A pilot partnership between River Valley Health System (RVHS) and the state to transition the Portsmouth mental health facility to private operation has brought increased patient admissions while lowering the average length of patient stay as well as overall costs.

Monday, January 31, 2000

A pilot partnership between River Valley Health System (RVHS) and the state to transition the Portsmouth mental health facility to private operation has brought increased patient admissions while lowering the average length of patient stay as well as overall costs.

The program was initiated five years ago, with RVHS assuming operation of the former Portsmouth Receiving Hospital in April 1995.

During the five years of the agreement, the state provided subsidy funding to help maintain the employee base at existing levels. As state employees retired or resigned since 1995, they were replaced with RVHS-based employees.

On the April 1 anniversary, subsidy funding will be discontinued, said Terry Vanderhoof, RVHS CEO.

The RVHS mental health facility in Portsmouth currently has 60 employees, with the majority already holding RVHS employment status. Of the remaining employees, some will be eligible for early retirement and others will be offered transfers to state-operated facilities elsewhere in Ohio.

The remaining employees will be given the opportunity to apply for RVHS positions at the mental health facility, Vanderhoof said.

"The transition of the Portsmouth facility to private operation was the vision of (the late) Speaker Vern Riffe," he explained. "I think by any standard, we have accomplished his vision through this conversion."

RVHS already has ownership of the Portsmouth facility, which was previously approved by the Ohio Legislature.

"The former Portsmouth Receiving Hospital was slated for closure five years ago," Vanderhoof explained. "It is a credit to the excellent management RVHS medical staff, administration and other staffers brought to the partnership that the facility not only remains open, but it is now successful."

State-funded employees received letters last Monday explaining their options during this final transitional phase, Vanderhoof said.

"Over the next several weeks, we will work with these (26) employees to help them with their options," he stressed. "The whole process should take several weeks."

In addition to the Portsmouth mental health campus, RVHS has an acute care hospital in Ironton and operates five MedCare Centers in Ironton, Coal Grove, Burlington, Wheelersburg and Aid.

RVHS is an affiliate of The Ohio State University Hospital network.