Excitement was in the air at the Eureka Springs Hospital Commission meeting Monday night as commissioners accepted the long-awaited operating leadership role for the community hospital. On Feb. 1 the former operator, Allegiance, released hospital control back to the commission.
At no time in the last year have there been more community members attending a hospital meeting as Monday. The commission is putting efforts into decisions that will increase healthcare efficacy while reducing the amount of referral services by providing healthcare under one roof.
Commissioners remodeled a vacant city-owned building now serving as its meeting space and office for Alliance Management Group, and made notable purchasing decisions, to the tune of half a million dollars, to bring the hospital infrastructure up to standards.
The commission and management have said they intend to provide more ancillary services in-house such as laboratory, radiology, surgery, and billing.
While the commission has made significant strides, it received a report from Darrell Parke of Alliance that there is still an ongoing “dog fight” preventing a smooth transition. Parke described several vendors who provided services or products to the hospital which will have little or no business with the hospital now due to the lack of timely payments by Allegiance in the recent past.
Commissioner Michael Merry asked if vendors were told that the hospital is no longer under Allegiance management, Parke replied yes, but vendors are slow to accept that assurance.
Parke said that some vendors saw it as “the hospital” before and “the hospital” now – not understanding or willing to consider that management has changed.
Parke said that with the new efforts, this will resolve itself as bills are paid on time.
Attributing to further love lost, Parke reported that Allegiance was behind on medical equipment rental expenses amounting to about $66,000 in radiology and other medical equipment. Commissioners were informed by Parke that much of the radiology equipment is still on site and must be removed at Allegiance’s expense.
With that, the commission received organized and vetted recommendations from staff and management for the purchase of new and advanced medical equipment.
Lab Director Tina Adams and the Radiology Director Amy Brandt guided the commission through the list of equipment needed and the bids provided by medical vendors. New medical lab equipment will include a hemochron analyzer, a blood/gas analyzer, and a chemistry analyzer totaling about $128,000. The new radiology equipment will include a Canon digital 80-slice CT scanner with Toshiba ultrasound and portable x-ray totaling about $373,000.
“I say let’s do this,” Chair John House said. Brandt said the hospital currently serves about 30 percent of radiology needs within the county. Commissioners approved the purchase of new state of the art radiology equipment.
Overall, with $501,000 approved for new capital expenditures for medical equipment, plus properly trained staff, the percentage of the public within Carroll County who utilize the Eureka hospital is expected to grow, specifically in the areas such as lab work, ultrasounds, coronary angiography, lung scans, and bariatric surgery.
Negotiations are still in process to engage Dr. Dadone to the hospital staff. Parke stated that adding human capital is the cornerstone of hospital services, and he has received many phone calls from a variety of physicians, from podiatrists to surgeons, who want to come to ESH to provide services to the community. “This is all good for us, I’m excited,” Parke said.
There will be a workshop regarding hospital bylaws on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m., with two voting meetings to follow: one at 4 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. at 25 Norris Street.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, March 16 at 25 Norris St.