Comment: Has WMC started planning for the financial worst case?

As I said earlier, I'm looking forward to Thursday night's 6:30 presentation by Mayo Clinic Health Systems at the Steyer Opera House.

One reason is that I'm interested to hear what--if anything--Mayo officials have to say about the hospital's current financial condition.  We have reported that the hospital has run an operating loss of $825,000 so far and might approach a $1 million operating loss for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

That's a lot of red ink.  It's not something you want to keep doing.  So how does Mayo plan to turn around the current financial conditions?

There haven't been a lot of ideas so far suggested by the Winneshiek Medical Center Board of Trustees.  The discussions so far have centered around how other similar hospitals are also losing money.  That might be the case, but it doesn't help change the situation.  Neither does complaining about how Gundersen Clinic isn't supporting the hospital to the extent hospital board members would like.

So it's time for Mayo Clinic Health Systems to earn the money WMC pays it for the Management Services Agreement.  What does a profitable future for Winneshiek Medical Center look like?