Trios Health hears from two consulting firms

Trios Health is a step closer to hiring a consulting firm to help reverse its operational and financial course.

The seven-member board that oversees the Kennewick-based public hospital district heard pitches from two firms this week.

The board didn’t make a decision about whether to hire a firm — or which of the two it liked best — but that could come at the its next meeting April 28.

The two firms in the running are Quorum Health Resources and Huron Healthcare.

The board is divided about whether a firm is needed.

The four-member majority seems to support the idea, saying Trios is in financial trouble and outside help is needed.

The three-member minority has reservations, including about how the process that led to bringing in the two firms was handled.

The board in a split vote in February authorized the formation of a three-person ad hoc committee appointed from within the board’s ranks. All three committee members — Don Campbell, Kathy Davidson and Rick Reil — are part of the board’s new majority, which coalesced after last fall’s election.

The motion said the group would “discuss the merits of contracting with an operations analysis consultant, identify possible firms, develop a request for proposals and return to the board with a recommendation.”

The committee developed and sent out a request for proposals, with multiple firms responding.

It then winnowed the list down to two, recommending to the full board at its March 31 meeting to bring in Quorum and Huron for presentations.

After a tense discussion, the board agreed in a 4-3 vote at that meeting to hear the pitches.

Marv Kinney, Campbell, Davidson and Reil voted in favor, and Wanda Briggs, Mike McWhorter and Jim Mefford voted against.

Briggs, who’s part of the minority, said the committee overstepped in sending out the request for proposals and narrowing the field of firms.

“The (past meeting) minutes do not show that the ad hoc committee was authorized to make the decisions it did,” Briggs said during this week’s board meeting.

Briggs also feels the state open meetings law was violated, saying the committee shouldn’t have made the important decisions it did behind closed doors.

The only remedy Briggs sees is to void the committee’s work so far and start over with the full board’s participation, she said.

Kinney, the board president who’s part of the majority, said the committee acted properly and within its authority to send out the request for proposals and narrow down the pool of responding firms.

As for the need for a consulting firm, “one of the other board members (likened it to) a good check-up. That’s what we’re trying to do,” Kinney said.

Trios Health is the Tri-Cities’ only public hospital district.

It’s celebrated some milestones in the last couple of years, including the opening of the new Trios Southridge Hospital and Trios Care Center at Southridge.

But it also experienced a cash crunch that made headlines, prompted some layoffs early last year and revealed division on the board about how to move forward. Some board members advocated for bringing in a turnaround firm, but the idea didn’t garner enough votes at the time and instead consultants were hired to help in some specific areas.

If the board decides to hire Quorum or Huron, the company would work in the district for six months.

Huron estimated its services would cost about $730,000; Quorum’s estimate is about $960,000.

The request for proposals said Trios needs services including “performing operational, financial and strategic assessments” and help to “organize and implement improvement plans.”

“These assessments will identify a range of options that (the district) can undertake to improve its operations and financial situation, long-term viability and future growth,” it said.

This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 9:40 PM with the headline "Trios Health hears from two consulting firms."