Eureka Springs Hospital Commission voted unanimously on Monday, June 16, to hire CEO candidate Tiffany Means with an annual salary $230,000 and a to-be-negotiated benefits package. This decision comes after months of hospital and council joint workshops about the future of hospital management as well as offers earlier in the year by Dr. John House to take over management of the hospital through his own management company. The $230,000 figure is $95,000 more than previous full time CEO’s salary of $125,000 when she was hired in 2021. Start date is set for Aug. 1.
Means most recently has been director of emergency service at Northwest Health System in Springdale, Ark., and interim director and consultant at Methodist Health System in Dallas; Quorum Health/American Health Systems in Waukegan, Ill.; Northwest Health System in Bentonville; and Hollywood System in Hollywood, Calif.
In the financial report, CFO Cynthia Asbury told commissioners that the hospital had seen a decrease of $384,000 for the month of May which she attributed to lower census and billing out with claims and reimbursements. She explained since that money flow falls 15 – 20 days after a claim is submitted and a lower census in March and April means that May’s deposits were lower.
On a brighter note, she said that billable revenue for the month of May was $814,000 which was higher than last May. She took a moment to note that last year the hospital still had physical therapy services and surgery billable revenue.
Asbury also addressed a statement by an alderman’s statement during council’s last meeting that most visits are from tourists rather than locals. She said that while the hospital observes an increase of visits during peak weekends, “It’s important to clarify that the local community [comprises] the significant majority of all visits to the hospital.” She continued saying that 85 percent of ER visits in the month of May were locals and that the hospital’s “service area” includes portions of Madison County and [southern] Missouri. The commission asked that they track the ratio of local and tourist visits in the future.
In the Chief Nursing Report, Lana Mills reported that there had been 207 ER visits in May, up from 129 in April. The hospital is also looking into the purchase or lease of a non-emergency transport vehicle. Martin said she had spoken with a company out of North Dakota purchasing a mobile clinic vehicle that could double in service as a non-emergency transport. She explained that the vehicle would be handicapped accessible, be able to be equipped in a variety of ways and cost between $200,000 – $225,000.
Hospital Chair Sandy Martin said there is a grant through the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, due at the end of July, that the hospital could apply for through the city. If the grant is not received, the hospital could enter a lease arrangement or leased purchase of the vehicle. The commission agreed unanimously to seek the grant funding for the vehicle.
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