The consolidation of Salem Memorial District Hospital clinics is taking its next big step, with Dr. Yvonne Prince’s office moving to Physician’s Office Building III March 2. Dr. Gulley is to follow, depending on construction completion, board members were told at their Feb. 17 meeting.
The Feb. 11-12 health screenings at the Salem Community Center @ The Armory received good feedback. SMDH Administrator Dennis Pryor commented that a large majority of the attendees liked the openness of the gym setting, and the hospital plans to provide more seating next year.
The board discussed the ambulance service and its role in the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, along with the high cost to the hospital, as almost all SMDH employees work overtime for the event.
“The ambulance service will be extremely busy for the rally,” said Pryor. “It’s a huge undertaking.”
The providing of on-site ambulance access is free to the public, but costs the hospital significantly. The board discussed how to raise awareness of SMDH’s involvement with the rally.
Hospital expenses for January exceeded those for the prior month, which was over budget as well. The current operating expense for January was $1,757,581 (budgeted at $1,655,017).
”We had some really huge medical claims come in this month,” said Chief Financial Officer Becky Cunningham. “This was one of the first months we’ve been significantly above budget on our expenses, but we’re continuing to pay down our debt as always.”
The biggest items over budget for the month were hospital inpatient at $558,992 (budgeted at $488,144), admin/general at $825,256 (budgeted at $671,623), and payroll at $728,073 (budgeted at $679,344).
Items significantly under budget were outpatient at $2,562,036 (budgeted at $2,659,456) and unrestricted tax at $231,395 (budgeted at $406,667).
Pryor said that starting newly hired doctors and staff has added to expenses. And Cunningham stated that about $275,000 in charges are being held up currently. For now, the hospital cashed in a $200,000 Certificate of Deposit to help cover expenses, and it is expecting $210,000 in Medicaid money soon.
An electronic medical record reimbursement was requested for $140,000, but the hospital has received just a fraction of that so far. Cash flow did increase for the month significantly at $178,850 (budgeted at -$40,155).
• Emergency room visits were over the monthly budget of 817 at 843, but below the YTD average of 857.
• Surgery cases were significantly under the monthly budget of 25 with only 14 cases.
• Pryor commented that there have been “lots of ambulance runs this year.” The YTD average is 222 runs a month, with a budget of 186 runs a month.
• Outpatient registrations, usually a highlight for the hospital, have been down this year with a monthly average of 1,679. The monthly budget is 1,708. Pryor said that outpatient activity had been down because of the snow.
• Pharmacy doses were up for the month at 11,082, and 9,907 is the monthly budget.
•The first week of February saw a spike in flu cases with 16. The board commented that flu vaccines were not nearly as effective this year as they’d hoped.
• It’s been a banner year for measles in the U.S. already with 2015 (121 cases) already seeing double the number of cases reported in 2012. Luckily, Missouri had no reported cases as of Feb. 17, according to Nursing Director Carol Lacy.
• The board is hoping to have the 2015/2016 budget done by April, and Pryor further discussed developments in the legislature, including proposed budget cuts and potential block grants for Medicaid Expansion.
• A family practice doctor came to visit SMDH, a potential recruit for the hospital. Pryor said he’d keep the board informed of developments.
