Schneider board discusses funds
Published: January 26, 2012
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ST. THOMAS - The Schneider Hospital board's first 2012 meeting Wednesday included preliminary discussions about how the medical center will cope in the territory's dismal economic climate, but the board took few actions.
The board members discussed more aggressively pursuing available grant funding and asking the V.I. Health Department to rally on Schneider's behalf.
After hearing of last year's Schneider Hospital Gala's earnings - $78,000 - board chairman Cornel Williams asked the board to consider a "broader discussion" of possibly creating a Schneider foundation to generate more fundraising opportunities.
The board discussed cutting ties with the former R.L. Schneider Hospital Foundation account that had owed the hospital $668,000 and starting from scratch with a new foundation.
Williams said a foundation has the power to liquidate various donations, such as property, into funding sources.
The foundation was created in 2004 to collect money used to fund the construction of the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute.
A federal and local investigation into the hospital's finances found many discrepancies in the account.
The board discussed the hospital's struggles during the V.I. Water and Power Authority's two-month water crisis that began in mid-November.
Schneider relied on water it bought from private water trucks during the shortage, and the board commended the uninterrupted care provided during the shortage.
Schneider's taps never went dry.
In other business, the board advised staff to draft a report about feasible alternatives to a rising problem: the inter-mixing of pediatric patients, who include mothers and children, and teenagers in the behavioral unit.
The hospital has not identified space to deal solely with teenage patients.
"We may have to put them in the adult unit," said board secretary Judith Richardson.
In addition, the board discussed trying to find funding for three chillers to revamp the hospital's air-conditioning system.
Williams said pricing must be thoroughly researched.
Three chillers that are 12 years old could cost about $700,000, including installation.
Last summer, Schneider spent $305,000 on repairs to its system.
"Those are some expensive Band-Aids," said board member Miles Stair.
Williams, Richardson, Stair and board members Vincent Samuel, Dr. Murli Daswani, Greta Hart-Hyndman and Mulchand Alwani attended the meeting.
Aldria Wade was excused.
- Contact reporter Michael Todd at 714-9104 or email mtodd@dailynews.vi.
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