After concerns were raised about the Westside Community Health District’s future in November, their future faces more uncertainty after Monday’s board meeting when it was revealed that the district has a cash flow of seven months to continue its operations.
The news comes as the District is dealing with Measure A not passing. The ballot measure - which would have allowed the District to impose a parcel tax of $69 per parcel to fund ambulance services - did not pass during last year’s general election after it didn’t receive the required two-thirds approval votes within Stanislaus and Merced counties.
Board President David Varnell said he was not surprised about the District’s circumstance, citing increased inflation costs as one of the contributors to the situation. Additionally, he mentioned that the current volume of medical transportation is one of the District’s biggest concerns.
Varnell also said that the district can’t run the risk of reducing the number of its ambulance personnel.
“There’s no way to be able to run the district without cutting the ambulance with the money we’re making,” Varnell said. “I don’t think there’s any way possible to get around the fact that in the seven months from now if we do not have a full plan in place financially to turn this thing around, I don’t know how that’s going to be unless we find something.”
Leo Landaverde, the District’s finance manager, told the Westside Connect that the District is currently using a cash modeling tool that has a cash flow forecast that is 12 months ahead, predict possible shortfalls in revenue and work through any scenarios the District may deal with.
During Monday’s meeting, Landaverde mentioned that if the District doesn’t find a way to address its cash flow situation, it may run out of money by the middle of September based on current projections.
The District has spent $208,607 in payments within the past couple of months. Landaverde mentioned that the District’s six bank accounts had an ending balance of $680,525 in October, $546,891 in November, and $471,918 in December last year.
Landaverde told the board that the District’s revenue of $647,000 in December was a by-product of the volume of their medical transportation. In that month, there were 135 medical transportations from the Westside Ambulance.
Landaverde also told the Connect that medical transportation and tax revenue are the District’s two biggest sources of revenue.
The District is paying off a five-year working capital loan they received last year with an annual payment of $110,000.
Kenneth Helms, the board’s vice president, said that the District should consider reducing the amount spent on expenses or finding another funding source.
“The way I see it, there’s either two ways, either we come up with some ways to cut enough of our expenses or to come up with another funding source,” Helms said. “If not, we need to start talking about how we’re going to turn the West Side ambulance to the county (Stanislaus).”
Varnell said he wants to find a way to discuss the District’s situation with both Gustine’s and Newman’s city managers.
There will be a more in-depth discussion about the matter and what steps the District should take in its next board meeting.
Navtej Hundal is a freelance journalist in Stanislaus County.
