Local News – Monday, November 29th, 2021

An accident happened Saturday evening around 6:00 on Dent County Road 5600 about three miles south of Route N. According to the highway patrol report, a 1987 Jeep Wrangler driven by 28-year-old John Watson II of Salem, failed to negotiate a curve causing the Jeep to travel off the right side of the roadway and overturn. Watson was ejected from the Wrangler and suffered moderate injuries. He was flown by Air Evac to the Mercy Hospital in Creve Coeur. He was not wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. The Jeep was towed from the scene by the family.

An accident happened Wednesday night just before 10:00 in Dent County on Route YY about four miles south of Highway E. According to the highway patrol report, a 2014 Ford Mustang being driven by 33-year-old Lenis Grauf of Salem, was traveling south when Grauf fell asleep. The Ford traveled off the right side of road and struck a ditch. Grauf, who was wearing a seat restraint at the time, was taken by ambulance to the Salem Memorial District Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The Mustang sustained moderate damage and was removed from the scene by Whitaker’s Towing.

An accident happened late Wednesday afternoon at 5:30 in Phelps County on Highway 68 about seven miles south of St. James. The highway patrol report states that a 2007 Hyundai Sonata being driven north by 24-year-old April Crider of Rolla, struck a deer in the roadway. Crider was taken by ambulance to Phelps Health Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The Sonata had moderate damage and was removed by a private party. The report went on to state that Crider was wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Director’s meeting was held last Tuesday evening in the Hospital Library. In the summary of operations for the month of October, the hospital had 84 inpatient admissions with 244 inpatient census days. The hospital showed a loss from operations of $252,921 and had an excess of expenses over revenues of $251,482. During the month, there were 679 emergency room visits with 60 admissions, plus there were 205 ambulance runs where 145 patients were transported. In October, there were 31 surgery cases, 1,664 outpatient registrations, 8,119 lab tests, 1,281 radiological procedures, 531 rehab treatments and 168 home health visits with 14 home health admissions. The Long-Term Care Center currently has 16 residents with two vacancies. The days in account receivable during the month went down to 65 days from 75 in September, and way down from the 100 days last October. The days cash on hand went down to 53 days which is average for all Missouri Critical Access Hospitals. The hospital had a cash decrease during the month of $53,244. Chief of Nursing Ashley Sullins gave the Acute Care Staffing by Patient Acuity report that showed the average acuity was 20 per day with an average of almost eight patients per day. Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas reported that as of November 11th, there were ten active COVID cases in Dent County with nine probable cases. It was also reported that a total of 66 people in Dent County have died from complications of the COVID Virus. Lucas said Dent County is currently showing 29.8% of the residents are completely vaccinated and 33.2% have initiated the series. At the hospital, 57% of the staff is completely vaccinated or have initiated the series with 12% more scheduled to receive their first or second dose. Chief Operating Officer Jason Edwards said the Hospital Foundation’s next board meeting will be January 5th. He said program scope changes for the USDA Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program grant have been submitted as some of the schools scheduled to participate are having staffing issues or had previous telemedicine issues and are hesitant to commit. The hospital will not receive the grant if too many schools elect not to use the service. Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas said the Cerner Conversion scheduled for November 15th had to be postponed due to mistakes made by Cerner in preparing patient files and has now been rescheduled for March 14th. The Cerner working timeline has Integrated Testing 3 scheduled for January 11th, 12th and 13th for the clinical portion, and January 18th, 19th and 20th for the financial portion. The hospital has submitted their plan of action for the CLIA Survey and have not yet heard back but expect to by next week, and the A & J Consultants will be on site Monday. The board approved the election filing dates for the board seat for District 3 from December 7th at 8:00 in the morning until 4:00 in the afternoon on December 28th. That seat is currently held by Dennis Fiebelman. Lucas explained the hospital’s policy on the vaccination mandate for health care workers. He said employees have until Monday to submit exemptions for either medical or religious reasons to not be vaccinated. An Infection Prevention Executive Committee has already begun a review of exemptions submitted. Vaccination clinics have been scheduled for employees on November 30th and December 3rd. Those employees who are non-compliant will be put on 30 days of unpaid leave. If they elect not to comply in that time, they will be terminated due to the federal mandate. The December Board meeting has been set for the 14th at 6:00 at the hospital library. The board then went into closed session.