Following are statements from Minden Medical Center’s CEO, Keith Cox, and from the MMC Board of Governors.
Keith Cox
Dear Members of Our Community,
I am writing to share an important update about the financial challenges Minden Medical Center (MMC) is currently facing.
Like many healthcare institutions across the country, we have experienced rising operational costs, workforce shortages, and reduced reimbursement rates. These pressures have created significant strain on our ability to sustain the level of care and services you expect and deserve.
Despite these challenges, our commitment to providing safe, high-quality care to every patient remains unwavering. With the support our Management Company (AHM), we have been successful in procuring significant changes in reimbursement in two programs. First, we were able to access payments through Louisiana’s Directed Payment Program (DPP). This program requires the payment of periodic assessments to participate, but in the long term it will be positive for MMC.
We became delinquent on the assessment part of this program but have addressed the arrearage. This put us behind on many of our supply vendors causing our leaders to negotiate plans to address this shortage going forward.
The second improvement in reimbursement was a legislative change which created a new classification of hospitals in the State called Rural Look-a-Like facilities. We share this designation with six other facilities across the State. These changes significantly improved the rate of pay we receive for taking care of the Medicaid population. Before, we were paid about 75 percent of our cost, leaving a loss on every patient we cared for. These legislative changes moved the rates to a level where we will be financially solvent going forward.
We are actively engaged in continued strategic changes to our operations, pursuing cost-saving measures, and seeking additional funding sources to ensure the long-term stability of our hospital. Our leadership team is working closely with staff, partners, and local stakeholders to identify responsible solutions that protect essential services.
Transparency is important to us. We believe our community deserves to understand both the realities we face and the steps we are taking to address them. Your continued trust and support mean more to us than ever.
We will continue to keep you informed as we move forward. Thank you for standing with us and for being an essential part of our hospital family.
Sincerely,
Keith Cox
CEO
Minden Medical Center
MMC Board of Governors, Melissa Madden, Chairman
Minden Medical Center Board of Governors cares about our patients and the Minden community. We support our strong group of employees including doctors nurses technicians maintenance cafeteria workers and the administration. We’re thankful for their hard work and dedication.
However as a board, we are extremely disappointed with ownership, Allegiance Health Care. Minden Medical Center is one of 11 rural hospitals owned by Allegiance and we are not alone in our current position.
We simply ask for Allegiance to be transparent and financially accountable. We have made requests in the past for routine financial information and have been denied access. We sincerely hope that changes immediately.
The MMC Board of Governors is dedicated to serve the people in the Minden community who deserve the absolute best in healthcare. In so doing we call upon our local state politicians, Governor Landry our federal politicians including our Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and even President Trump to lean in to support our efforts in demanding financial transparency and accountability from our ownership.
Our priority remains quality patient care and a sustainable future for Minden Medical Center.