New staff coming on board at hospital

During the Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital board meeting, CEO Margie Molitor praised both Nina Landis and John Gibbel for their leadership during the recent roof leak.

Molitor was on vacation during the leak which was caused by a major rainstorm. She said they kept the hospital operational even though they had to divert trauma patients that needed CT scans for a short period of time. Molitor noted that the hospital still admitted patients during the event.

The construction still continues at the hospital campus where they are paving the various parking spaces. Lately, they have been working on the north side of the campus and will move soon to the east side and then in front of the main entrance. 

Construction steel is going up for Phase 2, which will be for the outpatient corridor. They also will install steel for the sprinkler system. The roof should be completed in three to four weeks from now. They plan on moving to the temporary lab location on September ninth so they can work on the existing lab. 

Molitor also explained how she, amongst many others, was on a phone call in regard to their SLIB grant. There were over 100 applicants for different grants and the call was used to review and approve those grants. It took a long time as the call was 10 hours long.

Their original grant request was for $5.6 million, but Molitor had to make an adjustment to their request. The grant criteria would only apply to work done after March and not before and for work that is to be completed by the end of the year.

This meant Molitor had to withdraw certain portions of the grant application. The amount was amended to be $1,414,000 which would be for Phase 5 that includes the kitchen, locker rooms and the washing machine area. They were approved. 

Molitor reported that she received an email from Dr. Nicole Jamieson and she is requesting a contract to be hired at the hospital.

Jamieson’s recruiter and others had said she intends to sign. Molitor said, “This is excellent for us and her references have been excellent references.”

Molitor also is actively pursuing Dr. Stephen Asay, who she is in current conversations with. Additionally, there are new RN students for clinical rotations coming from both Powell and Riverton. These students could be potential new recruits for the hospital, depending upon their interests in continuing beyond their schooling. 

There will be a temporary CT machine during the new phasing, which will be starting on September 5. 

Molitor also reported that they hired a Clinical Informaticist who specializes in electronic medical records keeping. A new COVID testing machine is also expected to arrive soon. 

Nina Landis reported that her Quality department has caught up on their reports and will do even more robust reporting that will be concise. Currently, they are 77% compliant and have reached their goal to be 77% compliant or better.  The providers are “doing a good job” they are 81% compliant in their medication reconciliations.

Shelly Larson in her financial report said that they are up in the month of June and seem to be at a normal level, which would be prior to COVID as in the month of July.  Larson also said that they have two new billers with 30-35 years of experience that have been a “huge, huge help to our facility”.  The hospital’s days with cash on hand are $178,00 which dropped from $196,000, mainly because July had three payroll periods. They also have to pay for new equipment. 

In new business, the board approved five change orders for a variety of proposals. 1. $9,997.14 for the kitchen renovation, 2. $26,162.80 for the sleeping room and the locker room, 3. $34,175.05 for the electrical for a temp CT machine, 4. $231,732 for materials, 5. $1,600 for the additional buzzer system at the emergency room for after-hours patients. All of these must be completed by December 15.