Archive for 2017

The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors met for the regular meeting Tuesday evening at the hospital library. In the summary of operations for the month of April, inpatient admissions, census days and emergency room visits were all down from the previous year and budgeted amounts, yet the hospital showed a gain of operations of $21,571 with an excess of revenues over expenses of $30,570. There were some additional expenses during the month for the golf tournament (that ended up being postponed) and also to Peoplecentric for additional consulting, but there was still an increase of cash for the month of $264,587 that left the hospital with days cash on hand of 89 and that is ten more days than the average for Critical Access Hospitals in Missouri. During the month there were 61 acute care admissions and 730 emergency room visits with an average turnaround time of 130 minutes. Also during the month, there were 203 ambulance runs with 151 patients being transported to the hospital, 47 surgery cases, 1,457 outpatient registrations, 218 home health visits, 7,162 tests, 987 radiological procedures, 177 CT scans, 36 MRI scans, 3 nuclear med scans, 561 rehab treatments, 143 dialysis treatments and 238 clinical visits. Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas said the Mobile Mammography unit again did not make it to the hospital in April and he said they may be checking into another service. Lucas said the hospital foundation golf tournament was rescheduled for June 9th at the Spring Creek Golf Club with 18 teams signed up. He said bronze sponsorships had doubled for the tournament. The hospital auxiliary will take the summer off but they did say the Shoe Road Productions have rescheduled their visit for June 27th in the hospital library. At the community health fair held May 10th and 11th, there were 398 people who attended. Lucas reported on the SMDH Family Medicine Satisfaction Survey results for the January through March. A total of 82 surveys were returned and all the results were excellent. Lucas reported on the Chief of Staff’s report where the 2017 critical lab values were reviewed and some changes were made. Lucas said they have gotten some numbers on the possible City of Salem Sewer Expansion, but not enough to make a final decision. The board reviewed the fiscal year 2018 budget prepared by the Finance Committee and approved the budget that showed about a four percent increase in ancillary and outpatient services and even smaller increases in Acute care charges. The budget included salary increases from 0% to 4%, retirement plan increases of 4%, supply cost increase of 4% and drug cost increases of 10%. The operating budget projected net operating revenue of $22,138,000 with total operating expenses expected to be $21,975,000 leaving a projected gain from operations of $152,970. The board approved the fiscal year 2018 budget. Lucas said Air Evac will probably be moving to the campus next week to their quarters in POB 2. The board approved a change in the safe deposit box signature card that removed Christina Webb and added L.J Cottrill, and they tabled purchasing a new Ford Fusion and F-150 truck until they can check and see if local dealers can get the vehicles for similar prices. The board then went into closed session.

The National Archery in the Schools (NASP) National Tournament and NASP International Bowhunting Organization (IBO) 3D Challenge were held May 11-13 in Louisville, Ky. More than 14,490 student archers in grades 4-12 from 670 schools competed, including 857 Missouri students from 45 schools. Missouri’s Sarcoxie High School was crowned national champions of NASP National Tournament and they set the record for highest NASP National Tournament team score with 3,465 out of 3,600. Seventh grader Irvin Johnson from Salem Middle School shot a score of 294 out of 300 to take fifth place in the middle school boys division. More than 4,100 student archers competed in the NASP IBO 3D Challenge, and many Missouri archers were among the top of their division. NASP promotes education, self-esteem, and physical activity for students in grades 4-12 through participation in the sport of archery.

The Salem Parks and Recreation Board will be meeting tonight 6:00 at the Salem Community Center@The Armory. At the meeting, the board will elect officers for the upcoming year before Parks and Recreation Director Tye Lydon will provide reports for the soccer program, the opening of the pool, as well as the softball, baseball and T-Ball city leagues and tournaments. Park Board President Stan Podorski will provide a budget update before Lydon and Podorski go over a number of facility improvements that have been made such as the pool house repairs, tree planting, stream cleaning and the cleanup of the old Al Brown Concession building. They will also discuss projects that are being worked on now including the TAP grant and the LWCF Unlimited Playground grant, concession and sidewalk work at Al Brown Fields, lighting and fencing at Al Brown Fields and some important purchases that have been made. After addressing any other business, the board will go into closed session to discuss personnel. The Salem Park and Recreation Board meeting is open to the public.