Hot Topics

Good morning!

Today I want to touch on a few themes that are frequently asked about via the VC Notes inbox, which is accessible here. I try to make sure I say this each time, but want to say, again, thank you for submitting your comments and questions. I appreciate that you take the time to share what is on your mind.

I have selected three hot topics on which I get a lot of submissions to discuss – safety, food and nutrition services and pay. As with everything, all of these are a work in progress, but we ARE making progress and will continue to do so.

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Safety and Security

The safety of our patients, visitors, students, employees and all others who may be on our campus is a top priority. We have accomplished so much in this area thanks to Chief Mary Paradis and our dedicated UMMC Police team and Dr. Jonathan Wilson, chief administrative officer.

A few actions to highlight:

• The Behavioral Response Team has been a huge hit and proven very helpful. BRT is comprised of specially trained members of our UMMC Police force including four officers, a sergeant and five technicians. Since January, BRT has had 885 calls for service and 6,900 follow-up visits representing nearly every UMMC patient care area.
• We have added security personnel at key locations such as the Lakeland Medical Building.
• We installed around campus 24 license-plate-reader cameras over the past six months. The camera system is connected to UMMC PD’s Dispatch Center and is monitored in real time. We currently average 1.5 million tags read per month.
• Finally, safety is improved at the stadium. We have seen a 77% decrease year-over-year in vehicle burglaries. I’m encouraged at this positive progress, but we will never rest on efforts to improve personal and property safety at the stadium parking lots.
• We implemented body-worn cameras for all police officers to aid in investigations.
• In the first half of 2023 (Jan. 1 – July 31), UMMC PD responded to 13,307 calls for service; made 46 arrests; conducted more than 150 security and threat assessments; and provided over 1,000 hours of security training.
• The typical “population” of our campus during normal weekday business hours is between 25,000-30,000 people. Think about it – we are a compressed city the same size as Ridgeland, Brandon, Madison, Pearl or Clinton.

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Food and Nutrition Services

While several of our leaders are working closely with Morrison, our food services vendor, to improve quality and service, George Pressley, support services administrator and our liaison to Morrison’s leadership, deserves special recognition for his focus on this work.

A few items to highlight:

• My Dining was implemented in Sanderson Tower and Batson Tower on Jan. 24. We have noted improvements in our patient satisfaction scores since this change.
• My Dining was implemented in Wiser Hospital this year during a multi-month process from March through July. We are very pleased to offer this to the patients in Wiser and are confident this will also improve the patient experience.
• It is also great to see the popularity of the coffee shops operated by Cups and PJ’s Coffee as well as the always-busy Chick-fil-A option in the Methodist Rehabilitation Center.

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Compensation

Inflation has hit us from every angle. We see it at UMMC in the costs of our supplies and services from the price of 4x4-inch gauze to the bids we receive for major construction projects. We feel it in our personal lives in the price of diapers, ground beef and gas. Many of you ask about pay increases – whether they be merit-based (for someone who performs at a higher level than their peers) or a cost-of-living increase.

The bottom line – we are working hard to make this a reality. A few things to note:

• As was shared in last week’s VC Notes, we closed the 2023 fiscal year with a $5 million net positive margin. This is good, especially in light of all the headlines reporting hospitals and health systems losing money and cutting positions in Mississippi and all across the country. However, $5 million isn’t nearly enough to do all the things we need and want to do.
• Included in our critical needs:
  • numerous (too many to count) physical plant and space improvements
  • growth of all programs (every person with whom I meet would like more resources to grow their programs, and I wish I could say YES to all of them)
  • a market pool and merit pool for employee pay
  • infrastructure improvements

Our list goes on and on. The campus needs can be overwhelming!

• For perspective, a 3% cost-of-living increase for our staff (excluding faculty and residents) would cost about $18 to $20 million. The dollar figure gets larger when we think about both a merit pool and a market pool.
• In the last 24 months, we HAVE invested in our workforce:
  • $17 million in nursing pay increases
  • $6.5 million in other clinical patient-facing positions such as respiratory therapy and physical therapy.
• While I know there are some who have not received an increase, and I understand many who did saw a small increase, nearly 6,000 of you did have some level of pay increase in the last two years.

Let’s compare FY23 (the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2023) to FY22 (the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022):

• In FY22, our salaries, wages and benefits expense total spend was $993 million.
• In FY23, our salaries, wages, and benefits expense total spend was $1.0257 billion.
• That’s a year-over-year increase of $32.7 million. What accounts for this increase? We ended FY23 with 98 more employees than we ended FY22 with and implemented the increases noted above.
• This does not include pay for contract employees. That expense for FY23 was $118 million, which was much more than the budgeted amount of $54.3 million.

Later this year, Human Resources will roll out compensation guidelines based on national best practices and related job description updates, which are in development. Along with performance evaluations, these are intended to pay staff accurately and competitively based on the market, their performance and qualifications, and the work they’re actually doing. Of course, in cases where a pay increase is justified, funds are required to do it! (See above.) Stay tuned for more information when these projects are ready.

These are large numbers that can be daunting. However, I am confident that we CAN achieve the goal of budgeting a merit and market pool of funds. 

How do we do it? It will take all of us focused on increasing revenues and controlling expenses. Just like for your own checkbook, the formula is simple: The more our revenues increase and expenses are controlled, the more ability we have to invest in the organization.

Some of the many key efforts along these lines include:

• improving patient flow and throughput
• greater efficiencies in all areas
• greater scrutiny of every expense – especially if it is an expense that does not generate revenue
• growth of every source of revenue – grants, patient care, philanthropy
• improved clinical documentation
• increased collections through revenue cycle improvements
• higher reimbursement rates that are a result of negotiations with payors

No matter what your role or job is here at UMMC, you are a key part of the formula toward meeting our financial goals. The healthier we are as an organization, the more we can all do together for A Healthier Mississippi.