Hospital troubles don't reinforce public confidence

In a community that rightly takes pride in its reputation as a regional health care hub, these have not been the happiest of times with regard to its two most prominent medical institutions. Multimillion-dollar settlements involving St. Francis Hospital and Columbus Regional Health have exposed some troubling cracks in their operational foundations.

Columbus Regional has agreed to a $35 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve a three-year-old whistleblower action involving the John B. Amos Cancer Center. The suit alleged that five physicians working for Regional Oncology LLC "systematically" overcharged Medicare, Medicaid and other federal funds.

(A similar suit against Dr. Jack Tidwell and the former Tidwell Cancer Treatment Center was dismissed.)

A Justice Department investigation concluded that between 2006 and 2013, physicians associated with Columbus Regional "submitted claims to federal health care programs for services at higher levels than supported by the documentation," and between 2010 and 2012, "for radiation therapy at higher levels than the therapy that was provided."

St. Francis, where a $30 million "accounting error" revealed last year cost 65 employees their jobs, has been ordered to repay the federal government at least $21.4 million for noncompliance with federal regulations involving U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development financing of the hospital's $252 million expansion.

A HUD audit report released last week concludes that St. Francis "submitted inaccurate financial information, improperly disbursed mortgage proceeds, incurred an unauthorized liability, and subjected mortgage funds to bank sweeps." The report also cited potential conflicts of interest involving hospital trustees and administrators, noting that some either worked for, or served on the board of, Columbus Bank and Trust.

Those overlapping hospital-bank allegiances, we are obliged to note, are hardly subtle.

Columbus Regional has entered into a five-year "corporate integrity" agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services. HUD concludes that St. Francis must focus on "improving internal controls" to ensure "accurate and complete reporting of financial information." HUD also suggests, perhaps ominously for some, the possibility of civil action, if needed, against "responsible parties."

A significant, if not necessarily mitigating, circumstance: Neither the allegations nor any conclusions involved "the quality of patient care or the patient services delivered" at either the Amos Cancer Center or St. Francis. Whatever financial or administrative manipulations might have been going on, people with the responsibility of providing health care were doing their jobs.

That's commendable, but it doesn't fix things that are obviously broken. In institutions as important to a community as these, it's not just the literal kind of health that matters.

This story was originally published September 8, 2015 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Hospital troubles don't reinforce public confidence."