'd say a competent CFO has the ability to foresee the operating environment ahead and, perhaps in this case, had disagreements with management over agenda" as well.
Lehman Brothers analyst Adam Feinstein promptly downgraded LifePoint's stock from overweight to equal-weight as a direct result of the CFO's departure. Feinstein worries about the possible disruptions and volatile stock performance that could now lie ahead.
Feinstein lowered his price target on the shares from $41 to $38 as well. His firm makes a market in, and regularly trades, LifePoint securities.
Skolnick, who has a similar fair-value rating on LifePoint herself, no doubt viewed that downgrade as more than justified.
"LifePoint still has an untried CEO and an unnamed CFO," she stressed. "That's not a recipe for a buy-rated stock, that's for sure. ... The uncertainty as to why Mr. Culotta resigned, coupled with the fact that the CEO is still untried, could -- and, we believe, should -- create significant pressure on the stock."
The stock indeed took an immediate hit, falling 4.6% to $36.30 on Friday.

News about LPNT corporate

LifePoint CFO Out
thestreet.com
4/26/2007 5:44 PM EDT
LifePoint Hospitals (LPNT) CFO Michael Culotta has abruptly resigned.
The company gave no reason for Culotta's departure when it reported a drop in first-quarter profit on Thursday.
"Nothing ever good happens after a CFO leaves," said Sheryl Skolnick, senior vice president of CRT Capital Group. And "this was one of the best CFOs in the hospital business -- bar none."
Skolnick said CEO William Carpenter was "untested" with less than a year at the helm.
Still, Skolnick saw nothing in LifePoint's first-quarter report to signal any danger.
"The earnings look fine," said Skolnick, who has a fair-value rating on the company's stock. "But I don't really care. ... This is very distressing."
Actually, many analysts had hoped for better results from the company. LifePoint's first-quarter revenue increased 14% to $669 million, missing Wall Street expectations, while net income plummeted 22% to $29.8 million. Operating profit of 61 cents a share came up 2 cents shy of the consensus estimate.
"Our strategy of investing in our communities continues to help us generate excellent financial results for the company and stronger relationships in our markets," Carpenter stated. "We believe that our unrelenting focus on providing value to the communities in which we operate, combined with the implementation of our company-wide strategic initiatives, will not only benefit our company and our communities but will enhance shareholder value for the long term."
LifePoint's stock was unchanged at $38.03 in after-hours trading.

"Who Pays?"

Editorial - Danville Register and Bee
Monday, April 23, 2007
Several members of Danville City Council aren't happy that the Citizen's Committee - the group formed to look into health care issues at Danville Regional Medical Center - hasn't held any public hearings yet.
Those public hearings will happen soon enough. Three are scheduled for early May in Danville, Pittsylvania County and Caswell County, N.C.
It's understandable why members of City Council are frustrated with the pace of their committee's work. The public has a lot of questions about the hospital that need to be answered.
But what does the public think about the news last week that the committee's consultant will be paid with money from the Danville Regional Foundation?
"(The foundation) has no input whatsoever into our final recommendations or what the committee is doing," co-chair Jim Houser said.
That's probably true, but in the current climate, how many people are going to believe it?
For those keeping score at home, Danville Regional Medical Center was locally owned until it was sold to LifePoint Hospitals Inc. in 2005. Members of the hospital's board who sold the hospital used the $200 million received from the sale to start the Danville Regional Foundation.
So now we have the foundation, funded from the hospital sale, paying for the consultant who will examine the way the hospital has been run since the sale.
What can be said of Danville Regional Foundation doing this? Either it's a galling irony that won't be lost on anyone, or it's a noble attempt on the foundation's part to reach out to the community it hopes to serve.
Danville City Council created the Citizen's Committee to deal with this issue, but either wasn't asked or didn't want to spend $25,000 to hire the consultant who will help its own committee. While $25,000 isn't walking-around money for most people, it's a drop in the proverbial bucket for a municipal government developing a $102.4 million budget.
Danville City Council should have paid for the consultant advising its Citizen's Committee and kept the Danville Regional Foundation out of it. Allowing the foundation to pay the consultant further complicates a tense situation.

(Note: sorry for the delay in posting this....the R&B website has been delaying the update of their opinion pages....it's a week old, but still worth reading)

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

"Public hearing dates set for Danville Regional"

Danville Register & Bee
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
DANVILLE - The times and dates have been set for three public hearings on the quality of care at Danville Regional Medical Center.
“Things are pretty much set in motion,” Jim Houser, co-chairman of the Citizen’s Commission Related to the Danville Regional Medical Center, said Tuesday night at the commission’s regular meeting.
Danville Mayor Wayne Williams created the commission March 6 and charged the group with finding out what problems are plaguing the hospital and figuring out the best way to fix them.
A key part of this mission involves conducting a series of public hearings where area residents can share their views on the current state of Danville Regional since LifePoint Hospitals Inc. purchased the hospital in July 2005.
Those hearings are scheduled to take place May 8 at Chatham High School, May 10 at O.T. Bonner Middle School and on May 15 in the community room of Yanceyville Town Hall in Yanceyville, N.C.
Houser expects each hearing to start at 7 p.m. and last two hours. He plans to allow 30 people to speak at each event in the interest of time. People can sign up to speak at the hearings as early as 6 p.m.
Houser hopes that groups of people who plan to speak about the same facet of Danville Regional’s care will coordinate their efforts and select one spokesperson to represent their views.
“If one person has addressed wait times at the hospital, then you should give your spot up,” commission member Arlene Creasy said Tuesday.
Houser said it is not the commission’s job to fix what is wrong at Danville Regional, but only to provide a series of recommendations that hospital officials can have to work with. He hopes everyone who plans to attend the hearings will keep this in mind.
“We’re trying to open the door to communication,” he said, adding it would be worthwhile for Danville Regional officials to pay attention to the commission’s requests.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Danville deserves better

Letter to the editor - Register & Bee - Apr 21

To the Editor;
The author of, “Wanted: A good solution to the hospital problem,” (April 11, page A8), was right on target about LifePoint Hospitals Inc., Danville Regional Medical Center and the greed of the people who sold us out.
Those of us who knew of LifePoint’s reputation prior to the sale could have predicted the chain of events which now leads us to this shameful excuse for a health care system. Now, it’s time for the community to band together and rid ourselves of LifePoint and Art Deloresco, [whose] arrogance and lack of concern represent all that is bad about the hospital. We need leaders who are not afraid to take charge and guide the community to a successful resolution to this situation.
The people of Danville deserve better.

KAREN
Chatham

Thursday, April 19, 2007

"Foundation to foot bill for hospital consultant"

Public hearings on the quality of care at Danville Regional are planned for May.
Danville Register & Bee
Thursday, April 19, 2007

DANVILLE - The group handling the $200 million acquired from the sale of Danville Regional Medical Center will shell out $25,000 to pay for a consultant to look into the problems plaguing the hospital.
In addition, three public hearings on the quality of care at Danville Regional have been tentatively scheduled for mid-May.
The Citizen’s Committee Related to the Danville Regional Medical Center selected May 8, 10 and 15 for the hearings during its Wednesday meeting.
“I think the sooner (we hold these hearings), the better,” said Arlene Creasy, who sits on the committee. “The public is very frustrated right now because they don’t see us doing anything.”
Danville City Council members criticized the committee, which was empaneled March 6, for not scheduling the hearings yet when it’s co-chair Jim Houser appeared before them Tuesday night.
Houser said Wednesday that he envisions each of the hearings to last a total of two hours and would give 40 to 50 people the chance to talk for three to four minutes.
Committee members hope to have a hearing in Danville, Pittsylvania County and Caswell County, N.C., but have yet to work out the details for each event.
“This is the time when you need to open your doors and say, ‘come talk to us’,” said Keith Pryor, the health care consultant hired by the committee to help in its efforts.
Pryor told the committee that he has 25 years of experience working in the health care field as both the president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems, and as a consultant with the Philadelphia-based Health Care Strategies and Solutions Inc.
Houser said the Danville Regional Foundation gave the committee the funds to pay for Pryor’s services and other expenses related to its work analyzing how care at Danville Regional has changed since its July 2005 purchase by LifePoint Hospitals Inc.
But he made it clear this funding would not affect the committee’s overall mission.
“(The foundation) has no input whatsoever into our final recommendations or what the committee is doing,” Houser said. “The citizens are very concerned about the hospital.”
The committee also was joined by Martin Kent with the Virginia Office of the Attorney General. Kent, who grew up in Hurt, has worked in the office for the past six years. He said it would be his job to act as a liaison between the committee and Attorney General Bob McDonnell.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

"Health Care Consultant Hired"

Danville Register & Bee
Wednesday, April 18, 2007

DANVILLE - A health care consultant has been hired to look into the concerns plaguing Danville Regional Medical Center.
The Citizen’s Committee Related to the Danville Regional Medical Center gave the name of the consultant to Danville City Council on Tuesday night.
Jim Houser of the citizen’s committee said his group has hired Keith Pryor with Philadelphia-based Health Strategies and Solutions Inc. to help evaluate Danville Regional’s quality of care since it was sold to Lifepoint Hospitals Inc. in July 2005.
“We have found the person who would best fit our needs,” said Houser, co-chairman of the committee. “From this point we need to ask the question - where do we go from here?”
Houser said Pryor has a lot of experience helping public not-for-profit hospitals transition to private ownership. Houser said the committee members would have a chance to meet with Pryor at their next meeting, which will be held at 5:15 p.m. today in the Municipal Building.

Houser said he expects the group’s public forums to take place soon but would not give any information about when exactly the meetings would happen. He also defended a decision to remove a link from the committee’s Web site that would let people view the comments people had posted about the hospital’s current state.
Houser said the committee did this because it did not want one person’s comments to affect what another person may post. He said a few other people would not post comments because they were afraid someone else might see what they had written.

Citizens Commission update

The next meeting of the Citizens Commission will take place on Wednesday, April 18, 2007, 5:15 P.M. in the Fourth Floor Conference Room, City Hall, 427 Patton Street.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Friday, April 13, 2007

Keep it in perspective...

Girard V. Thompson, Jr. M.D.
1935-2007

Monroe Patterson, Jr.
1948-2007

Take a break...spend some time with your family and friends. Life is too short.

http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2007/04/18/chatham/obituaries/obit10.txt

http://www.legacy.com/RegisterBee/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=87179295

Letter to the editor: "Public deserves straight answers about hospital"

Chatham Star-Tribune
Wednesday, April 11, 2007

It seems a lifetime ago, but can you recall the pride and joy we all felt when our Danville Regional Hospital became officially associated with the prestigious heart center at Duke University Medical Center?
It was an affirmation of the quality of skill and care at DRMC. It also was the culmination of many years of hard work by devoted cardiac-care nurses and doctors and surgeons who wanted to give our community the very best.
Area newspapers were plastered with stories and full-page ads trumpeting this achievement. Without a word to the public, the DRMC affiliation with the Duke Heart Center has apparently vanished - gone with the winds of negative changes brought to us by LifePoint Hospitals.
I only learned this when making inquiries about cardiac care. Apparently, the hospital still shares the services of a cardiovascular surgeon with Duke, but that's it. Clearly, this is an extremely negative development in terms of our community's health care.
Like others, I have been horrified over what LifePoint has done to our hospital in terms of personnel and services, but it seems to me that the heart center development stands alone as an indicator of how bad things are.
Rumors have it that Duke pulled out because of LifePoint's severe cuts in nursing staff. Other rumors have it that LifePoint canceled the affiliation because it did not want to spend money meeting Duke's standards. Is it too much to ask that we be told the truth?
From the beginning of our nightmare when the hospital was sold in secret, a major destructive element has been the fear and confusion arising from secrecy and, in the case of LifePoint, apparently some outright lies.
For example, while they claimed to be fixing everything, we were actually losing our accreditation.
Rumors can be destructive, but they always arise from the sort of deception and secrecy that have been hallmarks of this catastrophe that threatens to wreck our community.Isn't it time for some truth and light? Could we start by having some straight answers about what happened to DRMC's Duke-affiliated heart center?
Kelly
Pelham, N.C.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Ask the right questions...

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned that LPNT sponsored a speaker in town last week who spoke on personal accountability (the tagline on the author's site - "Helping Organizations Make Personal Accountability a Core Value"). So, today, in the absence of any news from the Citizens Commission, updates on Joint Commission accreditation, or info on the next allotment of the $200 million from the foundation, I was looking for a little something that was thought-provoking to post on the blog. I thought you might enjoy reading this little intro from the QBQ.com website:

"Ever heard questions like these?
- Why do we have to go through all this change?
- When is someone going to train me?
- Who dropped the ball?
- Why can’t they communicate better?
- When is that department going to do its job right?
- Who’s going to solve the problem?
- When am I going to find good people?
- Why don’t they share the vision?
- Who’s going to clarify my job?
If so, QBQ! is for you. In every organization — corporations, nonprofit, schools, churches, even families — there is blame, complaining, and procrastination. QBQ, Inc. provides practical tools that help people eliminate these dangerous traps and improve their lives."

I don't know about you, but I am actually inspired to start asking the "questions behind the questions" (trademark - QBQ Inc. www.qbq.com).

Okay, back to work now.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

"Outside Help"

Danville Register and Bee
Sunday, April 8, 2007

Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell has stepped into one of the most contentious and complex issues facing this community - LifePoint Hospitals’ management of Danville Regional Medical Center.
Dan River Region residents who are concerned about the hospital should welcome McDonnell’s involvement.
“Our job is to review the court documents (pertaining to the sale) to be sure the taxpayer and the state have been represented,” McDonnell said this week.
McDonnell said he plans to send a senior-level staff member to meetings of the Citizen’s Committee, the group formed by Mayor Wayne Williams to help Danville City Council investigate complaints about the hospital’s operation under LifePoint.
From the outside looking in, it’s hard to know exactly what is happening at Danville Regional Medical Center.
The community has heard from doctors, nurses, patients and interested outsiders who have taken contradictory positions - LifePoint Hospitals has either done a good job since buying Danville Regional or the company has made - and continues to make - bad decisions that affect the quality of care at the local hospital.
Even the most definitive statement about LifePoint’s management of Danville Regional - the Joint Commission’s “preliminary denial of accreditation” - is just that, it’s preliminary and the hospital remains accredited.
The attorney general’s involvement in the hospital controversy is one of the best developments this contentious, often contradictory issue has seen. While McDonnell wasn’t in office when LifePoint bought Danville Regional on July 1, 2005, the office reviewed the sale at the time.
Delegate Danny Marshall, R-Danville, worked to bring McDonnell’s office into the process. “(Putting someone from the attorney general’s office on the commission) will change the perception about this committee quite a bit,” Marshall said. “We want the folks at the hospital to listen.”
While it’s important for the Citizen’s Committee to get hospital officials to cooperate, it’s equally important to get to the bottom of this controversy for the benefit of everyone concerned about health care in this community.
Having the attorney general’s office on the Citizen’s Committee will bring a much-needed outside perspective to the question of what has happened to Danville’s only hospital.

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Irony?

LPNT sponsored a program on accountability here in Danville yesterday...

"Answers to the right questions"
http://www.registerbee.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=DRB/MGArticle/DRB_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173350584981&path=

I think Mr. Miller's books should be required reading.
http://www.qbq.com/

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

"Hospital group gets help from state AG"

Danville Register & Bee
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
DANVILLE - A new partnership between state and local officials could give more teeth to the Citizen’s Committee Related to the Danville Regional Medical Center.
Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell said Tuesday that he plans to add a senior-level staff member from his office to the seven-member group.
“Whenever these meetings are, we’ll send someone down,” he said. The staff person will participate in the committee meetings and listen in on citizen’s complaints.
McDonnell said he has been interested in Danville Regional’s current state of affairs since he met with Mayor Wayne Williams and the Dan River Region’s state legislators in early 2006.
“I wanted him to be aware of some of the issues that were developing in Danville,” Williams said.
The mayor said he shared some early concerns about how LifePoint Hospitals Inc. was managing Danville Regional since the company purchased the hospital in July 2005. McDonnell, who had previously worked in hospital management, took some of these concerns to heart.
He called a group of LifePoint executives into his office and shared Williams’ concerns with them. After this meeting, McDonnell said he “felt that things were pretty well on the way to turning a corner.”
But public concern over the hospital’s quality of care peaked up again this winter. Williams then formed the citizen’s committee on March 6 to collect public input about the issue.
Delegate Danny Marshall, R-Danville, said he started talking with Williams about the committee soon after it formed. Marshall said Tuesday that he remembered the group’s initial meeting last year and felt McDonnell’s office should get involved.
“(Putting someone from the attorney general’s office on the commission) will change the perception about this committee quite a bit,” Marshall said. “We want the folks at the hospital to listen.”
The attorney general’s office played a major role in reviewing the sale of the hospital when it took place. McDonnell, who was not in office at the time of the sale, said former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore’s staff had to approve the sale documents since Danville Regional operated as a public not-for-profit institution before it was sold to LifePoint.
“Our job is to review the court documents (pertaining to the sale) to be sure the taxpayer and the state have been represented,” McDonnell said. The attorney general said Tuesday that he has not reviewed the sale documents yet.
Williams said he was very happy to have the attorney general’s office involved in the hospital committee. He said the group stopped meeting a few weeks ago because they wanted to bring in a medical expert who could provide them with information about the hospital’s practices.
Williams said he is in the process of interviewing such an expert now but was uncertain how long the process would take. Despite this, Williams said he is very pleased the attorney general’s office is interested in joining his efforts to learn more about Danville Regional.
“I think having the attorney general on the commission will be very helpful,” Williams said.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

"Attorney General wants staff member on citizens committee"

Danville Register and Bee
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
DANVILLE -- Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell would like to place a staff member on the citizens hospital committee.
Mayor Wayne Williams formed the Citizens Committee Related to the Danville Regional Medical Center group last month to collect public input about a number of complaints people have related to care at Danville Regional Medical Center since the hospital was bought by LifePoint.

---------------------

ALSO, in the April 4 edition of the Register & Bee is Mr. Doloresco's response to the March 19 editorial about DRMC's recent Joint Commission's denial of accreditation:

Doloresco explains
To the editor:
I agree that your editorial, “A lost opportunity” (March 19, page A8), taking me to task for referring to the Joint Commission’s preliminary findings as a “private matter” was on target. I was attempting to convey the Joint Commission’s view on confidentiality of preliminary findings and didn’t do that very well.
The quality of our community’s hospital is not a “private matter.” It is a public responsibility and a privilege that the board, medical staff and I, along with our very hard-working associates, gladly undertake around the clock, 365 days a year.
ART DOLORESCO
Danville

Monday, April 2, 2007

Ciizens Commission, are you still out there?

It's been a month since the Register & Bee last gave us an update on Mayor Williams' Citizens Commission...so, what's new?
The only development in recent weeks is the removal of the Public Comment archive from the website....no minutes, no updates....nothing to let us know they are still alive and well.

Time is not really a luxury we have with this situation.

Then again, maybe it is...it has, after all, been almost a month since we found out about the Joint Commission preliminary denial of accreditation and few outside the inner sanctum have any idea what didn't pass muster.

Tick...tock....