The Salem Memorial Hospital Board met Sept. 19 for its regular board of directors meeting.
Interim CEO Jason Edwards shared the administrator’s report including notes from a recent Town Hall meeting attended by 70 employees, 340b recertification, Hospital Anniversary Week, and the LTC Plan of Correction, among others. Edwards attended the Delta Region Annual Summit Sept. 13-14.
“We continue to hear the phrase, one team, one fight, one family. We heard this a lot during our town-hall meeting,” shared Edwards.
It was announced SMH has been awarded the Transformation of Rural Community Health (ToRCH) grant. This is a pilot grant program where SMH will work alongside six other rural hospitals.
Edwards was thanked by the board for cooking for employees for hospital week.
SMH Family Medicine Clinic Director Chrissy Decker gave an extensive update on services provided at the clinic.
Providers currently at the clinic include Dr. Naser Almasalmeh, M.D., Dr. Tiffany Bland M.D., Terry Bruno FNP-BC, Shelley Bland FNP-BC, Jimmy Bell FNP-BC, Amber Hogan FNP-BC, and Samantha Welch FNP-BC.
Co-pay collections have been a focus for Decker since her start at the clinic a little over a year ago. The clinic has grown exponentially with the number of visits each month. August visits totaled 2,124, with co-pays totaling $8,564. The breakdown of patients this year total 614 new patients; 311 Saturday clinic; 86 sports physicals; five contraceptive implants; and 155 TCM (transitional care management – office visits after hospital release).
SMH has a $40,000 contract with Dent County Jail for on-site coverage and provider call. This contract is handled by Samantha Welch and Chris Saltzman RMA. Five days on-site coverage and 24/7 provider call is included at the jail.
“Good reviews have been received from all involved,” shared Decker.
A new CCM (chronic care management) service provider went live on April 21. Close to 300 patients signed up in April. The service provider helps close care gaps, schedule annual wellness visits, and provides patient access.
One exciting new feature of SMH Family Medicine is occupational medicine. Currently providers are assisting Doe Run and People Services (St. James) with wellness visits, physicals, and pre-employment screenings.
A recent contract signed with e-Screen will open up more opportunities for the clinic. Walmart and Fed-Ex use the service for DOT physicals, work comp visits, radiology, urinalysis, and other services. The clinic will process employees or potential employees and enter the information in the e-Screen database allowing trackability by companies who also use the service.
To be certified as a rural health clinic there are several state and federal requirements including location, staffing, health care service. RHCs must have a bi-annual quality assessment and clinic improvement program. SMH has checked all of those boxes. A policy and procedural manual update was completed and took effect Aug. 23.
Many items have been completed or are in the works for quality improvement:
• a vaccine for children program will be established,
• drug and supply closet reorganization,
• nurse and registration training,
• addition of paper surveys for patient satisfaction.
The state survey was completed on Sept. 19. The surveyor was very complimentary of the organization and was “extremely impressed with the nursing staff,” shared Decker.
The clinic passed the survey with no deficiencies.
The surveyor commented on the labeling of multi-dose vials and said she had never been to a clinic where all the vials were labeled correctly, said Decker.
Future announcements were shared including Dr. Brady Floyd joining the staff in 2025. Other possibilities are a weight-loss clinic which sparked discussion, UHC quality measures, PCMH, and PDMP compliance.
Statistical summary of operations numbers were discussed with several comments on the acute care percent of occupancy and acute care patients per day. Dr. Al commented on the need for a solid base in acute care. He mentioned it seemed that nurses were there and then transferred to other areas of the hospital.
Net operating revenue shows $2,426,046 currently. The cash flow statement showed actual cash increase as $103,229 with 35 days cash on hand.
Director of Nursing Ashley Sullins gave a report that included several nursing positions were open. Travel nurses are currently training to assist with shortages. There are five full-time positions open for RN; two full-time aide positions; and all nursing departments have openings for PRN and aides. The PRN policy was discussed and will be revised to allow PRN positions to stay on longer, without shifts.
There were nine hires (five full-time and four PRN) and four left employment (one full-time and three PRN). Edwards commented that he and Sullins have looked at other options for recruiting.
Other News
• The board approved minutes from the Aug. 22 tax meeting and regular board meeting.
• SMH Foundation is planning Dancing with the Salem Stars Feb. 24, 2024
• Volley for a Cure is planned for Oct. 21
• 25 free mammograms will be given in October
The meeting went into closed session at approximately 8 p.m.
