At the end of fiscal year 2016, UFJPI and UFJHI merged into one organization, UFJPI. During the ensuing months, we worked to define and clarify the organizational structure. With the pending retirement of Nancy Frashuer in January, her position was separated into two new roles: vice president for operations and vice president for finance, with the senior associate dean for clinical affairs retaining the position of president and CEO, and the dean remaining as chair of the Board of Directors.
Corporation officers were elected, with Dr. Andy Godwin elected vice president and Dr. Steven Cuffe elected secretary and treasurer. Dr. David Guzick appointed Bill Ryan enterprise chief financial officer, with responsibilities to UF Health Jacksonville and UFJPI. In December, Tim Reinschmidt was promoted to vice president of finance and his previous position, director of finance, was eliminated.
North update
At UF Health North, several services moved from shared space to unique space in order to provide improved and expanded patient access. This included orthopaedics, OB/GYN, occupational medicine and gastroenterology. Also, neurology and neurosurgery combined to form a neurosciences service, co-locating to a new space. This left cardiology to expand its services into space previously occupied by neurology.
The medical office building continues to grow. From July 1 through the end of December, volumes averaged 3,228 patient visits per month, for a total of 19,365. And while there has been some slowing in new patient visits due to expanding numbers of established patient visits, the new patient visits represent approximately one-third of all visits. The leading five services for actual patient visits are cardiology, orthopaedics, OB/GYN, gastroenterology and general internal medicine. These services account for 48 percent of all patient visits (9,366).
The payor mix continues to be 58 percent commercial, 31 percent Medicare and 7 percent Tricare. All space in the building is either occupied or claimed. There may be an opportunity for the College of Medicine to acquire an additional 2,500 square feet this spring. If so, that would present an opportunity to expand some additional services.
The overall performance for UFJPI for the first six months of fiscal year 2017 has been good. At the end of December, the variance to budget is a positive $8.1 million. This includes a one-time payment for First Coast Advantage. But even without that, the practice plan is ahead of budget $2.9 million year-to-date. The expectation is this margin will continue through the rest of the fiscal year.
We have begun the budget process for fiscal year 2018. There will be a big emphasis on recruiting faculty for the north campus to support the new bed tower scheduled to open in May. With an inpatient service, the opportunity for more complex surgeries and obstetrical services will greatly expand the clinical practice. Several new service lines are in development, including women’s health, breast services and spine services. And, hopefully, a pain service will be re-established.
