Local News – Wednesday, January 20th, 2021

An accident happened Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 in Crawford County on Route M about a mile south of Highway 8 that took the life of a Salem man. According the highway patrol report, 78-year old James Vaughn of Salem was driving a 2003 Ford Taurus northbound when the vehicle went off the right side of the roadway and struck a driveway. The Taurus then overturned and struck a tree, ejecting Vaughn from the car. Vaughn was pronounced dead at the scene by the Crawford County Deputy Coroner Nikki Bussell at 2:18 in the afternoon. His body was released to the deputy coroner. Vaughn was not wearing a seat restraint when the accident happened. The Taurus was totaled and removed from the scene by Miles Towing.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday evening in the Hospital Library. In the summary of operations for the month of December, the hospital had 104 inpatient admissions with 275 inpatient census days. Patients per day in Acute Care came is at 8.9. The hospital showed a loss from operations of $675,770 and expenses over revenues after taxes of $594,991. Total other revenue of $264,519 included funds from the CARES Act and the Small Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) grant. The hospital has applied for the PPP Forgiveness loan and another $600,000 is expected in tax revenue. There were three payrolls in December that added to the extra expanse. The self-pay has improved, already surpassed what was collected last year with six more months remaining in the fiscal year. During the month, there were 556 emergency room visits to go with 186 ambulance runs with 115 patients being transported, 26 surgery cases, 1,747 outpatient registrations, 284 home health visits, 6,229 lab tests, 1,132 radiological procedures including 591 rehab treatments. Chief of Nursing Debbie Hines gave the Acute Care Staffing by Patient Acuity report that showed the average acuity at 29 per day. She also stated that the Sleep Study Accreditation is complete and the Dialysis Survey correction plan has been submitted and approved. Chief Operating Officer Jason Edwards reported due to COVID-19, the “Dancing with the Salem Stars” fundraiser was cancelled, while the Golf Tournament has been scheduled for June 4th and the Wings and Strings is tentatively scheduled for September 11. He went on to say the hospital has received the TytoCare-school focused telemedicine product and the pilot project with area schools will begin soon. Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas gave the Medical Staff’s report that included their request for the board to approve Courtesy and Active Physician privileges for several doctors. The board approved the Courtesy Staff Physicians in open session, and Active Staff Physicians privileges in closed session. Lucas gave the COVID-19 update and said the hospital will continue the “no visitor” policy and that 192 vaccines have been administered to Health Care workers and First Responders. The current positivity rate for Dent County is 22.81% with 17% being considered a hot spot. The hospital is waiting on vaccines to administer as part of the Phase 1B plan. Lucas reported a new generator has been delivered as the final part of the hospital expansion project. Election filing for the District #2 seat currently held by Mike Swyers ended Tuesday with only Sywers filing, so no election will be needed. Ken Campbell with Archer-Elgin Engineers was present to explain the City of Salem Sewer Project. The city is currently finalizing the plans that will build a new grinder pump station for the hospital. It will be located between the hospital and the current lagoon with overhead electric lines running along the fence line. This pump station will collect wastewater generated by the hospital, sized to handle peak flow for the hospital, Seville Care Center and others along Highway 72. This project would take between 180 and 210 days to complete and will begin after bids are awarded in April. Hospital Facilities Manager Todd Workman agrees with the placement of the pump station on the hospital property. The board approved going ahead with the project with the location and drawings that were submitted. The Conflict of Interest Policy was tabled for a future meeting. The board then went into closed session.