Union General Health System CEO Kevin Bierschenk addressed members of the Rotary Club at Pinnacle Bank on Oct. 2, presenting both the achievements and challenges they’re facing.

Union General Health System operates two hospitals, two nursing homes, nine clinics, a dialysis center, and an ambulance service. The system’s nine clinics handle 67,000 visits annually, while emergency departments at both hospitals combined see more than 32,000 visits per year.

Bierschenk stated Medicare Advantage plans are the hospital’s most significant challenge. He stated that before COVID, roughly 15-16% of patients used Medicare Advantage plans. Now, it is around 51%.

“Medicare Advantage plans pay roughly 90% of what Medicare pays, and Medicare pays us 87% of what our cost is,” Bierschenk explained. The math creates a difficult financial picture for the hospital system, which employs 1,250 people and generates an $344 million economic impact to the region.

The financing issue has particularly affected the system’s two nursing homes in Union and Towns County, which operate at 70-80% capacity. Bierschenk said many Medicare Advantage plans won’t cover services like wound care and rehabilitation in nursing home settings.

Even with these financial pressures, he states that they are going to continue expanding services, and recently completed a $50 million construction phase that expands operating rooms from four to eight and adds 11,000 square feet of space. The project includes a new medical office building and upgrades.

Union General has made attempts at implementing AI in clinical charting and for stroke detection. When patients receive CT scans for potential strokes, their AI automatically reads the images and sends them to Northeast Georgia Medical for confirmation, providing results within minutes.

Bierchenk goes on to state that childcare remains a critical need. The hospital’s daycare serves 131 children at full capacity, with a waiting list of 70 kids. Hospital employees receive priority placement, and Bierschenk noted previous employees have left because they couldn’t secure daycare spots,  thus making this a priority.

The CEO said the hospital is exploring options for its wellness center, some would require approximately $4 million in upgrades.
“I’d love to get rid of it, it’s in terrible condition.” Bierschenk said he has approached county officials about potentially taking over the wellness center so that Union General can better focus on their ongoing and future projects.

Bierschenk emphasized that Union General’s challenges are not to dissimilar to rural hospitals nationwide. Estimated 423 rural hospitals are at risk of closing based on financial conditions, with 20 located in Georgia. “Healthcare is expensive. What’s going to shut down services is people not using them, low reimbursement, and liability insurance.”