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Morgan Memorial Hospital gross patient revenue was $136,000 over their budget in February and $717,000 over budget for the year, Judy Gilbert, treasurer, reported to the Hospital Authority at their March meeting last week. Gilbert said that no numbers were out of line. The hospital recently outsourced collections and billing to HMR, which was not budgeted for this year.

She also reported the hospital saw a net gain of $37,000 in the month of February.

The Hospital Authority met in executive session off the hospital premises on February 26, just one day after their February meeting at which they unanimously passed the budget.

"We met to talk about the budget," said Fred Perriman, Chairman of the Hospital Authority, in a later interview.

Another topic discussed at the March meeting was that the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta would become the tertiary partner to Morgan Memorial Hospital.

"It is a big brother to a small hospital," said John Miliken, authority member. "It’s like a mentoring program."

The agreement allows an access to a number of opportunities for Morgan Memorial, such as advice from experts, assistance in training and reviewing of policies, said Chris Bonham, CEO.

"I think it’s going to be good for the hospital," Bonham said. "It is a sharing of knowledge, not a financial arrangement."

Morgan Memorial Hospital became a critical access hospital in 1999, a designation that requires them by federal law to designate a tertiary partner.

Hospital
doctors and managers joined members of the Hospital Authority after the meeting for training after the meeting to learn about new HIPAA (health insurance portability and accountability act) upgrades.