And folks that has been the 500 pound gorilla in the room that most informed observers see but for which there has been no media reporting. Today that changes and to set things up we need to hop into the Wayback machine and set the dial for March 3, 2014:
Singing River Health System likely to collect $88 million less on bills than previously anticipated ~ April Havens
Singing River Health System leaders went before the Jackson County Board of Supervisors this morning to say they will likely collect $88 million less on patients’ bills than they expected.
System representatives met with the board during an executive session under “potential litigation” and spoke to the media afterward.
The county’s legal team said the system discussed its bond status with supervisors in the meeting.
For a five-year period ending in 2012, the hospital can expect to collect $61 million less than previously anticipated, CEO Kevin Holland said after the executive session meeting. For 2013, that figure is $27 million.
“We have a substantial amount of patient balances in our system … on past services rendered,” Holland said.
And of course this was mostly discussed in a secret, out of the taxpaying public’s eye under the guise of an executive session to discuss potential litigation. To the extent SRHS hasn’t sued the former audit firm KPMG and crystal balls foretelling the coming retiree suits against the system are the stuff of fantasy, I’m struggling, with the benefit of hindsight, to understand why this discussion was held in an executive session. As I’ve previously opined, KPMG was not sued because there was too much dirty laundry potential. Before I explain why it helps to understand why the above story is nothing more than SRHS/Jackson County Supervisor political spin: Continue reading “A Cornerstone of the Singing River Financial Disaster: Management perpetrates an accounting fraud”