Your World Today

The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors met Tuesday evening at the hospital library. Chief Financial Officer Doug Hoban gave the financial report for the month of January that showed inpatient admissions were 85. The patient’s average length of stay came in at 3.62 days. The hospital showed a loss from operations of $619,828 and had an excess of expenses over revenues of $228,871. During the month, there were 781 emergency room visits, 237 ambulance runs where 181 patients were transported, 26 surgery cases, 1,527 outpatient registrations, 6,310 lab tests, 1,230 radiological procedures, 538 rehab treatments and 159 home health visits with 9 home health admissions. The Long-Term Care Center has 17 residents with a single vacancy. The days cash on hand went down to 19 days while 53 is average for Missouri Critical Access Hospitals. The hospital had a cash decrease during the month of $915,249. Chief of Nursing Ashley Sullins gave the Acute Care Staffing by Patient Acuity report that showed the average acuity was 26 per day with an average of nine patients per day. Sullins stated that currently the acute care staffing is at 1.5 to three nurses a day. Interim Administrator Bill May said the hospital auxiliary meetings are postponed indefinitely. He said a Hospital Foundation Advisory Board meeting will be scheduled, and the golf tournament is still scheduled to be held on June 4th at the Spring Creek Golf Club. Karen Brown reported that SMDH Family Medicine and Dr. Tiffany Bland are accepting new patients. Administrator May said the Cerner Conversion is on hold until March 23rd as there are some contract concerns, and the hospital is getting push back from Cerner. May talked about the Community Hospital Corporation. He said there is a draft copy that has limited use where RHG is concerned, but Hospital Attorney Mark Weaver says there is some confidentiality concerns. Sullins then gave a COVID-19 update showing that as of February 16th, there were 50 active cases in Dent County with a positivity rate of 14.6%. Currently, 32.2% of the residents have been completely vaccinated and 33.1% have initiated the series. Sullins said currently six hospital employees are out with COVID while 90% of the employees at the hospital are either fully vaccinated or have an exemption. In the lab update, May said the hospital sent letters concerning the reliability of the lab tests taken from the time period January 1st, 2019 until December 1st, 2021 at the hospital. This cost of sending the letter to the hospital was $5,000 rather than $73,000 for certification. The staff education in the lab is nearly complete. May said the goal is to have the lab back in full operation by April. The biggest holdup is the equipment the hospital is waiting on. In new business, the board approved resolutions for banking signatories and signatories for general business including any regulatory agencies. The board then went into closed session.

The Missouri Department of Conservation will begin allowing the expanded use of bicycles and electric bicycles on many department-area service roads and multi-use trails starting February 28th. Multi-use trails allow a variety of users, such as horseback riders, bicyclists, and hikers. Service roads are non-public roads on MDC areas used by staff to conduct resource management activities. Many service roads are currently used as walking paths by the public. MDC notes that conditions of service roads on department areas vary and are not maintained at the level of public-use trails and public roads. The regulation change will impact approximately 300 MDC areas and provide access to more than 1,500 additional miles of roads for cyclists. Approximately 30 of these areas will be closed to bicycle and electric bicycle use during all portions of the firearms deer hunting season and the spring turkey hunting seasons. Bicycle use on most of MDC’s approximately 1,100 conservation areas is still restricted to roads open to public-vehicle traffic and some multi-use trails because the areas do not have applicable service roads. Bicycles are not allowed on service roads on department lands associated with nature and education centers, fish hatcheries, staffed ranges, offices, designated natural areas where bicycle use could cause damage to sensitive habitats, and other conservation areas. Electric bicycles are defined by MDC as “any two-wheeled or three-wheeled device equipped with fully operable pedals, a saddle or seat for the rider, and an electric motor of not more than 750 watts. MDC adds that cyclists are expected to follow appropriate trail etiquette, including yielding to pedestrians and horseback riders, maintaining a safe speed, staying on designated trails or service roads, and avoiding damaging trails by not riding in wet conditions. Find MDC multi-use bicycle trails and allowed service roads online through the MDC webpage titled "Find Places to Go" at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places. Bike trails can be searched for by using the Advanced Search feature. Service roads can be identified by searching for a conservation area and then checking the online map for the area to see if service roads exist that allow bicycles.

The Salem Arts Council will be holding clogging practice this Wednesday, and again on February 21st and 28th from 6:00 until 8:00 at the Creative Arts Center. Enjoy the cultural art of clogging and try it out for yourself, or just come by and watch. For more information or to register, call 247-0651 or 247-5306 you can e-mail salemartscouncil@outlook.com.