Local News – Thursday, January 24th, 2019
The Salem Memorial District Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday evening in the Hospital Library. The board approved the appointment of Mike Swyers as the District 2 board member to fill the vacancy of A.J. Seay who resigned after moving from the district. Swyers was sworn in by Hospital Attorney Mark Weaver. Swyers has filed to run for this position in the upcoming April election and will be sworn in again after the election as he is unopposed. The board heard from Frank Rauhe questioning his bill for outpatient services. He stated that his co-pay bill, after Medicare’s payment, was 12 times higher than at a larger hospital in St. Louis. Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas explained that Medicare sets the fees and co-payment charges for all Critical Access hospitals. Lucas recently discussed the need for reform in the Medicare calculations for Critical Access Hospitals with Congressman Jason Smith. The board heard presentations from Jodie Gorman, Human Resources and Kathy Haynes, Infection Control/Employee Health. Monica Stogsdil gave the summary of operations for the month of December. The hospital had 108 inpatient admissions with 346 inpatient census days. The hospital showed a gain from operations of $80,122 and revenues over expenses after taxes of $136,583. Cash increased for the month by $239,444. During the month, there were 733 emergency room visits to go with 193 ambulance runs, 18 surgery cases, 1,510 outpatient registrations, 339 home health visits, 7,760 lab tests, 1,153 radiological procedures and 665 rehab treatments. Chief of Nursing Debbie Hines gave a Hospital Performance Report where the hospital is ranked on five areas. The next Hospital Auxiliary meeting will be held February 5 at noon at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory where the 2019 fundraising schedule will be discussed. Hospital COO Chris Strickland reported the Hospital Foundation “Dancing with the Salem Stars” fundraising event will be held this Saturday at the Salem High School gymnasium. A benefit concert and wing-off will be held August 3 at the Commons. He said the hospital is continuing to work on Project RISE with Healthy Dent County. Lucas gave the Patient Satisfaction Survey results for the Emergency Department and Family Medicine. There were 130 total surveys returned for the ED department and 431 returned for the Family Medicine, both departments received very high scores in each category. The board approved the medical staff recommendation for active staff privileges for all current CRNA, Medical and Courtesy staff. The board approved a Conflict of Interest Policy and approved appointing Mike Swyers to the Finance Committee. The board also approved the budget purchase of a BiPap Machine Replacement for Cardio Pulmonary totaling $13,797 from Philips Health Care; a medical grade refrigerator for the Pharmacy for $2,366 from Alex Laboratory Equipment, a refrigerator for Dietary from US Foods for $4,264. They also approved the non-budgeted purchase of two refrigerators for $8,312 for the Lab from Jack’s Refrigeration. The board then went into closed session.
The Dent County Sheriff’s Department has released some reports. On Tuesday, January 15th, deputies received a report of cattle stolen. During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that approximately 32 cattle had been reported stolen from a property off Route K. This report is open and still under investigation. On Wednesday, January 16th, deputies conducted a traffic stop on East Highway 32 near Chilton Oil Company. During the course of the traffic stop, a 26-year old Salem man was arrested for driving while being intoxicated. The male was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office, finger printed, issued summons and released. That same day, deputies received a report from Intercounty Electric of a utility meter that was being tampered with. Deputies traveled to an address on Private Lane 413, which is where the meter was located that was allegedly being affected. During the course of the investigation, a 58-year old Salem man was arrested for tampering with a utility meter in the 2nd degree. He was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office, fingerprinted, issued summons and released. If anyone has any information about the cattle theft, please contact the Dent County Sheriff’s Department at 729-3241.
Come take a mental health break and pet some adorable puppies! Healthy Dent County is partnering with the Dent County Animal Welfare Society (DCAWS) to bring you their very first “Dog Days!” Come out to the Salem Community Center @ Armory and play with some puppies to unwind and de-stress. The event will be on February 1st from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm in the multipurpose room. All the puppies at the event are up for adoption at DCAWS. If you want to bring in food or blankets for the animals, you will be entered in a drawing to win a $50 gift card. For additional information, please call 729-8163.