Local News – Thursday, April 20th, 2023

The Salem Memorial Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday evening in the hospital library. District 4 Director Willie Strader was sworn in by Hospital Attorney Mark Weaver. Hospital CEO Wayne Reid reported the new phones and cameras the hospital ordered are on track to be installed and ready to go live in June, plus the Lab interface is set to go live in May. Reid said meetings with the long-term care centers in town continue, the hospital has signed an agreement with a new lab tech, and one of the two ambulances is now wrapped and in service. The other ambulance should by ready any day. Reid gave the cash position update that shows the weekly charges have increased over the last six months which shows an average steady increase since February of 2022. With that being said, the total cash, Point of Sale and account receivable collections have all increased since December while days in accounts receivable has been dropping steadily since a high in March of 2022 of nearly 120 days to around 60 days as of the first week in April. Reid also reported on the Dent County Market Share Improvement made by the hospital in the last year going from 25.3% in 2022 to 37.2% so far in 2023. That increased share of 11.9% shows a 47% improvement in the last year. Reid reported he and Board President AJ Seay as well as Board Member Judy Thompson met with State Representative Ron Copeland as well as members from the media for help in trying to find funds to help with the kitchen drain problem and the clinic architect. Copeland said there was a request for three million dollars for health care expansion by Four Rivers, and he is not against that, but feels the hospitals’ needs are just as important if not more because of the impatient and emergency care they offer, plus Salem Hospital didn’t ask for a handout, just assistance in finding funds. Reid say he and Seay will be meeting with Administrator Zach Moser from the Dent County Health Department to see how they compliment each other in serving the public health needs. He went on to say that many competitors have lobbyists at Jefferson City while the hospital does not. Daylon Harrison gave a report on the accounts payable for the hospital and how they receive invoices Monday through Thursday, then on Friday compare the accounts payable to the available cash received for the bills to be paid. The hospital is catching up month-to-month as the accounts payable are down $100,000 while the cash is up $300,000. In the Summary of Operations for the month of March, hospital admissions were 112 that included 10 Swingbed admissions with a total of 311 patient census days. In March, there were 1,638 Outpatient Registrations, 1,649 Cardiopulmonary Procedures, 8,746 Lab Tests, 1,324 Radiology Procedures, 680 Rehabilitation Treatments, 31 Surgical Procedures and 210 Home Health Visits. There were 637 Emergency Room visits with 58 patients being admitted. A total of 226 ambulance runs were made with 153 patients being transported and 73 dry runs. The hospital currently has $2.64 million cash on hand, a $600,000 CD and restricted cash of just over $234,000. The hospital had an excess of revenues over expenses for March of $406,658 with over $350,000 being a gain from operations. Ashley Sullins gave the Chief Nursing Officer report that showed during the first quarter, there were 595 COVID tests performed January through March with 62 tests being positive, while there were 679 flu tests performed with only 11 positives. She said the hospital will be represented at Serendipity at the Salem Upper Elementary on May 4th and at the Salem High School Career Fair on May 8th. During the month of March, no employees left their employment at the hospital and there were ten new hires. The SMDH Foundation fund-raising golf tournament will be June 2nd at the Spring Creek Golf Club and sponsorship are still available and more teams are welcome to sign up. The board went into closed session where the board discussed extending the RHG Contract for another year with a 30-day out. Judy Thompson made a motion to extend the contract, seconded by Willie Strader, but the vote came back 3-3 with Directors Ray Bruno, Mike Swyers and Wanda Tatom voting not to extend, while Thompson, Strader and A.J. Seay voted to extend the contract. A second motion was made by Mike Swyers to hire another consulting firm (no name was given) and hire William Giles as a temporary CEO which was seconded by Ray Bruno, but that motion was voted down, 4-2 with Thompson, Seay, Strader and Tatum voting against the motion with Bruno and Swyers voting yes. A third motion was made to extend the RHG Contract a year with a 30-day out which was approved by a 4-2 vote with Thompson, Tatum, Seay and Strader voting yes while Swyers and Bruno voted against allowing the motion to pass.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education will be holding a special board meeting via Zoom today at 12 noon. After the call to order and approval of the consent agenda, the board will consider bids for the construction trades building, bids for improvements to the baseball field, and approve a contract with Dalton Sanders for bus use before adjourning.