As Bend-based St. Charles Health makes cuts in response to budget shortfalls, the nonprofit has continued its rare-in-Oregon practice of paying board members for the advice they offer.
In the most recent tax year available, board members at St Charles received between $20,000 and $30,000 per year, in exchange for reportedly working for between two and five hours per week. Thirteen board members were cumulatively paid $296,500 in 2015 – with Republican gubernatorial candidate Knute Beuhler receiving $20,000 of that total.
Payments made in 2016 and 2017 are not yet available, but according to information the hospital has shared, its finances have worsened over the past year. St. Charles is cutting staff and tightening its belt as it worries about declining revenues.
That’s among the details we’re uncovering in this sixth story in The Lund Report’s fifth-annual in-depth look at all of Oregon’s hospitals.
The figures underpinning these examinations come from multiple sources, including state public records, bond filings, databases and nonprofit tax returns:
Our earlier stories in this series dug into Legacy Health, the Adventist and Tuality chains, Salem Health and Santiam Hospital, PeaceHealth, and two large Catholic chains with a rural presence – Catholic Health Initiatives and Trinity Health. Future stories will look at the state’s remaining major hospitals.
St. Charles Health
St. Charles Health can trace its roots to 1922, when the Sisters of St. Joseph established a Catholic hospital in Bend. In the 95 years since, the nonprofit has grown to operate four Central Oregon hospitals, and, as of 2010, it has severed its formal ties to the Catholic Church.
The most recent tax records available for St. Charles Health cover the 2015 calendar year, when President Joseph Sluka received total compensation of $831,554 -- $622,962 in base pay, $96,891 in retirement and deferred compensation, $36,037 in nontaxable benefits, and $75,664 in other forms of compensation.
Sluka’s predecessor, James A Dingle, received $996,793 that year – base pay of $86,253, $94,961 in bonuses and incentive pay, $6,644 in retirement and deferred compensation, $3,486 in nontaxable benefits, and $805,449 in other forms of compensation.
Management of St. Charles’ four hospitals is divided between two people: Bob Gomes is CEO of Bend and Redmond, while Jeanine Gentry was CEO of Prineville and Madras in the most recent tax year available. Gentry has since left for a hospital in Idaho, and John Bishop replaced her in 2016 – but his compensation details are not yet available.
In 2015, Gomes’ total compensation was $473,754: $330,011 in base pay, $36,926 in bonuses and incentives, $49,654 in retirement and deferred compensation, $31,016 in nontaxable benefits, and $37,771 in other compensation.
The same year, Gentry’s total compensation was $289,973: $206,737 in base pay, $22,551 in bonuses and incentives, $35,538 in retirement and deferred compensation, $29,706 in nontaxable benefits and $25,668 in other forms of compensation.
St Charles – Bend
St. Charles Bend’s 2016 finances looked rosy, with margins up and charity care spending down. But 2017 has not been nearly as inspiring, officials say, and that has prompted cuts and a scaling back of some ambitions.
A new $66 million tower is still coming, but plans have been scaled back and adjusted to reduce future costs and anticipate a financially leaner future. It will occupy three stories instead of four, and will include less so-called “shell space,” which would have been left partially incomplete until future needs arose.
Finances, year 2016:
- Total margin: $43,122,179, up 247.4 percent
- Net patient revenue: $515,859,650, up 5.9 percent
- Charity care: $7,122,635, down 16.5 percent
Size and scope, 2016:
- Available beds: 261, unchanged from 2015.
- Inpatient days: 64,995, up 2.6 percent
- Emergency room visits: 34,775, up 8 percent
- Outpatient visits: 377,130, up 0.3 percent
Revenue sources:
- Medicaid: 9 percent
- Medicare: 35 percent
- Commercial insurance: 42.5 percent
- Self-pay: 2.7 percent
- Other: 10.9 percent
St Charles - Madras
In January 2013, St. Charles became owner of a money-losing Madras hospital, formerly known as Mountain View, and promised to spend $10 million on improvements. This year, St. Charles - Madras unveiled some of those promised changes, with the opening of a new emergency department, and improved surgical and imaging offerings.
Finances, year 2016:
- Total margin: $227,277, down 87.1 percent
- Net patient revenue: $27,174,795, up .7 percent
- Charity care: $611,628, down 15.1 percent
Size and scope, 2016:
- Available beds: 25, unchanged from 2015.
- Inpatient days: 2,517, down 1.9 percent
- Emergency room visits: 13,311, up 2.4 percent
- Outpatient visits: 32,108, up 62.4 percent
Revenue sources:
- Medicaid: 26.6 percent
- Medicare: 32 percent
- Commercial insurance: 24.3 percent
- Self-pay: 2.3 percent
- Other: 14.9 percent
St Charles - Prineville
In 2015, St. Charles opened a new 62,000 square-foot campus to house its hospital. The redesign includes primary care and specialty care clinics, and is part of an effort to build team-based, integrated patient-focused care. Individual physician offices were eliminated in favor of central work stations.
Finances, year 2016:
- Total margin: $3,252,082, down 29.2 percent
- Net patient revenue: $31,377,629, up 9.1 percent
- Charity care: $679,073, down 27.3 percent
Size and scope, 2016:
- Available beds: 16, compared to 25 beds in 2015.
- Inpatient days: 2,273, up .9 percent
- Emergency room visits: 12,167, up 5 percent
- Outpatient visits: 63,445, down 8.8 percent
Revenue sources:
- Medicaid: 17.9 percent
- Medicare: 40 percent
- Commercial insurance: 24.6 percent
- Self-pay: 2.7 percent
- Other: 14.8 percent
St Charles - Redmond
Redmond’s hospital opened in 1952, when the town became the first in Oregon to create a public hospital district. For decades, the district remained public, with tax support and a community-elected board.
That changed in 2001, when the Bend and Redmond hospitals joined to form Cascade Health Services, which ultimately changed its name to St. Charles Health. In 2006, St. Charles Redmond opened a $30 million addition.
Finances, year 2016:
- Total margin: $11,718,297, up 26 percent
- Net patient revenue: $86,735,682, up 4 percent
- Charity care: $2,107,218, down 14 percent
Size and scope, 2016:
- Available beds: 48, unchanged from 2015.
- Inpatient days: 7,406, down 3.5 percent
- Emergency room visits: 20,405, up .1 percent
- Outpatient visits: 123,861, up 6 percent
Revenue sources:
- Medicaid: 18.9 percent
- Medicare: 30.4 percent
- Commercial insurance: 36.1 percent
- Self-pay: 3.1 percent
- Other: 11.4 percent.
Reach Courtney Sherwood at [email protected].
