Archive for 2022

The 7th Annual Veteran Affairs Day will be held this Friday from 10:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon sponsored by the American Legion Post 99 and All-American VFW Post 6280 located at 2522 Highway 32 West in Salem. The Affairs Day where veterans can learn about changes and requirements for benefits. Veterans can also enroll in VA health care. Veteran Affairs Day is an annual outreach to veterans of central rural Missouri in an attempt to provide easier access to VA services. It includes American Legion District 16 and VFW District 2 which includes Camden, Cole, Crawford, Dent, Howell, Laclede, Maries, Miller, Phelps, Osage, Pulaski, Reynolds, Shannon, Texas and Wright counties. Representatives from the Department of Veteran Affairs will include enrollment and claims processing specialists from the Truman VA Hospital, as well as benefit advisors from St. Louis VA Regional Office. The Columbia Veteran Center will have counselors and advisors on hand in their mobile unit. The Missouri Veterans Commission will also have Service Officers at the event, as well as a Dept of Education Veterans Employment Representative. They have also invited representatives from elected officials, including Congressman Jason Smith, US Senator Josh Hawley and State Representative Ron Copeland. The event starts at 10:00 with a light lunch provided around noon. It doesn’t matter when you served. If you have questions, a claim or need to enroll into the VA healthcare system, please attend. Don’t miss out on your hard earned benefits. Call the American Legion Post 99/VFW Post 6280 at 729-3710 for questions or to schedule private time with a counselor.

Time is running out to take advantage of the Dent County “Love Thy Neighbor” program. They are still taking applications for their community home repair service provided by the local church body. The purpose of this program is to improve improvements to houses in Dent for people who have no other means in which to make the improvements or repairs like the elderly, veterans, disabled or financially challenged. All work projects are done outside such as decks, roofing, painting, and yard work, all at no charge to the homeowner. The “Love Thy Neighbor” projects will take place the week of June 5th through 9th. Volunteers will work on homes Monday through Thursday. Who is Eligible for the “Love Thy Neighbor” Program? Residents who are unable to do the work themselves due to physical and/or financial situations, those who have no other means of getting the work completed and those who can provide an environment that will be socially and physically safe for all volunteers. If you are interested in participating in the program, you must fill out an application that can be downloaded from the www.ltndent.com website. Then drop off the application in the First Baptist Church office on Third Street during regular business hours from 8:00 until 4:00, Monday through Thursday; the Edward Jones Office at 907 S. Pershing between 8:00 and 5:00, Monday through Friday; the New Harmony Church at 5841 Highway 32 West from 9:00 to 4:00, Monday through Thursday; or mail your application to “Love Thy Neighbor,” P.O. Box 732, Salem, MO 65560. Applications are due before April 24th. Applications will be reviewed on a first come, first served basis. Those homeowners meeting the qualifications will receive a phone call from someone on the “Love Thy Neighbor” committee before anyone comes to inspect your home. Homeowners will be notified by mid-May if their home has been chosen by the Love Thy Neighbor committee.

Jason Lott, the Superintendent of the National Park Service’s Ozark National Scenic Riverways headquartered at Van Buren, will be the guest speaker at the Dent County Historical Society 2022 Speakers Series at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory to be held this evening at 5:30. Lott will take questions from the attendees after he gives updates about the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers. This event is free and open to the public. For more information contact Deloris Gray Wood, President of the Society, at (573) 729-2545.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will offer five permits to hunt bull elk in Missouri this fall with at least one permit designated for qualifying area landowners and the remaining permits for the general public. Only Missouri residents who will be at least 11 years of age by the first day of the hunt for which they are applying are eligible to apply for elk permits during the application period of May 1st through the 31st. All permits will be assigned through a random drawing. The Missouri Conservation Commission gave final approval to elk recommendations from MDC during its March 25 open meeting in Jefferson City. For elk hunting, MDC has designated a nine-day archery portion running October 15-23 and a nine-day firearms portion running December 10-18. The five permits will be for bull elk and will be valid for both portions. MDC will require a $10 application fee for elk-permit applicants. Those selected will then be eligible to buy a permit at a cost of $50. All elk-hunting permits, including those allocated to approved area landowners, can be used in Carter, Reynolds, and Shannon counties, except the refuge portion of Peck Ranch Conservation Area. The allowed hunting methods for each season portion will be the same as for deer hunting. The permits will allow for the harvest of one bull elk with at least one antler being six inches or greater in length. For more information on elk and elk hunting in Missouri, visit mdc.mo.gov/elkhunting. Apply for the elk-permit random drawing May 1-31 online at mdc.mo.gov/buypermits, through MDC’s free MO Hunting app, through a permit vendor, or by calling 1-800-392-4115. Results of the elk-permit random drawing will be available online by July 1.

A public hearing and meeting of the City of Salem Planning and Zoning Board of Adjustments will take place this evening at 6:30 in City Hall Council Chambers at 202 North Washington. During the public hearing, after the call to order the board will recognize anyone from the floor who wishes to speak before closing the hearing and opening the public meeting. After calling the public meeting to order and roll call is taken, they will discuss the request for a variance from the height restriction for the installation of a cell tower on property located at 1702 Doss Road. The meeting will then be adjourned.

Parks and Recreation Board President Greg Sanders has called for a meeting of the Board for this afternoon at 4:45 at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory. Following the call to order will be the Roll Call and a Closed Session of the Board.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday evening in the Hospital Library. SMDH Attorney Mark Weaver gave the oath of office for newly elected District 3 board member Wanda Tatom. In the summary of operations for the month of March, the hospital had 109 inpatient admissions with 382 inpatient census days. There were 175 days of swingbed which is up from 74 for March 2021. The swingbed is a good revenue source for the hospital as it brings in $1,600 per day with the average length of stay at 9.72 days. The hospital showed a loss from operations of $511,419. During the month, there were 644 emergency room visits with 65 admissions, plus there were 200 ambulance runs where 135 patients were transported. In March, there were 28 surgery cases, 1,278 outpatient registrations, 6,172 lab tests, 1,116 radiological procedures, 684 rehab treatments and 254 home health visits with 20 home health admissions. The days cash on hand was at 64 with $5.7 million total cash. Chief Nursing Officer Ashley Sullins gave a staffing update that showed a vacancy of five nurses. She asked the board to reconsider a portion of the employee manual that addresses hair color. Recently this has become an issue when trying to hire qualified employees. The board agreed to take the reference to hair color out of the employee manual. Sullins reported that the Community Health Needs Assessment has been complete with surveys ending on April 15th. The committee will meet to further discuss the results on April 21. Current cases of COVID are at zero with the community exposure rate being low. The Hospital Foundation Chairman, Chris Holiday has resigned and the next board meeting is scheduled for May 4th. The annual Golf Tournament fundraiser will be held on June 3rd. Interim CEO Bill May discussed the Marketing/Community Perception efforts and announced that Karen Brown will become the new Community Ambassador, as part of the Delta Region grant. Michelle Bland, FNP will begin seeing patients on May 2nd and Dr. Tiffany Bland is working with the Dent County Health Center with the Show Me Healthy Women program. In the lab update, CLIA will be at the hospital to review the blood draws that began again. There is still a need for more employees in the lab, but there are 3 traveling techs to help cover. Maintenance Director Todd Workman talked about the closure of lagoon and the estimated costs to create a closure plan of $4,600 came from Darren-Krehbiel Consultants. Costs to close the lagoon will not be known until this plan is accepted by DNR. The cost for the hospital to hook up to the city system would be $15,000 and the board felt that they were told by the city administrator that there would not be a cost to hook up to the system. Attorney Weaver will talk to the City Administrator. Pharmacy Director David Kerr discussed a vaccine for children program for the clinic as well as an employee prescription program that would use the 340B pricing structure. This could save the hospital 50% of the $60,000 current monthly prescription costs. A plan will be presented at a future board meeting. Radiology Director Bobby Sullins presented the need for a new CT Scan at a cost of $14,702 per month. The current CT scan is an older unit and costs $16,000 per month. There will be additional costs to remove the current machine. This was approved to be purchased. Workman discussed the replacement of the electric transformer. This unit is 53 years old and cannot be assessed by Intercounty Electric, plus has lines running over the roof of the hospital. Funds for the replacement will come from the county’s ARPA funds with some lines being buried and others relocated. Former employee Mike Murr requested a letter of recommendation from the hospital and was told that this is not done. He talked on behalf of the 40 other employees that were let go and felt that their service to the hospital should qualify them for this type of letter. Attorney Weaver will look into the matter. Outgoing board member Dennis Fiebelman thanked the current board and hospital staff for allowing him to serve 34 years on the board. The board then went into closed session.

Dr. Kyle Ouzts of the Dent County Veterinary Clinic in Salem will be hosting a live fifteen-minute radio call in show on KSMO Radio 1340 AM and 95.7 FM TODAY at 1:00 this afternoon. Dr. Ouzts talks about pet safety, nutrition and different things that effect your furry friends. So get your questions ready and call Dr. Ouzts starting at 1:00 on KSMO at 573-729-6659.