ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 17, 1995 TAG: 9512150047
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: G-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Barter
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY
In this season, there is a sense of need, even urgency, to think of good things, like the "service credit" program at Danville Regional Medical Center.
Danville Regional's project isn't designed to make money or lower expenses. After a year and a half of operation, it is just about breaking even and may never do more than that.
The mission of the Danville experiment is to help people keep their self-esteem.
Fancy that!
"Service credit" allows people who can't pay their hospital bills to work off part of their debt.
"It's a volunteer concept," said program coordinator Monroe Patterson. "People work when they can. We don't use the program to eliminate regular jobs."
Rather, service credit workers are considered a bonus to the hospital employees, making jobs easier for the regulars, Patterson said.
This barter program grew out of the convergence of an inspired administrator, a coordinator with a social work background and a young Franklin County woman who says she was "raised to take responsibility for my debts."
Each year, Danville Regional, a not-for-profit, 350-bed hospital near the North Carolina line, writes off about $31 million - equal to 13 percent of its revenues - as bad debt.
"Service credit" is unlikely to make a noticeable dent in that amount, says Patterson. What the program can do is make people feel better.
"People used to come in and say they'd like to pay their bill, but they didn't know how they could," he said. Until spring 1994, there was no alternative way to cancel a debt.
By then, Danville Regional Administrator Larry DePriest had become intrigued by a barter program at a hospital in Willimantic, Conn. About the same time, Carol Taylor, a Ferrum native who had migrated to Danville to attend Averett College, found herself with a huge medical debt.
Although Taylor, a paralegal with a Danville law firm, had access to health insurance, she had gambled that she wouldn't get sick and didn't buy it. When she had to have an emergency gallbladder operation, she was left with bills of more than $10,500.
Taylor couldn't afford to pay her bill, and she didn't qualify for any state aid, so she asked if the hospital had a program that would allow her to trade work skills for debt. It took several telephone calls and a letter from Taylor before the program kicked off, and Patterson, who has 22 years with the hospital, was named to direct it.
"I couldn't have walked away from my debt," Taylor said.
Taylor at first tried to work 15 hours a week at the hospital while she continued her regular job. Eventually, she had to cut back to 10 hours or less. When she completes the program in the spring, she will have paid back about $2,000. The hospital will write off the remainder of the debt.
Someone who signs up for the barter program must submit an employment application like any other worker. If references check out, the person's skills are matched to various areas of the hospital and a work schedule is drawn up. Workers have had assignments in everything from lawn care to medical records.
Barter participants are paid $5 an hour, and their wages are subject to the usual tax deductions, Patterson said. The net pay goes to offset debt to the hospital. After a maximum of 18 months of barter work, a participant is considered paid up, and what's left is forgiven.
"We know we aren't going to make any money," Patterson said. "But this is an opportunity for people to retain their dignity. People who want to do something about their bills ought to have a chance to."
Danville's program has gotten worldwide attention. The New York Times wrote about it, and a stateside Japanese television station even beamed a story on the project to Japan. All told, Patterson has had more than 150 calls from news outlets and other medical centers.
So far, 22 women and four men who owed from $200 to $20,000 have participated in the program, and 12 have completed it. Service workers have included people who had no insurance and some who used the credit to pay off a copayment or deductible amount. A few were able to work off an old debt and erase a bad credit rating.
The program also has had one interesting side effect, Patterson said. One participant who had been unemployed found a full-time job after her hospital barter work inspired her to take a computer class and upgrade her skills.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 linesby CNB