News – Thursday, January 2nd 2025

The Salem Board of Aldermen have rescheduled their special meeting of the board for tonight at 5:30 at the Old City Hall Auditorium. The original meeting was canceled due to not enough members to form a quorum. At their meeting, the board will do the first and second reading of Bill #3636 that would approve the change order #2 for the City Sidewalk Tap Grant project. The cost of the change order is for $10,807 which will be the cost to tear out and replace the heated sidewalk areas from Main to Washington Street on the south side of the road. The replacement portion from the original plans was for the apron only, but this change order also moves the snow-melt systems into the ADA compliant sidewalk as well. The original total for the project from prior years funds was $73,409.84. With the two new change orders adding $1,943 from Change Order #1, and $10,807.00 from Change Order #2, the total cost from prior year’s funds would be $86,159.84 if MoDOT approves Change Order #2. The board will also discuss and hold the first and second readings of Bill #3637 that would amend items A and B from Section 710.330 regarding sewer billing to make these items applicable to all utility accounts, and remove items C, D, and E. The meeting will then be adjourned. The special meeting of the City of Salem Board of Aldermen tonight is open to the public.

An accident occurred Monday evening at 5:19 on Highway 72 North of Salem near Dent County Road 2230 that took the life of a 72-year-old Female pedestrian. According to the Highway Patrol report the woman entered the roadway in front of a southbound 2007 Dodge Charger driven by a 35-year-old Salem Female. The victim was taken by Salem Memorial Ambulance to SMH where she was pronounced deceased at 6:00 by Dr. Charles Featherly. The Dodge sustained minor damage and was removed from the scene by Whitaker’s Towing.

The Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors held their regular meeting Monday night at 7:00 in the Hospital Library. After approving the agenda and minutes from the previous meetings, Hospital CEO Brooke Bollman gave her report, stating there is no new news on the affiliate program. The hospital experienced total operating revenue of about $3.1 million and total operating expenditures of about $1.9 million, leaving total profit of $1.3 million for the month of November. Bollman did clarify that they are still working with the auditors to adjust some accounts, including taxes and retirement. 340B revenue for November was $250,000, total expenses were $71,000 leaving a total profit of $178,000. The hospital currently has 32 days worth of cash on hand. During the CNO report, Bollman stated that there are seven nursing position openings across various departments. EMS attended a first responders appreciation night; through the ARPA Fund they received $90,000 in new equipment. There have been two new hires in the Med/surg department and two resignations. During the QAPI Report, it was noted that the hospital continues working on their patient experience project, and their medication events project. Ten organizations submitted more than $700,000 in requests for ToRCH Grant Funding. The recipients of this grant will be announced on January 6 via press release. Deborah Gorman with Infection Prevention gave an update on illness, stating there has been a rise in COVID cases at the hospital, including 4 positive cases in long term care. There have been two positive cases for RSV, and seven positive cases of the flu in December. There have not been any new candidates for the open board position and due to the finance committee not having the required three members, those meetings have been halted until further notice. There will be a bi-weekly special director’s meeting, to discuss acquisition, every other Tuesday evening at 7:00. One of those meetings will be held the same day as the regular board of director’s meeting. The board approved Brooke Bollman to conduct funding research to replace the hospital’s Pulmonary Function Test machine. The current machine is no longer working at optimal capacity and the parts are not replaceable due to being obsolete and no longer compatible with the current operating system. Bollman will be looking for ways to fund this purchase within the budget as well as any possible grant opportunities. Once purchased, the new machine may take up to 120 days to be delivered and come with a five year warranty. The meeting then adjourned to closed session. The date for the next board meeting has not yet been announced.