Monday’s Nov. 17 Hospital Commission meeting focused once more on reports with a positive report of October finances that had been mentioned during the Nov. 12 workshop. CFO Cynthia Asbury repeated that the charge capture for October had been $1 million with a profit of $318,000. She said the total bank account balance ending Oct. 31 had been up $61,000.
Asbury also broke down that Medicaid and Medicare remain 25 percent of payments with 40 percent being commercial and 10 percent self-pay. She also noted that the expense for the replaced HVAC system was not included in October and would instead apply to November. When asked she estimated the cost at $90 – $100k.
CEO Tiffany Means’s report included news that the Radiology and Pharmacy surveys with the AR Department of Health had gone well and passed. She noted the HVAC replacement, as well as flooring installation in the 1927 building scheduled for mid-November, power outages and the call light circuit board being blown after the facility had been struck by lightning, saying the hospital has had a “lot of things going on.”
She continued to say that the structure is “concerning.” That 1927 building is not patient area and is used for administrative offices. Means requested a structural risk assessment of the building noting cracks in the walls widening and the foundation weakening. Means said they cannot ignore the issues with the building.
Chair Sandy Martin asked if staff can be moved if needed and Means replied that the hospital is looking at the 1967 building and where administrative staff could move to if needed. Martin said they should start with having the building inspector visit and that she would schedule it.
On a brighter note, Means said that National Rural Healthcare Day is this Thursday, Nov. 20 and the hospital had invited the community, council, and state reps to visit the hospital and see the changes made. The event is to be from 9 – 11 a.m.
Other Items
- The hospital received approval for a trauma grant for a total of $19,000 that will be used to purchase new equipment.
- The surgical area of the hospital has been revamped with a five-bed infusion suite and a Simulation Education Lab which all will be viewable during the hospital visit on Thursday.
- Purchase of panic buttons for the front desk and nurses stations were approved.
- In the HR report, three RNs, three registration clerks, one medic, and one respiratory therapist were onboarded in October with two more RNs and one lab tech and one contract nightshift nurse added in November. This marks the last contract employee for the hospital.