Eureka Springs Hospital CEO Tiffany Means provided a facility report to commissioners during their regular meeting on Monday, Oct. 20 covering infrastructure needs going into 2026. Means explained the hospital is facing “urgent infrastructure challenges” due to its age with buildings constructed in 1929 and 1967. She said a 2023 facility assessment made prior to the Rural Emergency Hospital Designation had also identified infrastructure needs the commission would need to address.
Means gave several examples including a point in the past month where the HVAC in-patient areas failed. She said the pipes were so bad that when a company attempted to put $1,000 worth of freon back into the system it failed to stay in. She said bids to replace units for that section of building were in the $90,000 range and that installation was paused pending city permits approving rooftop installation. She also covered plumbing issues and problems with some outlets failing to work while the hospital was on generator power during the electricity outage on Saturday.
At the end of the meeting, Commission Chair Sandy Martin talked lightly on the subject of the hospital’s budget. Between the need for infrastructure improvements, grants, and uncertainty of how Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements will be affected next year she told commissioners to prepare for a long budget workshop. She suggested that commissioners and staff come up with a priority list of items the budget will need to cover
Means’ report did have higher notes with her recapping her first Arkansas Hospital Association meeting where speakers talked about work force challenges and keeping rural hospitals viable. She said the hospital had passed CLEA lab survey and secured full licensure through Sept. 30, 2027.
Covering the hospital’s application for the Rural Health Transformation Grant, Means said the hospital had managed to put an application together in the 10 days the state had allocated. The application was requested to help give the state committee applying for federal funds for the next ten years to collect ideas for their own applications. Martin said they’d send their application to state representatives so the hospital’s efforts would not go unnoticed, concerned that bigger lobbyists would overshadow them.
Means also provided the HR report which remained positive. She gave accolades to staff efforts during the power outage and covered patient volume over the past month. Means said the hospital is 96 percent staffed with full and part time employees, saving $150,000 by end of year. She also said that 100 percent of callbacks during September were positive, and she read a recent positive google review.
Finance Director Cynthia Asbury covered the need for the hospital to achieve the fullest possible charge capture for services given during patient visits. She said the total charge capture for September had been $841,000 and said it would need to be closer to $950,000 monthly. She told commissioners that the hospital was improving its documentation for charge capture and that September had been up 12 percent compared to August.
Asbury also mentioned the hospital is closely monitoring Medicare reimbursements noting that it if the government shutdown continues, that the hospital may see claims placed on hold.