Local News – Thursday, August 24th, 2017
The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors met for the regular meeting Tuesday evening at the hospital library. Chief Financial Officer Monica Gargus hosted the public tax meeting. The board reviewed the assessed valuations in Dent, Crawford, Iron and Shannon counties that came to a total of $250,544,639. The tax rate proposed is $0.192 per $100 assessed valuation. This rate is the maximum allowed by law this year. This rate will generate about $475,000 that will be used for capital purchases. The board approved the proposed tax rate before closing the tax rate meeting and opening their regular meeting. Chief Financial Officer Monica Gargus gave the statistics report that showed during the month of July there were 57 inpatient admissions with eight acute care patients. There were 1,716 outpatient registrations, 9,500 lab tests, 11 surgical procedures, 924 radiological procedures, 590 rehab treatments and 239 home health visits. For the month, the hospital gained $50,741 before taxes and had an excess of revenues over expenses of $55,380. The days in net accounts receivable jumped to 64 for the month due to some slow Medicaid payments which allowed there to be a $227,289 decrease in cash for the month. Currently the hospital has 82 days of cash on hand. Chief Nursing Officer Debbie Hines discussed the new quality improvement projects for each department with three or four departments being focused on each month. The Hospital Foundation continues to work on the Dancing with the Salem Stars program that will be December 9th and the Golf Tournament that will be held June 8th, 2018. They also approved the purchase of hospital quality patient chairs and recliners for $45,290. They raised $24,000 from last year’s events that will be donated to this cause and they asked the hospital board to cover the remainder of the balance that will be paid back from this fiscal year’s events. The board approved their request. Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas reported the Emergency Room Psych Safe Room is near completion. Lucas said the hospital auxiliary will be holding their Masquerade Jewelry Sale on August 31st and September 1st and the Wreath Sales for Christmas will begin September 5th. The Fiscal Year 2019 Finance Committee appointed by Chairman A.J. Seay will be George Gruendel, Dennis Fiebelman and Sue Terry. The board was given the hospital by-laws for their annual by-law review that will be held at the September meeting. The board approved the purchase of a new Endo-Tower Printer for the Surgery Department from Synergy Medical for $1,470 and also approved the purchase of four transport stretchers to replace the old ones in the Surgery Department from Bryton for a total cost of $16,780. Administrator Lucas reported the hospital will sell their 2003 Ford Taurus, their 1995 Ford Pickup and their 1980 Ford Pickup as a truck or just for parts. Lucas also wanted to remind the board about the upcoming Health Fair at the Salem Community Center@The Armory on September 13th and 14th from 6:00 until 9:00 in the morning. It will be the final health fair this year. The board then went into closed session.
The Salem Police Department has released a number of incident reports. On Sunday evening, August 13th at 8:17, an officer was detailed to Ray Lane in reference to a vehicle leaving the scene of an accident. That investigation revealed that the driver of a 1995 Ford truck struck a 2003 Chevrolet Venture van and left the scene. After the investigation, the officer located the vehicle and driver who was a 35-year old Salem male. The suspect was taken into custody for driving while being intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. He was issued a summons to appear in court and released. On Monday, August 14th, an officer transported a 26-year old Salem male from Missouri Private Probation services to the Dent County Jail due to active arrest warrants from the state of Missouri. The suspect was incarcerated pending a court appearance. Then on Tuesday morning, August 15th at 12:34, an officer located a 30-year old Salem male in the 1300 block of South Wines who had two active arrest warrants from Dent County and Phelps County. The suspect was taken into custody on the warrants and incarcerated pending a court appearance. On Wednesday night, August 16th at 10:26, a vehicle was stopped for a traffic violation. The investigation led to the arrest of a 26-year old Salem male for possession of methamphetamine and the possession of drug paraphernalia. The suspect was incarcerated pending the application for a warrant. Please contact the Salem Police Department at (573) 729-4242 if you have any information regarding any ongoing investigation.
Ron’s Race for a Reason, honoring all local veterans, will be held on September 1st and 2nd at Flat Nasty on 1771 highway ZZ in Jadwin. There will be 2 classes of racing: Truck and Side-by-Side, and the entry fees are $25 which includes camping for one. There will be food provided by the American Volunteers, and a raffle of four Henry rifles as well as various products provided by local businesses. For the kids, Frosty the Snowman will make a special visit and it WILL snow! If you need more information, you can call (573) 729-6668.
Save the Date! Volunteers are needed! I Heart Salem will host a fall clean-up volunteer night on Wednesday, September 6th from 6:00-7:30 p.m. The location and additional details will be announced soon. September is a busy month for special events like the Blue Oval Rally as well as the Alumni Weekend and we can help our town look great for our residents and visitors! If you have any questions, just call 453-2500 or watch the GroSalem.MO Facebook page for details!