RITZVILLE, Wash. – Cathlene Wright goes to the East Adams Regional Healthcare Clinic regularly.
So when she saw a WARN notice, shared on a Ritzville Facebook page, “I fell on the floor.”
Wright has regular appointments at East Adams, as do many other people in Ritzville. It’s loss, could be devastating.
“I’m not only concerned for myself, I’m concerned for everybody else here in this town,” said Wright.
The hospital serves Ritzville and its surrounding area, providing care to about 2,500 people.
According to the WARN letter, East Adams Rural Healthcare has lost $13.4 million over the last several years.
“We have about a 13.4 million loss that no one was really aware of,” Interim CEO of East Adams Todd Nida said.
He also explained the lack of regular audits is behind the surprise.
“We’re in a situation financially, through actions of prior administration and not completing our required state financial audits since 2021,” Nida said.
But Nida also explained that efforts are underway to catch up on audits, with reports for 2021 and 2022 released earlier this November.
That audits revealed several material weaknesses, including issues with internal payment controls.
One audit uncovered fraud involving an employee who made fraudulent credit card purchases and deposited vendor checks into personal accounts, totaling more than $30,000.
“There are processes happening currently to try to recover that loss from fraud,” Nida said.
The $30,000 loss is a fraction of the $13.4 million deficit, so NonStop Local asked if Nida was aware of any additional fraud investigations in this area.
He confirmed that there was an investigation underway.
“As far as for fraud, I cannot speak to whether there was fraud or not because that’s currently still under investigation,” Nida said.
And when asked if the fraud investigation was in relationship to the 2023 case, he said it was “related to a past administration’s actions.”
NonStop Local confirmed with the Washington Office of the State Auditor that additional fraud investigations and an accountability audit are underway.
Todd Nida was appointed to the Interim CEO position in August.
“The main thing for us as the admin team that is new here is trying to turn things around,” Nida said.
In the WARN notice, Nida pointing to several ways that East Adams Rural Hospital is attempting to address the financial crisis, and stay operational longer than 60 days.
One of them, to work with Washington State Senator Mark Schoesler.
“One of the options at the hospital district is considering as a rural emergency health designation by the federal government,” Schoesler said. “Now it’s one option and it doesn’t cost the state any money, but it would give our hospital a choice.”
A choice and a chance, that Nida says he hopes the community will give East Adams Rural Healthcare.
“Just give us a chance,” Nida said. “We’re asking for a chance to get through this.”
A chance to help the people in Ritzville, who say they need to have a hospital close.
“We need help,” Wright said. “Definitely, someone needs to step in.”
A committee meeting is scheduled for Saturday at the Legion Hall in Ritzville. Representatives from the hospital will address community questions about next steps and potential layoffs.
As for other rural hospitals, the USDA saying:
“Between 2005 and 2023, 146 hospitals in rural U.S. counties closed or were converted to non-acute care (meaning they stopped providing general, short-term, acute inpatient care). Of the 146 hospitals, 81 shut down completely. The others underwent “conversion,” a term that describes when a hospital stops providing inpatient services but still offers services such as primary and outpatient care or treatment of emergency cases. Although the number of rural hospital closures and conversions slowed in 2010, 2015, 2017, and 2021, it started to rise again after 2022. Financial stress is the primary driver of rural hospital closures. Contributing factors include smaller size, lower occupancy rates, and greater vulnerability to economic fluctuations than urban hospitals. The Federal Government has provided financial support for rural hospitals through various programs, including USDA’s Community Facilities Program, and a recent USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) study found that hospitals receiving Community Facilities Program funding had a higher probability of survival than those that did not.”
