Local News – Wednesday, February 19th, 2020
The Salem Memorial District Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday evening in the Hospital Library. The board heard a presentation about the Cardiopulminary Department from Jack Linthicum. Chief Finance Officer Monica Stogsdil gave the summary of operations for the month of January where the hospital had 152 inpatient admissions with 371 inpatient census days. There were 1,905 outpatient registrations, 1,889 cardiopulmonary procedures, 8,904 lab tests, 1,354 radiology procedures, 762 rehabilitation treatments, 25 surgeries, 252 home health visits and 745 emergency room visits. The hospital showed a gain from operations of $34,416 and revenues over expenses after taxes of $348,469. Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas gave the Auxiliary report where at their February meeting the 2020 fundraisers were planned that included a Scrub Hub on March 25 and Shoe Roads Productions on May 27. Their next meeting will be held on March 3rd at noon at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory. Chief Operating Officer Jason Edwards reported on the Hospital Foundation’s “Dancing with the Salem Stars” that was held on January 25 with 10 couples dancing and 33 sponsored tables that raised just over $9,000. The Golf Tournament is scheduled on June 5th and Wings and Strings will be held on September 12th. The foundation requested and received approval to purchase vinyl tile flooring to replace the carpet in the Acute Care hallway at a cost of $20,683. A Stroke Support group is meeting quarterly and a Diabetes Support group will meet the 2nd Thursday of each month at 4:30 pm at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory. The board approved the budgeted purchase of a bariatric bed for Acute Care from NOA Medical at a cost of $6,662, nine bedside monitors from Nihon Kohden for $45,648 and an elliptical for the Rehab Department from Performance Health for $4,861. The board went into closed session.
City of Salem Administrator Ray Walden has said that February utility bills have been mailed. Bills paid by February 28th will not be charged a penalty. Customers signed up for auto payment of their bill will have the payments processed February 28th. The February bills cover usage for the general period November 21st through December 22nd, although a given customer’s bill may be for a slightly different period depending on specific days their meter was read if it’s not been replaced with a new AMI meter. Walden anticipates March bills to go out the normal time and will be for utility usage for the general period December 23rd to January 26th, however again, a given customer’s bill may be for a slightly different period since old meters are still being read manually. Anyone with questions about their utility bill can contact the utility office to get the most current information and they can look up any specific account.