Local News – Thursday, June 23rd, 2022

The Salem Memorial District Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday evening in the Hospital Library. Interim CEO Don Babb said patient surveys in each department have been mailed out, the daily cost in Long-Term Care will go from $170 per day to $180 per day, and the new CT should be ready in October. In the summary of operations for the month of May, the hospital had 78 inpatient admissions with 316 inpatient census days. There were 156 days of swingbed which is up from 31 for May of 2021. During the month, there were 612 emergency room visits with 47 admissions, plus there were 166 ambulance runs where 118 patients were transported. In May, there were 24 surgical procedures cases, 1,131 outpatient registrations, 4,862 lab tests, 1,127 radiological procedures, 732 rehab treatments and 215 home health visits with 14 home health admissions. The days cash on hand was at 64 with $5.1 million total cash. The hospital showed a gain from operations of $387,120.86 with an excess of revenues of $391,194. CFO JoAnn Hammond said the hospital net revenues have increased by three million dollars and gross revenues are up six million dollars. She said the hospital has paid back almost 2.8 million dollars of the Medicare Advance and should have it all paid off by mid-August. The reimbursement right now from Medicare is 50%. Hammond also gave a lab department financial report and now that CLIA has signed off on the lab, revenues are rising again with revenues for the month of May at $515,000 with expenses of $149,876. CEO Babb gave the Director of Nursing report for Ashley Sullins who is on vacation. He reported the new Community Health Needs Assessment will be implemented on June 30th, that there are 15 active COVID-19 cases in Dent County, and that the hospital foundation raised $18,070 during their golf tournament with a net profit of $12,032. Two people have been asked to join the foundation as new board members and they are Dru Howard and Marci Relford. Babb said in lieu of a health fair, the hospital is developing cash prices for those who want to get tests done at reduced rates. The final rates have not yet been determined but will be announced soon. Babb reiterated the lab passed the CLIA reinspection with no deficiencies, the lagoon passed the DNR inspection with a new permit being applied for, and that the hospital requested another $75,000 of ARPA funds to help pay for the new transformer from the Dent County Commission which they approved. For the transformer project, two bids were received: one from Meyer Electric for $319,750 and the other from McNew Electric for $302,600. There was an option offered to use aluminum wiring which would have reduced the cost by about $55,000, but board member Mike Swyers insisted that copper wire be used on feeder lines and conductors as it is much more durable and is a better conductor than aluminum. By using copper, the hospital will have to come up with another $25,000 and it was suggested that money may come from the hospital foundation. The board voted and approved the bid to install and connect the transformer with McNew Electric for $302,600 using copper wire. The hospital has hired nine new employees while there are two new employees at the clinic, one in Long-Term Care and two in the Lab Department. They also terminated three hospital employees and one at the clinic. The board approved a new telemetry system for the hospital from Tri-Tec Medical for $3,952.50 per month with the RHG Group discount, and they approved the purchase of a Hemochron PT/APTT Rapid Test Machine for $6,825 that will allow the hospital to use Heparin in the Emergency Department as well as Med/Surg. The board was told the Delta Regional Community Health Systems Development Program Meet and Greet will be held September 20th before the regular board meeting at 5:30. Also at the meeting, Nurse Practitioners Terry Bruno and Shelly Bland, and Dr. Tiffany Bland all talked about the SMDH Family Medicine Clinic. They said numerous changes have been made and how more communication is needed between the hospital administration and the clinic as they feel they should be included on decision-making processes including marketing and physician recruitment. The board said they would like more communication with the clinic so they can be more informed as to what is going on there. The board then went into closed session.

A fatality accident happened Tuesday afternoon just after 5:15 in Crawford County on Highway 19 about a mile and a half south of Cuba. According to the highway patrol report, a 2006 Honda Odyssey being driven by 19-year-old Robert Newkirk of Cook Station, crossed the center line and struck a 2014 GMC Sierra being driven by 41-year-old Amy Ford of Cuba. Newkirk suffered serious injuries and was transported by Air Evac to Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. Ford was taken by North Crawford Ambulance to Missouri Baptist Hospital in Sullivan where she was pronounced dead at 6:57 Tuesday night by Dr. Olusayna. Her body was taken to the Crawford County Morgue. Ford was wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident while it wasn’t clear if Newkirk was using a safety restraint. Both vehicles were totaled and removed from the scene by Miles & Sons Towing.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education will hold their regular meeting this evening at 6:00 in the Salem R-80 Board Room. After the consent agenda is approved and hearing the Superintendent’s report, the board will hear principal reports from William Lynch, Upper Elementary, Middle School, and high school. Mark McElvy will the give a technology update before the board addresses new business. At that time, the board will approve the amending of the 2021-2022 budget to reflect actual revenues and expenditures; then adopt the 2022-2023 budget with salary schedules, including the state grant for baseline teacher salary of $38,000. Corky Stack will lead the construction trades building discussion before the board discusses and approves the district curriculum. They will go over policy changes for technology usage, student cell phones, sick leave pool, short term leave, and staff fringe benefits for discussion and approval if deemed appropriate. The board will discuss handbook changes and consider engaging the services of Stifel as an underwriter for a new elementary school project. After adjourning the regular meeting, the board will move into closed session.