Houston Healthcare System board meets

The Houston Healthcare System Board of Trustees held their first meeting of the new year Wednesday, Jan. 25. It was also the first board of trustees meeting for Houston Healthcare System’s chief operating officer, Charles Briscoe.

“I again want to thank everyone for this opportunity,” said Briscoe. “The team here has just been wonderful and supportive. My family and I excited to be a part of such a great community.”

Briscoe was hired in the fall of 2016 and set to start Jan. 2. Chairman Sonny Watson said Briscoe started in early December due to Chief Executive Officer Cary Martin taking medical leave.

“I want to publicly thank Mr. Briscoe,” said Watson. “His commitment to this hospital is beyond belief. He stepped up to the plate for us having to start early, and again I can’t thank him enough. We are excited to have him on our team.”

During the meeting, board members were provided the monthly figures and volumes for the month of November 2016. Chief Financial Officer Sean Whilden said the operating loss for November was $2.2 million. Gross patient revenue for Houston Healthcare was $60 million. Whilden said Houston hospitals wrote off a total of $6.1 million of gross charges to bad debt, indigent and charity care.

The systems volumes for November 2016 include the following:

• Inpatient admissions: 1,229

• Emergency department visits: 6,505

• Med-stop visits: 1,248

• Surgeries and endoscopies: 1,248

• Outpatient procedures: 7,207 (totals include rehab, MRI, interventional radiology, CT and mammography)

• Emergency medical services (EMS) trips: 2,162

• Births at Houston Medical Center: 146

HHJ News