Your World Today

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.

KSMO Radio is back on the air on both AM 1340 and FM 95.7. Thank you for your patience during this down time.

An accident happened Sunday evening 8:16 in Phelps County on Interstate 44 at mile marker 191.4 that left a St. James woman with serious injuries. According to the highway patrol report, a 2015 Chevrolet Spark driven 60-year-old Katherine Dover of St. James, traveled off the right side of the roadway, struck a ditch and overturned. Dover was not wearing a seat restraint and was transported to the Phelps Health in Rolla by the St. James Ambulance with serious injuries. The Chevy was removed from the scene by Spurgeon’s Towing.

The Ozark National Scenic Riverways announces that the final Roads and Trails Management Plan and Environmental Assessment is now available online. Superintendent Jason Lott stated that with the release of the final Roads and Trails Management Plan, the National Park Service can move forward to establish a network of roads and trails that is more sustainable and clearly mapped that will allow visitors to safely enjoy the park’s spectacular resources through a variety of recreational activities, while still protecting those resources for future generations. Lott said public input guided several revisions that appear in the final Road and Trails Plan. A summary of public comments is available online with the final Roads and Trails Plan. The final plan includes a finding of no significant impact and the amended environmental assessment illustrating the alternatives that were considered, as well as detailed maps and an errata to address technical edits and substantive comments that were received during the comment period for the draft Roads and Trails Plan in 2021. The National Park Service has identified Alternative B as the preferred alternative for implementation. To review the final plan, go to https://parkplanning.nps.gov/OZAR_RTplan. The plan, maps, and public comment summary report can be viewed online or downloaded for printing. Ozark National Scenic Riverways preserves the free-flowing Current and Jacks Fork rivers, the surrounding resources, and the unique cultural heritage of the Ozark people. For more information, visit the park’s website at www.nps.gov/ozar.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will be meeting tonight at 6:00 at the hospital library. After the new board member is sworn in, the board will hear the Administrator’s report which will include the summary of operations and statistics for the month of March. Chief Nursing Officer Ashley Sullins will give her report followed by a report on the hospital foundation and a marketing and community perception report. Interim CEO Bill May will then update the board on the lab, COVID-19 as well as the Delta Regional Community Health System Development Program. The board will then receive a meaningful use update and receive more information on the closure of the lagoon. In new business, the board will discuss purchases needed by the hospital before hearing a report on the new CT from Radiology Director Bobby Sullins. Maintenance Director Todd Workman will provide information on the new transformer the hospital needs to have replaced followed by a revenue cycle update from Jennfier Smith. Pharmacist David Kerr will talk with the board about the 340B employee drug program before the board goes into closed session. The regular meeting of the Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will be tonight at 6:00 and it is open to the public.

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. We 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.

Montauk State Park will be holding a bird hike on Saturday, April 23rd from 8:00 in the morning till noon. Participants will meet at the stone CCC picnic shelter. During the program you will learn about the diversity of birds that live in the park. Wear something comfortable to walk in and bring binoculars if you have them. For more information contact the park at 573-548-2201.