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UHD hopes surgeon translates into profits

By Staff | Feb 14, 2011

Jeff Lang

The search is over.

United Hospital District has hired a new general surgeon.

UHD Administrator Jeff Lang told board members on Tuesday he had received a signed contract from Dr. Frederick Foss of Boise, Idaho.

“He really wants to be in a small town. It’s a perfect fit,” says Lang. “We interviewed a bunch of candidates. He’s going to be a wonderful addition to the facility and community.”

Lang says the interviewing process involved “numerous sessions” over two days.

Foss is expected to begin his duties in mid-March or early April.

Filling the general surgeon’s position will help address a revenue shortfall.

Lang estimates not having a general surgeon for six months meant a gross revenue loss of $700,000.

In a financial summary report through December, year-to-date net income is $783,332. That amount is 60 percent under budget and 22 percent below last year.

“There are a number of variances that contributed to lower net income, and we’ll address those,” Lang says.

One area seeing a decrease was outpatient registrations.

Figures show year-to-date outpatient registrations in 2010 were 10.4 percent below budget and nearly 4 percent behind the previous year.

The total number of registrations in 2010 was 47,125, compared to 48,988 in 2009.

For 2010, net income was estimated to be $1.3 million. This year, it has been budgeted for $1.429 million.