News – Monday, September 30th 2024

The Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors held their regular meeting on Wednesday evening in the Doctor’s Library at 7:00. After the minutes from the August board meeting were reviewed and approved, hospital CEO Brooke Bollman gave her report, during which she explained the hospital is continuing to work with Phelps Health to fulfill due diligence requests, focusing on reducing inefficiencies, educating staff members, and conducting compliance evaluations. The Hospital’s 90 day priorities include: growing the Swing Bed Program, funding opportunities, and their affiliation with Phelps Health. During the Statistical Summary of Operations, it was noted that inpatient admissions, Emergency Room visits, and Ambulance Runs are lower than they were in July, while outpatient registrations went up. Total Operating Revenue for the month of August, was about $2.2 million. That amount is about $31,000 less than total operating revenue reported for July. Salem Memorial currently has 17 days of cash on hand. The hospital experienced a decrease in Salary expenditures due to ongoing reduction in staffing. Overall, the hospital experienced a profit of about $5,200. The 340B net revenue for August was $34,860. Tabitha Standfast, the Director for Quality Risk Management, presented the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) report. During the report, she explained that the hospital is looking to fill four RN/LPN Positions in Med-Surg, one RN position in the Emergency Department, and the Long Term Care Director position is still open. There are two ambulances currently being repaired for bad sensors. One will be ready soon, and the hospital is currently waiting for a quote for the second rig. The hospital hired five new employees in August, including 2 CNAs, a Registration Clerk, and a phlebotomist. Eleven employees left the hospital, including the Dietary Director, the Director of Surgery, and an IT Specialist. It is unclear whether the resignations are due to the affiliation with Phelps Health, or not. After the CNO report, the board approved the Quality Minutes. The unofficial second quarter results for the HCAHPS, a survey that measures overall patient satisfaction, has the hospital rated 18%, however, it was noted that only 12 surveys were submitted. The POC QAPI projects are on track or completed for the fiscal year. QAPI is currently focusing on two projects, which are fine tuning their medication distribution process, to eliminate documentation errors, and working on their patient experience and helping the accuracy of registrations. Tabitha stated they are changing their Event Reporting System, between October 2023 and September 2024, there have been 381 events reported, including falls, medication documentation errors, and device and equipment malfunctions. Event Reporting used to be done through The Safety Net. That contract was canceled last month, and all reporting will now be in the Hospital’s SharePoint system, and will be downloaded to the Intranet on a monthly basis. SMH was one of seven recipients to be awarded the Delta System Improvement Program (DSIP) Grant in the amount of $350,000. That money will go towards increasing the Swing Bed volume, improving Transitions of Care, and discharge planning, as well as focusing on the Chronic Disease Coordination and Management Program. The Hospital was also awarded the ToRCH Grant, and an informational meeting about this grant will be held on Monday afternoon at 2:00, in the Community Center at the Armory. The Board will be accepting applications for a new member, to fill the current vacancy. Information on how to apply will be in the Salem Missouri Newspaper. Before adjourning to closed session, the Board set the date for the next meeting for October 29th, however a start time has not yet been announced. 

An informational session will be held today at 2:00 in the afternoon at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory for the ToRCH pilot program that aims to integrate social care supports into clinical care, reducing the impact of social challenges on health outcomes. Through partnerships with organizations including Healthy Dent County, Compass Health, Dent County Health Center, Aging Best, South Central Missouri Community Area Action Agency, and Four Rivers Community Health Center; the ToRCH project is making strides in advancing community health initiatives. The ToRCH Community Leadership Board will be awarding grants to address gaps in available services within the community. These grants are intended to resolve capacity and resource issues that may arise due to the smaller scale of operations. Potential uses for the funding include expanding staffing, securing larger facilities, purchasing necessary equipment, and overcoming logistical challenges. The grant categories are Community Service, Transportation, Behavioral Health Access, Diabetes Prevention, Food Insecurity, Maternal/Child Health, Obesity Prevention, Primary Care Access and Quality of Life The grant application window opens today the with the initial proposal deadline of December 2nd. Additional windows may open if funds remain. The proposals are expected to be awarded by January 6th, 2025. The maximum funding amount is $240,000 and the funds will have to spent by October 31st, 2025. For further information or to request an application, please contact Tabitha Stanfast, Director of Quality, at tstanfast@smdh.net.