Local News – Thursday, May 18th, 2023

The Salem Memorial Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday evening in the hospital library. Hospital CEO Wayne Reid reported the new phones and cameras are scheduled to go online in June and the Lab interface will go live May 23rd. Reid said he will be meeting with SEMO this Friday and attended a CPSI Conference in Orlando, Florida where they found there is a nursing module to CPSI the hospital is interested in that would include training. He said a Pyxis upgrade will happen soon with the more extensive upgrade coming at the end of the year. Hospital Week festivities were discussed and it was announced that Sammi Smith was named the ‘Nurse of the Year” at the hospital. Reid talked about the Barcoded Medication Administration and it is improving as the Medverify was at 86% in April and the armband was 92%. He would like to see those numbers reach the upper 90 percentage in the next couple of months as he realizes they will never be at 100%. Christine Decker reported on the clinic and reported they have seen an increase in patients where they virtually doubled clinical visits in February and March. She said they started the Transitional Care Management in March which is to prevent patient readmission after an acute care facility or hospital stay. This program can be billed the same months as when care is provided and provides the hospital with about $90 more per visit for those on the program. She also said 348 patients are enrolled in a new program called “Chartspan” which is a chronic care managed service provider offering 24/7 patient access that can close care gaps and can help patients schedule their annual wellness visits. Decker said she is still working on the Bunker Clinic but has put that on the back burner at this time. She said an audiology booth from Doe Run was brought back to the clinic as part of the clinic remodeling. The board discussed the Dent County Jail contract and Sheriff Bob Wells is thrilled with service received by Family Nurse Practitioner Sam Welch who is there two days a week and MA Chris Saltzman who is there the other three weekdays. The contract was for one year. Board President A.J. Seay updated the board on the request to the state for a one million dollar state allocation and it passed through both houses and is waiting for the signature of the governor. It is not certain if this is an outright grant, low interest loan or if there is matching at this time. Seay said the hospital has to have more presence in Jefferson City and Washington, D.C. to stay abreast of developing avenues for funding. He said the finance committee held a preliminary meeting and agreed that capital improvements will be a priority in the new budget. The board voted to remove the COVID-19 Masking Policy and go back to the standard and transmission based policy before COVID. In the Summary of Operations for the month of April, hospital admissions were 97 that included 11 Swingbed admissions with a total of 304 patient census days. In April, there were 2,068 Outpatient Registrations, 1,066 Cardiopulmonary Procedures, 6,644 Lab Tests, 1,277 Radiology Procedures, 721 Rehabilitation Treatments, 39 Surgical Procedures and 195 Home Health Visits. There were 666 Emergency Room visits with 48 patients being admitted. A total of 196 ambulance runs were made with 134 patients being transported and 62 dry runs. The hospital had an excess of revenues over expenses for April of $166,272 with over $156,000 being a gain from operations. Days cash on hand at the hospital for the 2023 year is 44 days. Ashley Sullins gave the Chief Nursing Officer report and said the hospital is looking for a new med/surg director and Home Health Director plus five other full-time positions. She said the hospital was at Serendipity at the Salem Upper Elementary and the Salem High School Career Fair. During the month of April, eight employees left their employment at the hospital of which only two were full time, and there were three new hires. The SMDH Foundation fund-raising golf tournament will be June 2nd at the Spring Creek Golf Club and they have 22 teams signed up. Sponsorship are still available and more teams are welcome to sign up. The foundation awarded three scholarships to Salem students: Avery Bettigrew, Tessa Gorman and Ashton Bowers. The board approved the hospital quality report and medical staff quality assurance report before going into closed session.

Join park team members beginning at 4:00 this afternoon at Echo Bluff State Park for a town hall meeting for Echo Bluff and Current River state parks, and Roger Pryor Pioneer Backcountry. Missouri State Parks team members invite the public to attend this informational meeting to provide input and comments, and ask questions about the parks and their operations. The meeting will be held at the Echo Bluff Amphitheater. Park team members will be present to answer questions and provide information at the visitor center. Input from the public is important to Missouri State Parks. The meetings will inform the public on the current status and plans for the park or historic site and offer visitors the opportunity to comment on the facilities. Echo Bluff State Park is located at 35244 Echo Bluff Drive in Eminence. For more information, call 573-751-5211. For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com.