Local News – Wednesday, June 21st, 2017
The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors met for the regular meeting Tuesday evening at the hospital library. In the summary of operations for the month of May, inpatient admissions, census days and emergency room visits were all down from the previous year and budgeted amounts, and the hospital showed a loss from operations of $62,965 with an excess of expenses over revenues of $59,685. There was still an increase of cash for the month of $250,917 that left the hospital with the days cash on hand standing at 93 which may be higher than the hospital has ever had. Days in accounts receivable dipped to 50 days from 55 last month due to a large Medicare payment and self-pay patients reducing their balance by over $112,000. Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas discussed the MHA Leadership Conference as did George Gruendel, Ray Bruno and Judy Thompson who also attended. They all agreed it was a positive experience that focused on quality versus volume for hospitals and also on provider shortages. During the month there were 49 acute care admissions and 747 emergency room visits with an average turnaround time of 133 minutes. Also during the month, there were 186 ambulance runs with 133 patients being transported to the hospital, 38 surgery cases, 2,129 outpatient registrations that included the health fair, 222 home health visits, 9,026 lab tests, 1,108 radiological procedures, 184 CT scans, 36 MRI scans, three nuclear med scans, 595 rehab treatments, 154 dialysis treatments and 251 clinical visits. Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas said the Mobile Mammography unit made two visits during the month of June. Lucas said the hospital foundation golf tournament was held June 9th at the Spring Creek Golf Club with 19 teams participating. Things went very well and the hospital raised between 13,000 to $14,000 dollars. The hospital auxiliary will take the summer off but they will hold their Shoe Roads Productions shoe sale on June 27th in the hospital library. Lucas said the Air Evac ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the new flight base will be held Tuesday, June 27th at noon followed by an Open House at the SMDH Campus Physicians Office Building 2 from noon until 6:00 PM. The board approved a change in the safe deposit box signature card that removed L.J Cottrill who took a full time position elsewhere. The board approved the purchase of a 2017 Ford Fusion and a 2017 Ford F-150 pickup from C&E Auto for the combined price of $44,760 beating three other new car dealers. The board then went into closed session.
The Dent County Sheriff’s Department has released reports on recent arrests. On Friday, June 9th, deputies conducted a search warrant in the 1000 block of County Road 4300. Located were a marijuana pipe in the toilet tank and a grinder in a safe. As a result, 37-year old Asha Kirker of Salem was issued a summons for the unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. While leaving the residence, deputies conducted a traffic stop in the 8000 block of Highway 32 East. The passenger was 28-year old Levi Cardwell of Salem, a resident at the house that was just searched and deputies knew him to have a copias warrant for his arrest. He was arrested and transported to the Dent County Jail. On Saturday, June 10th, a female subject called 9-1-1 to report a domestic incident in the 8000 block of Highway K. Upon the deputies arrival, the reporting party advised them there had been an ongoing event with her intoxicated son. After an investigation, 27-year old Phillip Ledesma of Kansas City, Kansas was arrested for Peace Disturbance. He was transported to the Dent County Jail, placed on a 12-hour sober hold, and issued a summons to appear in court. On Thursday, June 15th, deputies conducted a traffic stop on South Jackson near Franklin Street. As a result, 38-year old Tonya Allen of Salem was arrested for driving while having her license suspended. She was taken to the Dent County Jail, fingerprinted, issued a summons, and was released. If you have any information on these or any other incident reports, please call the Dent County Sheriff’s Office at 729-3241.
An accident occurred at 5:14 early Monday evening in Texas County on Highway 63 about two miles south of Licking. According to the
highway patrol report, a 1997 Dodge Ram driven by 38-year old Loyd Decker of Licking was stopped in traffic to turn and was struck from behind by a 2016 Ford Siesta driven by 19-year old Abegayle Sprouse of Licking. Sprouse and a passenger in the Ford 15-year old Gwendalyn Sprouse of Licking suffered minor injuries. Both were transported by a private party to the Texas County Memorial Hospital in Houston. Everyone involved was wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. The Dodge Ram was totaled and removed by the owner. The Ford Siesta was totaled and was removed by Jays Towing of Houston.
An accident occurred Monday night at 7:35 in Phelps County on county road 3120 about one mile east of Rolla. According to the highway patrol report, a 1995 Ford Mustang driven by 20-year old Kendra Gordes of Salem was traveling westbound and failed to stop at a stop sign, crossed the intersection and struck a street sign and a fence and came to rest against a stump. A passenger, 19-year old Krista Hudspeth of Salem suffered minor injuries and refused medical treatment at the scene. Hudspeth was not wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. The Ford Mustang sustained moderate damage and was removed from the scene by Ron Dishman’s Towing.