Mitchell County Hospital Health System’s Board of trustees met Monday night with president Curt Frasier absent on vacation. Vice President, Pat Gray, called the meeting to order.
In the foundation report, Hospital Administrator, David Dick, said that the Aware Team will meet again this week and will set a July date for a community meeting. Dick said that at the meeting the Aware Team plans to go over the results of a community health assessment taken in the city of Beloit.
Dick said that there has been a good response so far for the Foundation Annual Golf Tournament on August 1st. He said 20-25 teams usually participate in the tournament, and 14 teams and 9 sponsors have signed on so far. Dick said that he expects that to grow quickly. He said that Darren True has done a good job in collecting items for the auction, and that the tournament usually brings in around $14,000 to be put toward a hospital project. This year’s project has not yet been designated.
Dick then moved to discussing an update on a federal patient satisfaction survey. Dick said that he will be writing an article to go out to the community on what the survey will be like, and what to expect. He said that the questions will go to a resource provided by the government that will give information regarding quality from questions answered by a random sampling of patients. He said that this article will make the community more comfortable and receptive to potential calls that they may get regarding their care.
On the Electronic Medical Record Progress Report, Dick said that he is still currently in stage one, but that he is working to get documentation that the criteria has been met. He hopes to be done with the first stage by July.
Dick reported that with the exception of 1 file, all folders from the Faculty File Servers are back in the possession of the hospital after being recovered. The one file that has not been recovered is a spreadsheet that the hospital has an older version of, but Dick said that they would still like to have it recovered. He said that the recovery company has not yet returned virtual servers, such as those for mail and an SQL server, which have been recovered. Dick also said that he is looking at software that will prevent another loss of files from happening. Dick said that when he went to Hewlett Packard, they told him that the files would not be recovered. He said that the company that recovered said that they were confident it would work, and up until he heard that they were recovered, he thought that it was just a sales pitch. He also noted that insurance will not be paying for the recovery because of the way the files were lost, and that he will try for a refund of some type from Hewlett Packard. Dick said that the recovery cost $77,000.
Dick said that there will be a candidate coming for an interview for the Physical Therapy opening on Wednesday. He said that this will fill the only vacancy, and that he will keep the board updated.
Dick noted that the sprinkler system in the Resident Care Center has been installed in every room, and that the federal codes have been met.
Dick recognized the following for their years of service to the Mitchell County Hospital Health Systems: Misty Thompson, for 5 years in the Laundry Department; Kim Johnson, for 5 years in the Dietary Department; Michelle English, for 5 years in Acute Care; Tina Goodaker, for 5 years at the Resident Care Center; Cherie Simmons, for 10 years in Acute Care; Becky Koster, for 10 years in Materials Management; Cindy Taylor, for 40 years in Acute Care; and Kris Hansen, for 45 years in the Lab.
In the Finance Committee Audit Selection, Dick recommended that the board keeps the auditors from last year, and open it up for bids next year. The board approved that recommendation.
Eldon Koepke, CFO, added board Vice President, Pat Gray, as a signor for the First National and Guarantee State Bank accounts, and removed former board members Nancy Nitsch and John Cashatt.
Dick then moved the board discussion to the recent state legislation regarding the concealed carry of guns. He said that the state allows for a 6-month exemption if applied for before July 1, after that 6-month period, they have the option to apply for a 4-year extension to work on security measures, or to allow for concealed carry in the building. Dick said that when he talked to Curt Frasier, board president, he said that he was unsure if the hospital would be able to make the necessary security measures, and thought that it may be a better idea not to apply for any exemption. Dick recommended applying for the 6-month exemption so there would be more time to sort out details, and review the legislation. The board approved that recommendation, and Dick said that he will write a resolution for the 6-month exemption.
Dick then took time to address a problem with speeding traffic in hospital and emergency room parking lots. He said that they do not allow for thru traffic, and that the traffic that comes through anyway moves too quickly for the 10mph speed limit. Dr. Kris Kimple mentioned that he saw a delivery truck speed the wrong way through a hospital drive by the grocery store on Monday. Dick said that he would be getting a radar sign and a motion camera, and will try to turn in vehicles that speed through hospital property according to state laws.
Dick handed out this year’s policies and procedures for risk management for the board’s review. He said that nothing has changed from last year, and that he recommends that the board look it over and vote on it at the next meeting. The board agreed to that recommendation.
In the financial report, CFO Eldon Koepke included that there were 75 hospital admissions in May, and 4 births. He said that the average acute stay was over 4 days, and that the Geri. Psych. average patients per day was almost 9. He noted also that there were almost 34 patients per day in the nursing home. Dick mentioned that the hospital has been full for the past week. He also said that “there have been a few times this month where there has not been a bed in the house.” Dick also mentioned that though sequestration has affected the hospital’s bottom line, Koepke’s report has shown that there was more cash flow in May.
Koepke also said that he will be purchasing 4 new copy machines. There will be 2 large copiers that can print 55 copies per minute, and 2 smaller machines that print 30 copies per minute. He said that he is looking at the Ricoh brand because of a recent price reduction and a good maintenance agreement. Koepke said that he had budgeted $13,000 for just the 2 larger copiers, but that with the reduced price, he can get all 4 for around $12,000. The board approved this move.
The board then went to a 10-minute executive session to discuss personnel.