The Salem Memorial Hospital Board met Friday for a special-called meeting at 3:30 p.m. The agenda was employee health insurance costs and the COVID vaccine policy updates.
Present were Zach Moser, Dr. Leigh Ann Price, Ray Bruno and Wanda Tatom. Attending via phone and by Zoom were Judy Thompson and Mike Swyers.
Previously, the following motion unanimously passed in the Nov. 21 meeting of the board:
“Salem Memorial Hospital staff will be required to be vaccinated according to the Advisory Council on Immunization Practices (ACIP) guidelines unless they have a documented medical or religious exemption. Salem Memorial Hospital Employee Health will develop appropriate procedures to carry out this policy. Should ACIP update guidelines in the future to require revaccination, employee health staff will update.”
A quarterly town hall meeting was held Tuesday, Nov. 28, as scheduled by the hospital. The meetings serve as a time for the CEO to update staff on happenings, changes and other news from the board. The meetings are held on the same day at 7 a.m., 11 a.m., and 3 p.m. in order to reach all staff during shifts. Interim CEO Jason Edwards and a few of the board members attended the Nov. 28 town hall meeting.
Dr. Leigh Ann Price attended Nov. 28 and brought some of that discussion back to the special meeting Dec. 1.
“We made this statement across the board for everybody and there were people who said (at the town hall meeting), they don’t have patient care contact. One of the folks brought up is the board going to be mandated as well? There were a lot of things brought up that I don’t think we really discussed…we made it sort of a blanket statement. If people don’t want to take it, they shouldn’t have to lie (for an exemption),” shared Price.
“I think I would rather do ‘strongly suggest’ than mandate,” continued Price.
“We have a motion on the floor to that effect,” stated Moser.
Further discussion was held regarding masking and the hospital’s policy will go unchanged from the current policy.
The modified motion was approved unanimously that the COVID vaccine is strongly encouraged for employees and staff. The hospital will pay the expense of the vaccine or booster.
Thompson added via phone, “we always had the best interest of heart for our employees. And what we did was maybe in haste,” she shared.
• Edwards reached out to two insurance brokers, Assured Partners and Wall Street Insurance. Until a broker of record is signed, no rates can be released.
“This seems to be the going thing for most companies,” shared Edwards.
“From my understanding we have a lot of claims, and being self-insured, and having lots of claims…comes back to us,” he continued.
Previous wellness programs were discussed since prevention is key to better health, but programs have failed in the past.
Restrictions on healthcare locations and other questions were raised by board members.
Edwards would like to have the broker attend a board meeting and answer these questions for transparency of what services and costs will look like for employees and the hospital.
“Basically, we put a lot of trust in the brokerage firms,” shared Bruno.
“I have a concern that we really didn’t have options this time to switch around, so it’s going to cost,” he continued.
“That’s still up to the board, if you want to raise the rates that were proposed by IMA (our current broker),” said Edwards.
Ultimately the board unanimously voted to keep rates the same for employees. The hospital will cover any additional costs arising over the next year. The board will begin identifying other options mid-year.
Moser and Tatom raised the question about the hospital being able to afford the additional costs. IMA anticipates approximately $738,603 (a 35.3 percent increase) for calendar year 2024. With the hospital paying all of that cost, it would be an additional $75,000 due to not raising employee costs.
“Well, we’re digging ourselves out of a pretty big hole that’s been created,” said Doug Hoban, chief financial officer.
“We are trying to retain employees and not have them exit so at this point, I'd be supportive of not increasing the rate and continuing to look at other options throughout the year,” said Hoban.
The costs are an estimate based on historical rates and claims. If the claims are down in the upcoming year, then the cost would follow.
