The Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital Board of Directors on Wednesday approved a $537M budget for fiscal year 2019 that increases allocations for indigent care, funds raises for employees, includes new positions and continues Phoebe’s investment in facilities and technology.
 
“Though Phoebe continues to be impacted by massive federal funding cuts, the lack of Medicaid expansion in Georgia and burdensome increases in drug costs, our budget reflects our commitment to our patients, employees and community,” said Brian Church, Senior Vice President & CFO.
 
The budget includes numerous items to help recruit and retain high-quality nurses and to allow nurses more time to focus on direct patient care.  It funds additional staff in Phoebe’s Intensive Care Units, adds more Certified Nursing Assistants on general medical floors, includes $250,000 in nursing scholarships and expands our nurse extern program which provides on-the-job experience to nursing students.
 
The budget predicts Phoebe will provide more than $78M in charity and indigent care to patients in Dougherty, Lee, Mitchell, Terrell and Worth Counties in the coming year. It also supports multiple quality improvement programs and includes $32.5M in capital expenditures for renovations, an operating room upgrade and equipment purchases such as a new MRI, additional AvaSys Telesitter patient monitoring devices and new beds and furniture for patient rooms.
 
“Through sound financial practices and conservative management, we have been able to maintain positive operating margins which allow us to re-invest our revenue into programs and equipment which improve services to our patients and improve benefits for our employees,” Church said.
 
In FY2019 Phoebe will pay nearly $900,000 in property taxes and voluntary payments in lieu of taxes to Dougherty County.  “Our board members take our responsibility to our patients extremely seriously.  They are at the center of all decisions we make,” said PPMH Board Chairman Dr. John Culbreath.  “We also take our responsibility to this community seriously, and work to make sure Phoebe continues to be a good corporate citizen as we build on this organization’s long legacy of providing quality healthcare to our friends and neighbors.”
 
Phoebe will continue to invest in our employees in FY2019 by setting aside $7M to fund merit pay increases and performance bonuses.  The hospital’s estimated employment will be 2,919, a 3.8% increase over the Full-Time Equivalents for FY2018.  Annual payroll and benefits total $255M. The Georgia Hospital Association estimates Phoebe’s annual economic impact at $1.28B to our community.