T&D TOP 10 OF 2022/No. 1: RMC-MUSC partnership top 2022 story

On Oct. 1, the two entities embarked on a proposed partnership agreement to better serve local health care needs.

The scope and historic nature of the proposed RMC/MUSC partnership make it the top story on The T&D’s list of the top 10 stories of 2022.

MUSC is considering a 99-year agreement under which it will lease RMC from both Orangeburg and Calhoun counties. Both counties own the hospital and have given their legal stamp of approval on the partnership.

MUSC spent the final months of 2022 doing its due diligence learning about the RMC from proverbial head to toe.

Due diligence has included the state of RMC’s finances, information technology infrastructure, physician contracts and compensation, compliance and real estate.

MUSC officials said a final decision about the partnership may not be finalized until early 2023. Following due diligence, a full review by the MUSC Board of Trustees will be completed before the finalization of the agreement. The new name of the hospital would become MUSC Health Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties.

In the interim, the 17-member RMC Board of Trustees was dissolved and a new 11-member board was appointed Oct. 1.

The partnership is touted as improving RMC and providing it with a number of resources including clinical, educational and research programs with an aim at improving care and the financial outcomes of the hospital.

The partnership was first announced in June during a joint meeting between hospital board members, MUSC officials and Orangeburg and Calhoun county leaders.

A  budget proviso passed by the S.C. General Assembly allows MUSC, within its own budget, to enter into the partnership with RMC.

The proviso was spearheaded by Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, and was prompted when she attended a presentation by RMC to the S.C. House Ways and Means Health Care Subcommittee.

The hospital, which had experienced about a $36.2 million loss in the 2021-22 fiscal year, had asked for help from the state to the tune of about $36 million, with the majority being in facility improvements.

The state did not approve the funds, leading to Cobb-Hunter to suggest the proviso in an effort to ensure RMC remained solvent.

“I’m so impressed with the leadership and capacity of the new board members and find their interest in transparency and accountability to be a refreshing change,” Cobb-Hunter said. “They have made it quite clear that their commitment is to doing whatever it takes to make RMC the best that it can be. We are all grateful for and most appreciative of their willingness to step up and take on this gigantic task.”

“With the right leadership, in my view, the future is bright and the sky is the limit,” Cobb-Hunter continued. “The partnership has the potential to create opportunities for the hospital to expand its health care options for rural residents, conduct research and develop a health care workforce.”

“When it is all said and done, MUSC Health Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties will not only survive but thrive in ways never imagined before,” Cobb-Hunter said.

Highlights of the RMC-MUSC partnership publicly released have included:

• MUSC would enter into a 99-year lease with RMC.

The details of the lease, including how much MUSC will lease the hospital for, are currently under negotiation.

Revenues obtained from the lease will mostly likely go back to the hospital’s building and infrastructure improvements.

• MUSC would commit to a multiyear investment in RMC.
• The Medical University Hospital Authority Board, the governing body of MUSC, would oversee RMC’s finances.
• The RMC board would be responsible for quality oversight, medical staff accreditation and community engagement.
• All employees at RMC would be retained.
• All employee physician contracts would remain the same as long as they are within fair market range.
• RMC employees would become employees of the Medical University Hospital Authority/Medical University of South Carolina.
• Contract providers that currently provide services to RMC will most likely remain the same unless their contracts expire and the hospital renews them.

The newly formed 11-member board held its first meeting Oct. 19 and has quickly gotten to work.

Highlights of the work are:

• The hospital’s strategic planning committee said it would do a deep dive into RMC’s services with a focus on lines that have not been profitable. The committee also said it plans to review the hospital’s marketing plan with intention of re-evaluation.

The committee said it would further examine the proposed project to open a medical clinic in Santee. Plans were to resubmit a new RFP (request for proposal) to gauge additional interest in the project.

• The board has elected officers and set about to review third-party contracts to better determine if they should be maintained, renegotiated or terminated.
• The board has set meeting stipends.
• Hospital administration has kept the board abreast of the due diligence conducted by MUSC of the RMC to include financial, information technology, physician contracts and compensation, compliance and real estate.
• The new board members also received an orientation on the history, structure, mission and vision of the hospital. Trustees also signed a number of documents, including statements regarding conflict of interest, code of conduct and confidentiality.

In addition to the board of trustees, the ordinance mandated 18-member Constituency Advisory Board established to provide input and policy recommendations to the newly formed hospital board. The panel held its first meeting in November.

The meeting was focused on setting up the board’s structure and the election of officers.

The Constituency Advisory Board does not have governance power or authority related to RMC.

Officers elected are: Calhoun County Administrator John McLauchlin, chair; CASA Family Systems Chief Operating Officer Labrena Aiken-Furtick, vice chair; and Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College Dean of Healthcare Preparation & Workforce Dr. Stefanie Gadson-Brown, secretary.

The ordinance passed by both county councils (Orangeburg and Calhoun) designated a number of agencies to serve as members of the CAB.

The advisory board consists of representatives from the Orangeburg Area Mental Health, the Tri-County Commission on Alcohol & Drug Abuse, the South Carolina Department of Social Services, the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice, the South Carolina Department of Disabilities & Special Needs, Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, Denmark Technical College, Claflin University, HopeHealth, South Carolina State University 1890 Research & Extension, Orangeburg County and Calhoun County school district superintendents, the Orangeburg County Development Commission, the YMCA-Orangeburg County and Family Health Centers.