Local News – Thursday, October 18th, 2018
Congratulations to a number of Salem FFA Members for their exemplary speaking skills at the Area 13 Fall Speaking Contest. Brenden Smith placed 1st in the Missouri Pet Breeders speech area, Eli Westerman captured 2nd in the Missouri Cattleman’s Speech area, Kolson Seay placed 3rd in the Teach Ag Speech area and Taylor Smith was a participant in the Missouri Quarter Horse speech area. Smith, Westerman and Seay will all be competing in the District contest to be held in November.
The Salem Memorial District Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday evening in the Hospital Library. Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas introduced Cindy Fry and Amy Thompson who gave the board an update on the Surgical, Acute Care and Outpatient Care departments. They described several updates regarding the way the staff interacts with patients and doctors as well as showing pictures of new equipment as well as updates on patient furniture and room improvements. Other planned patient room updates include new HVAC, flooring, lighting and window upgrades. In the summary of operations for the month of September, the hospital had 111 inpatient admissions with 304 inpatient census days. There were 2,093 outpatient registrations, 1,936 cardiopulmonary procedures, 9,924 lab tests, 1,258 radiology procedures, 647 rehabilitation treatments, 30 surgeries, 258 home health visits and 788 emergency room visits. The hospital showed a gain from operations of $63,475 and revenues over expenses after taxes of $65,995. Cash decreased for the month by $309,763. Debbie Hines gave the Chief of Nursing report and stated the hospital received a four star rating for calendar year 2017 in the Patient Engagement Quality Report. She is working with Healthy Dent County and other community leaders to create the 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment. The Long Term Care Department was recently monitored by the State of Missouri and received an excellent rating, with only one tag for oxygen storage procedures. The Hospital Auxiliary will be having Shoe Roads Production shoe sale at the hospital library on October 23rd. Chief Operating Officer Chris Strickland reported the Hospital Foundation will be holding their “Dancing with the Salem Stars” on January 26th at the Salem High School Gym. They will be contacting the community to help sponsor the fundraiser. The foundation is still waiting on the federal government so that they can file for state tax exemption. The hospital participated in numerous community sponsorships and events like the Rose Holland Trout Derby and Oak Hill R-1 Career Day. He also said the hospital will give 25 free mammograms to uninsured women 40 years of age and older this Friday. Women can call the hospital at 729-6626 to sign up for that free mammogram. They need to ask for Julie Malone. A DEA Drug Takeback Day will be held, in coordination with the Healthy Dent County Prevention Coalition on October 27th from 10:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon at the Riverways Federal Credit Union parking lot. Citizens can bring their unused medications on this day to be disposed of properly. The board reviewed the patient satisfaction survey results for the Emergency Department and SMDH Family Medicine. The board approved the budgeted purchase of a treadmill for the Rehab Department at a cost of $4,823 from Performance Health. The board then went into closed session.
Fall color is still just starting to show in the Ozark Region. Most of the forest and woodland canopy still retains the green hues of summer, mixed with some drab color changes resulting from drought. The fall color show has not yet become impressive, but there are some tree and shrub species are showing some color. Some hickories and sycamores are starting to turn yellow and brown. Black walnuts are turning yellow and dropping leaves as well as their large, green-husked nuts. Some reds are appearing in the understory and midstory as flowering dogwood and winged sumac are starting to turn. Roadsides are lit up with the yellows and golds of goldenrods. Other tree species seemed to be mottled and discolored,likely a result of summer drought conditions. Fall color seems somewhat late, and temperatures have been unusually high, with summer conditions persisting into October. There is a very good chance that more fall color may appear by this weekend through the middle of next week as the weather becomes cooler. Remember, the color of fall will be the most prevalent around streams, creeks and rivers.
An accident happened in Phelps County Wednesday morning at 8:25 on Highway 8 about a mile south of St. James. According to the highway patrol report, 23-year old Natalie Manning of Salem was driving a 2015 Jeep Compass eastbound when she fell asleep causing the Jeep to go off the right side of the roadway where it struck a culvert and crossed a private driveway. The Jeep’s front struck the ground and the vehicle overturned. Manning suffered moderate injuries and was taken to the Phelps County Regional Medical Center by ambulance. Manning was wearing a seat restraint and the Jeep was totaled. It was removed by Spurgeon’s Towing of St. James.
You can spend a cool autumn evening at the Bonebreak Center of Nature & History on Monday night starting at 7:00 and see the Moon, Mars and Saturn at this Sky Watch viewing event. The Dent County Astronomers will provide telescopes and give you a tour of the night sky. You’ll see constellations like Hercules, Cygnus and Aquila, plus you can see the detail on the Moon, Saturn’s rings and Mars’ red colors. For more information about this event, call 729-3400 or E-mail them at bonebrakecenter@embarqmail.com. The event will be postponed for inclement weather.