Reflecting on the financial challenges of the past year, Star Valley Health CEO Dan Ordyna and COO Mike Hunsaker reported improvements for the hospital with healthcare facilities in Afton, Thayne and Alpine, in addition to services that extend to Kemmerer and Bridger Valley.

“We discovered an accounting adjustment that we needed to make, and it caused us to pump the brakes on our growth initiatives,” Ordyna said Monday in an interview on the Weekday Wake-Up. “And, I’m happy to report that we’re in a much better position now than we were almost 12 months ago.”

RELATED: DAN ORDYNA AND MIKE HUNSAKER RADIO INTERVIEW –

He noted the hospital maintained the budget in the first six months of the fiscal year.

“We’re right at our budget,” he said. “That’s not to say that we still don’t have significant challenges in the healthcare industry that we have to address, but we’re very pleased with especially the level of service that we’re providing to the community, and the  quality of care, and how people feel when they visit Star Valley Health, and some amazing providers   and nurses and support staff.”

Ordyna continued, “It really is an organization that comes together to make sure that we’ve got a sustainable pathway forward.”

He also noted the billing process has been improved as part of the changes in the past year.

“The other issue that we struggled with, was collecting from self-pay accounts.

And so, we’ve done a much better job of getting bills out faster, letting people know of what they owe,  if they do owe something and working with them.” He said the cooperation has included zero interest payment plans.

“I think it’s just a matter of being very focused on making sure that people understood what their financial commitment was because, you know, one of the big challenges that we have as an independent hospital is, like every other hospital out there,  having to  collect these gigantic deductibles and coinsurance. And unfortunately, healthcare is becoming  unaffordable for people.”

He added, “It’s very clear that affordability is the biggest crisis right now in America. That’s why there’s so much national and state discussion about how we are going to manage  going forward with insurance companies getting out of the exchanges and the premiums going through the roof.”

All of this is impacting Star Valley Health, and we’re just having to manage it.

COO Mike Hunsaker added that one of the steps was paying down short-term debt. “And, now that’s paid off Hunsaker said. “And we’re building cash reserves now, which is going to help us from a sustainability standpoint.”

He concluded, “I think that’s a very positive thing. If you can get rid of your debt and keep your cash and build your reserves, that’s really important. And that’s what we’ve been focusing on.”