Hospital optimistic on ending year ‘on a good note’

Eureka Springs Hospital Commission’s Sept. 15 meeting was mostly filled with regular updates on the hospital’s progress and financials, but commissioner comments at the end of the meeting delved into federal rural hospital funding. Half of the federal money will be distributed through the state and the other half through grants for which the hospital can apply.

Hospital CEO Tiffany Means said the hospital would need to be assertive that the money would be needed for the area hospital. Chair Sandy Martin mentioned that the first half of the funding is distributed evenly between the states and the deadline for applying for that funding is Dec. 1.

Martin said that money would be given in spring 2026 and the second half of funding from the Fed and parameters for that grant funding is not available yet. She also said that they are still waiting on what parameters the hospital must fulfill to be eligible for the funds distributed by the state.  

In the CEO report, Means told the commission that the final quarter will be financially tight, basing the budget on cash flow with weekly forecasts. She explained that every department will need to justify all expenses and non-essential purchases, projects, and contracts until the end of the year and the hospital would be focusing on budgeting for critical services. Means also said the hospital would review overtime and agency contract labor use as well as cross-train employees to “maximize flexibility.”

She ended saying that these changes are not about long term growth “It’s about ending the year on a good note.” She said that the hospital had done 203 call backs for patient reviews, of which six were negative and 197 were positive.

The CFO report continued on the topic of cost saving measures with Cynthia Asbury saying the hospital is monitoring supplies within the ER department and that stocking supplies runs around $2,000 a month. She mentioned that there has been an increase in outpatient referrals for radiology. She said the hospital ran at a loss for the month, but that with the onboarding of additional staff to reduce the amount of contract employees there had been overlap in staff costs.

Asbury provided the commission with financial collection and discount policies as well as information on the bad debt guidelines from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She noted these are not new policies and they have been implemented since 2022.

Other items:

• HR Director Jodi Edmondson told commissioners 24 staff members have been onboarded, 14 of those clinical and 10 non-clinical since May. Some of those are replacing contract labor.
• Clinical Nurse Executive Velvet Shoults spoke positively of new staffing as well as decreased time of stay for ER patients.