Archive for 2023

The Salem Memorial Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday evening in the hospital library. The hospital held a public hearing prior to the meeting to determine their tax rate for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023. New CFO Doug Hoban showed the aggregate assessed valuation for Dent, Crawford, Shannon and Iron counties that make up the district coming in at just over $285,500,000. The hospital has taken the maximum rate allowed by the state and that again was 24 cents per $100 assessed valuation. The income with this rate for the hospital would be about $685,524. The rate was approved by the board through a resolution. In the regular meeting, Interim CEO Jason Edwards, who has been with the hospital nearly 20 years, said he was vested in the hospital through family tradition and wants that family atmosphere to continue to grow. Throughout the meeting, Edwards referred to family in his description of future events to strengthen the hospital. Edwards said FORVIS will be assisting the hospital with data collection and training for the Delta Regional Community Health Systems Development Program on Revenue Cycle and Physician Practice Assessments. He said FORVIS will start their audit of the hospital on September 25th and the hospital has already started working on the Healthcare Services Corp re-certification which is due in December. Edwards said the hospital anniversary week will be September 11th through the 15th and the security badge reader software upgrade has been installed. Edwards also said an RHG Billing Service Agreement was signed and was effective August 23rd to help with a smooth transition. Before discussing the summary of operations for the month, the hospital board took time to recognize long time hospital employee Dennis Skiles who had passed away earlier Tuesday. For the month of July, CFO Doug Hoban reported hospital admissions were 97 which included 5 Swingbed admissions with a total of 296 patient census days. In July, there were 1,309 Outpatient Registrations, 1,054 Cardiopulmonary Procedures, 7,229 Lab Tests, 1,145 Radiology Procedures, 537 Rehabilitation Treatments, 24 Surgical Procedures, and 211 Home Health Visits. There were 635 Emergency Room visits with 58 patients being admitted. A total of 241 ambulance runs were made with 172 patients being transported and 69 dry runs. The hospital had an excess of expenses over revenues for July of $207,984 with a loss from operations of $225,365. Days cash on hand increased to 37 from 34 the previous month. The 340B plan showed revenues over expenses for July of $50,471. CNO Ashley Sullins said the hospital is looking for full-time directors in Home Health and Dialysis, and still has five other full time nursing openings. She reported the Long-Term Care facility was inspected on a Sunday and came away with a very good report with a couple of minor deficiencies. They will be getting their official letter in ten days. In the hospital foundation report, their board set the “Dancing with the Salem Stars” date for February 24th at the high school gym, accepted the resignation of Dru Howard and elected Conrad Prugh as treasurer. They voted to remove Wayne Reid, Joe Ann Hammond and Dru Howard from the foundation checking account and add Conrad Prugh and Jason Edwards. They also approved transferring $10,000 to the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. The board talked about the continued search for matching funds for the State Grant to do kitchen drain repair, roof repair, and parking lot repair as well as renovations to the clinic. Edwards said he has met with all the directors and is working on the Capital Budget and will have it at the next meeting. The board discussed retiring the hospital COVID policy, but the motion died as members of the board would like to have the policy stay active until 2024. However, the board thought it needed some revision and a “revised” policy will be brought up at the next meeting. Board President Ray Bruno asked for two board members to volunteer for the finance committee. New members Zach Moser and Leigh Ann Price both volunteered to fill the open positions. The board then approved removing A.J. Seay, Judy Thompson and Wayne Reid from the bank signature cards and adding Ray Bruno, Wanda Tatum, Jason and Doug. The board then went into closed session.

Missouri State Parks representatives will be on hand to provide information and to answer questions the public may have during an open houses and town hall-style meetings at Montauk State Park near Salem at 6:00 tonight at the amphitheater. Input from the public is important to Missouri State Parks. The meeting will inform the public on the current status and future plans for the park or historic site and offer visitors the opportunity to comment on the facilities. For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com.

A Native Grass Pasture Walk will be held Friday from 2:00 until 5:00 in the afternoon in Davisville presented by the University Extension. This pasture walk will look at Native grass stands that have been grazed during a drought. Participants will look at different year’s stands and see how producers can incorporate native warm season grass and introduced cool season grass together. Plenty of opportunity to ask questions on grazing and establishment. Interested persons can register online at extension.missouri.edu or by calling the Crawford County Extension office at 573-775-2135. They will give you driving directions to reach the pasture walk. The program is FREE.

The SHS School Spirit Parade will be held Friday night at 6:30 starting from near the City of Salem Administrative Building. The parade will move down 4th Street, then onto 3rd street and continue on to Bill Schuchardt Stadium on the Salem High School campus. All teams, clubs and businesses are welcome to join. The lineup will begin at 6:15 on the East Salem hill.

TODAY is the first day of school in Salem. It’s important that drivers be prepared for the change in traffic patterns as students begin another year of instruction. Motorists need to be patient with school busses, parents dropping off their children, and teenagers driving to school for the first time. Whatever route you drive, expect this additional traffic and prepare by allowing extra time to reach your destination. Watch your speed especially near school zones, playgrounds and crosswalks when schools are in session as many school zones have a special speed during school hours that is enforced. Expect pedestrian and bicycle traffic to increase near schools on days where the weather is good. Remember the rules for school busses. Missouri law states that on a two-lane road, if a school bus is stopped and displaying warning signals while loading or unloading children, drivers must stop when meeting and following the bus. However, it is only necessary to stop on a four-lane highway when following the bus. Drivers, when you see a stopped school bus, stay alert and follow the law. Children may not be aware of traffic and dart unexpectedly into the roadway. Students walking to school should stay alert! Cross the street at intersections or marked crosswalks and never between parked cars. Use sidewalks when they are available. For those teenagers who are driving to school, parents need to remind them driving is a full-time job. Using a cell phone or texting is now illegal for everyone so remind them to put the phone down while driving, but friends or adjusting the radio can also be the distraction that leads to a traffic crash.

The Dent County Commissioners held their 2023 tax rate hearing Monday morning at 10:00 at the courthouse. Amanda Sapaugh was present at the public hearing. The General Revenue tax rate for 2022 was $0.00 per $100 assessed valuation. The commissioners approved the new rate for 2023 of $0.0003 per $100 assessed valuation. There was some confusion on the Senate Bill 40 Fund maximum allowed rate. Amanda Sapaugh representing the SB 40 Board said their board wanted to increase their rate to 17.6 cents per $100 assessed valuation as shown on their documentation, but the form Dent County Clerk Angie Curley received showed the maximum rate calculated by the state was 13.41 cents per $100 assessed valuation. That rate was later verified by the state and the SB 40 board then asked the commission to accept the maximum allowed at $.1341. The Commission accept her request. The Road and Bridge Fund last year was 25.50 cents and the commission approved leaving it the same at 25.50 cents per $100 assessed valuation for 2023. The Senior Citizen Service Fund tax rate for 2022 came in at 4.80 cents per $100 assessed valuation and their board requested to leave the rate of 4.80 cents per $100 assessed valuation. The request was unanimously approved by the commission. The hearing was then adjourned.

The Salem Board of Aldermen met Tuesday night at Council Chambers. Officer Chris Robbins asked the board for the closing of 4th Street from 5:00 until 8:00 Halloween night for a community ”Trunk or Treat” which was approved as was the request by Dottie Steelman for the closing of streets the “Tiger Parade” Friday night before the first game. After the financials were presented by Stacey Houston, the board appointed Dean Jones to serve a five-year term on the Enhanced Enterprise Zone Board. The Board approved the three-year sanitation bid from WCA that will no longer include recycling, and the board approved the Preventive Maintenance Agreement with Vandivanter Engineering for lift stations and pumps as presented by Public Works Director Mark Nash. After the public hearing on the tax rate, the board read Bill #3555 for the first time that would set the tax rate for the 2023 year at 67.50 cents per $100 assessed valuation. The board also read for the first time Bill #3557 authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with WCA for waste collection for the next three years. A total of twelve more bills were read for the first time include bills to amend the fees charged by the city for sewer hook-ups, water hook-ups, and electric hook-ups. Approved by the alderman were bill #3556 which is a conflict of interest disclosure policy, the subdivision of 501 North Washington and 1506 South MacArthur, and allowing the rezoning of 903 West Scenic Rivers Blvd be changed from Residential R-1 to Commercial C-1. City Administrator Sally Burbridge spoke on the electronic and tire recycling event on September 9th at 3rd and Grand Streets. Mayor Greg Parker said the Salem Rodeo will be Labor Day Weekend at the Commons and Healthy Dent County’s “Girls Night Out” will be September 14th. Public Works Director Mark Nash said crews are working to keep up with mowing properties and clearing overgrowth. He said new school crossing signs will be installed when they arrive. Alderman Kyle Williams reminded people to use local cooling centers to stay out of the heat. The board then went into closed session.

Missouri State Parks is excited to announce that Campground Loop 4 at Montauk State Park will reopen for two weeks, now through September 4th. The loop was taken out of service earlier this summer for a construction project to upgrade the electric service from 30 amp to 50 amp; the project will begin September 5th. All but six of the loop’s 27 campsites are now available to be reserved. Montauk State Park is located at 345 State Road 6670 in Salem, and offers a great place to fish for trout. For more information about the event, call 573-548-2201. For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.