Business

The Bartlett Regional Hospital Board of Directors wants to stick with Quorum Health Resources as the management provider for Juneau’s city-owned hospital facility. But members have a backup plan if an agreement with the company can’t be reached.

The board voted unanimously last night (Tuesday) to enter into contract negotiations with Quorum, the hospital’s management services and supply purchasing provider for the past 23 years. If those negotiations break down, the board will turn to another management provider – PeaceHealth.

Quorum, PeaceHealth and Alliant Management Services were the three finalists that responded to a request for proposals issued by the board. It’s the first time in 14 years that the management contract has been put out to bid.

The decision to stay with Quorum came after two consecutive nights of meetings, including presentations on Monday by all three finalists, and more than five hours of talks in executive session.

Board member Robert Storer led a committee that put together the RFP and communicated with potential bidders. He thanked the board for its hard work, and the handful of hospital employees who attended both nights of deliberations.

“I hope the message that you all get out of this is that we took our responsibility very, very seriously. It’s very important, and hence the long discussions,” said Storer.

The next step will be negotiating the details of a new contract with Quorum. Under its current deal the company hires the Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officers for the hospital. During the presentations on Monday there was some talk of the board filling those positions.

Quorum is paid between 350- and 400-thousand dollars a year for management services. The actual amount is tied to the Consumer Price Index. The current contract expires at the end of the year.

Bartlett Regional Hospital is owned by the City and Borough of Juneau. The board is appointed by the CBJ Assembly, which will ultimately need to approve the contract.

No decision from Bartlett Regional Hospital’s Board of Directors on a new management contract.

The board met yesterday (Monday) for more than eight hours – the last three in executive session – without reaching consensus. It’ll take the issue up for further discussion tonight (Tuesday) at its regular monthly meeting.

The first five hours of last night’s special meeting were dedicated to presentations from the three finalists for the hospital’s management contract – current manager Quorum Health Resources, along with Alliant Management Services and PeaceHealth.

It’s the first time in several years that the board has solicited bids for the contract. Quorum’s current deal expires at the end of the year.

Board Chair Kristen Bomengen declined to say whether a decision is close. Tonight’s meeting starts at 5:15 p.m. in the hospital boardroom.

Click here to read our story from yesterday.

For the first time in 14 years, the board of directors for Juneau’s Bartlett Regional Hospital is using a competitive bid process to select a management company.

The board tonight (Monday) will hear presentations from three firms that responded to a June request for proposals. Tennessee-based Quorum Health Resources has managed the city-owned hospital since 1997, and is seeking a new contract. It’s joined by Kentucky-based Alliant Management Services and PeaceHealth, headquartered in the Seattle area.

Last year, Quorum came under fire from some Bartlett employees, who said the local management team fostered “a culture of fear” at the hospital. But Bartlett Board Chair Kristen Bomengen says the criticism wasn’t the driving force behind the decision to use a competitive bid process.

“Once you’ve worked with one company for so many years, it’s only appropriate to go out and re-bid. And so, in any case we would have been going out to receive more statements of interest,” Bomengen says.

All the bidders have decades of health care experience. Quorum is the largest hospital management company in the country, and operates the Sitka Community Hospital in addition to Bartlett. Alliant’s hospitals are clustered in Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. And PeaceHealth has six hospitals in the Pacific Northwest, including Ketchikan Medical Center.

Under its current contract, Quorum is paid between 350-thousand and 400-thousand dollars a year. The amount is tied to the Consumer Price Index. But Bomengen says the board won’t just look at cost when deciding on a management company.

“We want to make certain that we have management advice from people who are tracking what changes we’re going to be looking at in the health care industry. We would like to see an understanding of Juneau’s circumstances,” says Bomengen. “We’re interested in the kind of expertise that they’ll be able to deliver. One of the things we do through our management services contract is a lot of our purchasing and we try to get the best value for medical equipment and ongoing medical supplies.”

All three companies have representatives in Juneau for today’s meeting, which starts at 3:30 p.m. in the hospital boardroom. Bomengen says an hour and 15 minutes has been set aside for each presentation, which will be open to the public. The board may go into executive session to discuss financial aspects of the bids. An offer is tentatively scheduled to be made to one of the companies at the end of the meeting.

Juneau’s Capital Office no longer sells office supplies.

“We’re just moving our business in a different direction,” says owner Ted Quinn.

He says the 65-year-old company will concentrate on interior design and furniture for professional offices statewide.

The office supply on Commercial Boulevard near Costco has been quietly phased out. Capital Office opened in 1946, but in recent years the supply side had grown smaller and smaller.

Quinn says it’s tough to see it go.

“It was originally Capital Office Art and Engineering. Then we opened a store, Bits and Pieces, in the Nugget Mall, for doing frames and a lot of art supplies, paints, you name it,” Quinn says. “So we’ve seen things evolve over time; markets have changed. It’s kind of sad to see it go, but it just wasn’t cutting the mustard.”

He says supplies are cumbersome and a lot of work for not a lot of revenue. There are lots of outlets now for pens, paper, toner, mailroom, and other supplies, including big box stores and the Internet.

The company owns an interior design business in Anchorage and an office furniture store in Fairbanks. Last year Quinn opened a new retail showroom in downtown Juneau that includes lighting, high-density filing, and asset management for larger companies that don’t want to warehouse product. He says it’s just a better niche these days.

The company is also the statewide dealer for Steelcase and American Seating office furniture.

Tough times in store for Alaska’s nonprofit sector…

For years, organizations in the state have paid the bills by relying on government grants, as well as contributions from corporations and private foundations. But those revenues are drying up, according to Anchorage-based nonprofit consulting firm Foraker Group and the University of Alaska’s Institute of Social and Economic Research.

Last year, they published their second report on Alaska’s nonprofit economy. Casey Kelly has more.