Patient satisfaction at River Region Medical Center compared favorably to hospitals of the same size in Jackson during the second quarter of 2009, CEO Vance Reynolds said Wednesday.

Citing figures updated quarterly with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Reynolds said 75 percent of patients who responded to survey calls following in-patient visits reported a favorable experience. Totals for the 372-bed hospital on U.S. 61 North ranked ahead of the national average by 10 points, Reynolds said, and behind most available first-quarter rankings for St. Dominic Hospital by just two points. River Region rated ahead of Central Mississippi Medical Center, at 57 percent, and Baptist Medical Center, at 69 percent.

Favorable ratings related to visits for heart attacks, pneumonia, congestive heart failure and in-patient surgery averaged about 97 percent, Reynolds said, outpacing the three others up to 18 points. Questions asked on the surveys relate to government standards for proper procedure during each type of visit, Reynolds said.

Patient loads at the slightly larger Jackson facilities affect ratings, statistically. Baptist has 564 beds, followed by St. Dominic with 535 and CMMC with 429.

“If you look at the services we provide, not only do we basically offer all services to this community, the services we provide compare to the other facilities” Reynolds told members of the Vicksburg Lions Club.

River Region Health System remains the dominant provider of hospital, clinical and other medical services in the area, though CMMC and other providers have been increasing their presence. The local corporation was created in conjunction with merging the formerly separate ParkView Regional Medical Center, Street Clinic, Vicksburg Medical Center and Vicksburg Clinic and building the hospital on U.S. 61 North, which opened in 2002.

Statistics on satisfaction are compiled by an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of its administration of the two government-run health programs. A month after he was hired as CEO in December 2008, Reynolds said favorable ratings would mean more federal reimbursements for the hospital and that surveys up to that point needed improvement.

Earnings for Tennessee-based Community Health Systems, the hospital’s parent company and the nation’s largest publicly traded medical chain, rose almost 19 percent in the third quarter compared to last year, a company release said Wednesday. Two acquisitions completed in 2009, two in Arkansas and another in Pennsylvania, were credited for the spike. Operating revenues went up 12 percent for the quarter, to $3.09 billion. Hikes in rates for all types of medical services provided by its hospitals, including River Region, were credited for a 7 percent rise in revenues during the year’s opening quarter.

Salaries and benefits paid by River Region totaled $90 million last year, Reynolds said, adding the hospital employs about 1,200 people, with 90 active medical staff — less than the 1,600 employees and 110 staffers listed on its Web site. Those categories as a percentage of revenues went down in 2008 over 2007 because of personnel cuts, according to company financial reports. 

Reynolds said the hospital is stable in terms of staffing and ownership for the foreseeable future, adding the hospital has added an anesthesiologist in the past month and plans to hire an internist and a vascular/general surgeon next month.

“Today, I’ll tell you there’s no plans to sell this hospital,” Reynolds said. “This hospital is doing better than it’s ever done.”

Improved communication with patients — specifically, finding out about problems up and down the process of medical care — remains a goal of his administration, Reynolds said.

“There’s a perception out there that bigger is better. People here go to Jackson because it’s better. You know where people in Jackson go to? Memphis or Birmingham. You know where people in Birmingham go to? Atlanta, and I’m not kidding,” Reynolds said. “It’s my goal to help change that perception.”

More than 41,000 households and about 117,000 individuals from Mississippi counties along the Mississippi River and in the South Delta, as well as western Hinds County and Louisiana parishes along the river, are listed as River Region’s patient base.

More than 11,000 were admitted to the hospital last year and 34,000 used the emergency room, Reynolds said. River Region is one of 122 hospitals in 29 states owned, leased or operated by Community Health Systems.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com