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May 5, 2008
Hospital Board of
Trustees meets in regular session
The Ste. Genevieve County
Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees met in regular session on Monday, April
28.
The board toured the ER construction project, and Tom Keim, hospital CEO,
said board members were impressed with the construction progress and
expressed excitement with what this project will mean for the community and
the hospital.
Inside the ER, stud walls are in place and drywall is going up. Outside, the
brick work continues on the retaining walls. Due to recent wet weather, the
ER open house has been pushed back to mid August. Once the new ER opens, the
existing main parking lot will be repaved and could be out of commission for
up to six weeks.
“We’re making plans and looking ahead to see how to accommodate our patients
and visitors to minimize the inconvenience,” said Keim.
A new nurse call system is almost in place and the new nurses’ station on
the Med-Surg unit is slated for completion the end of May. The Women’s
Health and Childbirth Center has spruced up its nursery with fresh paint and
new cabinets.
The board also heard an update on physician recruitment.
“We’ve had a flurry of activity recently as several OB/GYN candidates have
expressed interest in our hospital,” said Keim. “Two candidates have already
interviewed and toured our facility and another three to four have been
scheduled. Even though this is a priority, we really want to make sure that
we have a good fit for the community and our Women’s Wellness Department. In
the interim, we’re working to have full-time OB coverage, and of course our
nurse practitioner, Angela Misuraco, is working full-time in our Women’s
Wellness office.”
The hospital’s Information Systems Department informed the board that by
year’s end all physician clinics will have electronic medical records (EMR)
online.
“This is quite an accomplishment for our hospital system,” said Keim. “EMR
makes medical records very portable and gives the entire healthcare team the
ability to coordinate care, securely view tests, medications, etc. online
from nearly any location.”
The board also approved the fiscal year 2009 budget. Keim explained that the
anticipated total net operating revenue will be near $33.4 million with
expected expenses totaling just under $32.2 million.
The hospital plans to renew its contract with Mid-America Rehab for physical
and occupational services at the hospital, Riverview-at-the-Park and Home
Health. Final details are being worked out.
The board approved several capital expenditures related to the new ER: a
Diagnostic Wall systems (blood pressure, eyes, ears, specula dispenser and
electronic thermometer) for each of the eight treatment rooms at a cost of
$11,870: furnishings (chairs, tables, desks) in the ED lobby and treatment
rooms for $31,910; Five cardiac monitoring units and one central monitoring
system for $93,155; and an MRI chiller for the new in-house MRI suite for
$34,217.
The board also approved the expenditure of $266,000 for a new Voice over IP
Telephone (VoIP) System. The existing phone system is over 15 years old,
repair parts are becoming unavailable, and the current system is nearing its
maximum capacity.
“This new system will integrate with the new nurse call system currently
being installed”, said Keim. “This will improve our level of communication
and facilitate a smooth and quick response to our patient needs. In
addition, a patient’s call alert can then be routed directly to the assigned
nurse or aide through wireless phones.”
The hospital has started a Balanced Scorecard Initiative, which will compare
our performance indicators nationally and with that of our peer hospitals. A
representative from Rural Hospital Performance Improvement (RHPI) spoke to
the hospital’s department managers on the types of quality indicators used
in the Balanced Scorecard.
“I received a follow up letter from Scott Goodspeed, the RHPI
representative, shortly after he toured our facility,” said Keim. “He
commented that SGCMH is one of the best county-owned CAH hospitals he’s
seen. That means a lot to us.”
The Friends Foundation updated the board on its capital campaign, which is
reaching the one million dollar mark. The Foundation’s annual charity golf
classic will take place June 27 at the Ste. Genevieve Golf Club.
A review of the monthly financial report showed that the hospital and
Riverview-at-the-Park combined had a loss in operations of $117,970 for the
month of March. Adding non-operating revenue from taxes and contributions, a
net income of $2,681,879 was realized year-to-date.
There were 99 discharges of hospitalized patients in March, compared to 113
this time last year. There were 585 patient visits to the ER in March,
compared to 464 in March, 2007.
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