Local News – Thursday, August 22nd, 2019
The Salem Memorial District Hospital held a tax rate hearing before their regular board meeting Tuesday evening in the Hospital Library. The total assessed valuation for the year 2020 comes to $252,648,448 from the four counties that make up the hospital district. That is a two-million dollar increase from 2019. The board elected to keep the rate at 19.25 cents per $100 assessed valuation and that will produce approximately $486.348.00 for capital improvements. In the regular meeting, the board heard a presentation from Zach Moser, the Pharmacy Director who gave an overview of the Pharmacy Department in the past, currently and in the future. They only have three people in the department but play an integral role in the hospital operations. Martha Tibbs, the new Lab Director, gave a report on her department that had nine fulltime and two part time people. She wanted to remind everyone that the Health Fair would be held at the Salem Community Center@The Armory on September 18th and 19th. Monica Stogsdill gave the summary of operations for the month of July which was a busy one for the hospital. They had 133 inpatient admissions with 468 inpatient census days which comes to an Acute Care Occupancy percentage of 60.4. Stogsdill believes that is a record high for the hospital. The hospital showed a gain from operations of $174,633 and revenues over expenses after taxes of $178,805. Cash increased for the month by $78,846 with the days in net account receivables dropped to 55 from 65 days last month. During the month, there were 826 emergency room visits to go with 217 ambulance runs with 164 patients being transported. In July, there were 30 surgery cases, 1,899 outpatient registrations, 389 home health visits, 9,119 lab tests, 1,417 radiological procedures including 826 rehab treatments. Chief of Nursing Debbie Hines gave the Acute Care Staffing versus patient acuity for the month. Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas said the next Hospital Auxiliary meeting will be held Tuesday, September 3rd at the Salem Community Center@The Armory. He said the “Wings and Strings” Fundraiser held August 3rd lost about $6,500 but much of that loss was in advertising money that will be reimbursed the Tourism Tax Committee. They have tentatively set next year’s event for September 12th. The hospital will have an ambulance at the Chamber of Commerce Rodeo Labor Day weekend and will also have an ambulance at the home football games starting in September. Lucas also said they will soon offer a First Responder Training for the Salem Police Department, Dent County Sheriff’s Department and Dent County Fire Department. The SMDH Renovation of the Long-Term Care unit may begin as soon as September 9th as work continues with the architects on the overall plan. The Finance Committee appointments were made and Ray Bruno will be the new chairman with Mike Swyers and Sue Terry on the committee. The board will hold their annual bylaw review next month and they also approved to sell the original tractor which is taking up room in the garage. The board then went into closed session.
An accident happened Tuesday afternoon at 5:05 in Phelps County on Highway 68 about 13 miles south St. James that took the life of a woman from Winona. According to the highway patrol report, 43-year old Melissa Allison of Rolla was driving a Ford F-150 southbound when she began hydroplaning and crossed the center line and struck head-on a 1999 Buick Regal driven northbound by Ellen Walker of Winona. The Ford then overturned and struck a 2003 Chevy Impala driven northbound by 34-year old Corey Wilson of Owensville. Walker was pronounced dead at the scene and her body was taken to the Rolla Crematorium by Deputy Coroner Gavin McDonald. Allison suffered serious injuries and was transported by Mercy Air to the University Hospital in Columbia. Wilson also suffered serious injuries and was transported by the St. James Ambulance to the Missouri Baptist Hospital in Sullivan. Walker and Wilson were wearing seat restraints at the time of the accident but it was unknown if Allison was. The Ford and Chevy Impala were removed from the scene by Dishman’s Towing while the Buick was removed from the scene by Spurgeon’s Towing. The Missouri State Highway Patrol was assisted by the St. James Fire Department, St. James Ambulance and MoDOT.
The 2019-2020 Missouri Official Highway Map is now available. The free map features all miles of state-maintained routes and also shows locations for public-use airports, hospitals, colleges and universities, national forests, state parks and conservation areas. Improvements include larger fonts and better color contrasts for users who may be visually impaired or have trouble with color recognition. You can order a map by going online at modot.org or by calling 1-888-ASK-MODOT.