Ballad's press conference is about to start.

CEO Alan Levine is starting things off this morning with some background on "what Ballad Health was intended to do."

Rural hospitals are struggling across the country, he said, and Ballad Health was "designed to be safety net" for a region about the size of New Hampshire.

"We've been frankly bucking the trend," he said, crediting Ballad health's business model for being able to sustain rural hospitals and open rural hospitals.

Levine is referencing the approaches hospitals across the nation are taking to combat revenue loss during the pandemic.

He says that hospitals are staffed based on volume.

"There's been a dramatic, catastrophic decrease in volume, which means there is not enough volume to support the workforce that we have," he said.

"A system like Ballad, he said, whatever cash these health systems lose now, it will be very difficult for them to recover that cash later," he said.

Ballad has chosen to analyze priorities over the last two weeks, Levine said, announcing a "combination of steps" in order to fill the need of patients and take care of staff. That includes looking through the federal stimulus bill.

Levine said Ballad can't have a one-size-fits-all approach.

He's encouraging patients to continue making payments if they can, but Levine said collection action will be halted for the next 90 days.

Current litigation is suspended, patients are encouraged to reach out to make arrangements.

Levine said that RNs, LPNs, respiratory therapists and nursing assistants are on the front line, and Ballad is guaranteeing those full-time shifts for those employees.

He is encouraging health professionals to stay here instead of "going to hotspots."

"If you leave, you can't come back," he said, adding that those going to the hotspots would need to be quarantined upon their return.

Levine is addressing the employees who have had their hours cut over the past few years.

He said those employees would benefit more from the federal stimulus bill than to remain on the payroll at Ballad.

"There's a group of team members that will benefit enormously from the support Congress has provided," Levine said, adding that employers pay back state unemployment benefits.

"Those team members will make more money by being furloughed," he said.

The Tennessee team members won't have to apply, Ballad has handled that, Levine said. They will have to go online weekly and validate that they are still unemployed.

Team members on furlough will receive full health and pharmacy benefits from Ballad.

Ballad is also waiving out-of-pocket premiums, Levine said.

You can be recalled at any time, he added.