Hospital board hears reports

At the March 29 Hot Springs Health board meeting, CEO Margie Molitor was out of town and was unable to attend. Therefore, Chief Clinical Officer Scott Alwin gave the growth pillar report and said he welcomed the new Chief Financial Officer Kevin Benson. 

Alwin then asked Verlene Luna to discuss the new same-day access program for the clinics.

Luna said, “We really have been working with established patients from some of our more productive physicians to get them in quicker. So if, for instance, it’s five days you’re not able to get in, we’re tracking that and really working towards breaking those appointments up because we’re very concerned about established patients. But those that are acute, same day, we want to make sure that we differentiate ourselves by being able to get those folks in as quickly as possible. And so we’ve opened up several appointment slots and are very dedicated to making sure that everyone that calls can make an appointment that same day. So we’re excited about that.”

Alwin also recognized the celebration and appreciation event for Dr. Vernon Miller, which was held on March 31. Alwin said, “We’re very appreciative of all the hard work he’s provided this organization for over the years and look forward to working with him as a resource for Dr. Jamieson in the future.” Alwin also recognized Interim CFO Steve Miller for his help as they kept the hospital running while working on finding a permanent replacement. 

Scott Alwin continued in the quality report and said that they recently hired a new CRNA named Jeff Johnson who will be joining the surgical team in July. Alwin welcomed Carolyn St. James, who is visiting to perform the rural health clinics and hospital’s mock surveys.

For their summer internship program, Alwin said they did some presentations at some high schools. He visited Thermopolis High School on March 18 and Shoshoni High School on March 24. Applications opened Friday, April 1. Those who are interested in applying can visit Hot Springs Health’s website or seek their Facebook page.

Regarding the Cerner Move to Model program, they went live on March 19 and that was successful, according to Alwin. The Billings Clinic had 778 open tickets, and it was across multiple different facilities. They had closed 2,221 tickets and then had a total of 3,098 tickets altogether. The tickets ranged from very minor issues to others more complicated.

Alwin reported, “I did complete an application for the Wyoming Rural Improvement Grant submitted that last Monday and then we got word on Friday that we are going to be awarded $14,000 for improving an education center downstairs. We have moved the Education Department from across the street in that little building on the corner down to the downstairs down here.” Alwin said they are going to be revamping it and have the education center for a multitude of uses, including training and advancing health care.

John Gibbel gave his report for the service pillar and said he has some marketing materials in the tourist travel guide.

Another item Gibbel mentioned is that Dr. Olson wanted to do a bystander CPR course, which was inspired by the Emma Dorman story.

Gibbel said, “Her sister wants to partner with us and we’re actually going to go into the Wind River Canyon with her sister, who’s going to describe what happened. She wants to have something where people will know what to do and not have maybe a similar situation happen again. And talk about the Good Samaritan laws and things where, if there are concerns, you can feel comfortable doing so.” Gibbel added that the training will be just the compression and not the breathing. The course will be on June 18.

Gibbel also reported that Lab Well is back to being weekly due to the large turnout unless there is a supply issue.

Interim Chief Financial Officer Steven Miller reported the financial results up till the end of February 28, which had a net operating surplus of $73,000.

Miller added, “For the year to date, we’re now at a loss of $378,000 versus the budget of about $38,000 in the prior year. At this point, we had a loss of $820,000.” Miller continued and said their days in accounts receivable continue to be over their goal.

Miller also said they “have received proposals from four well-qualified accounting firms to provide audit services, cost report preparation services, and the 990 preparation for this coming year. We’ve just received those within the last couple of weeks.”

Linda Veylupek of human resources presented a new employee orientation policy as the previous policy was outdated. The board voted and approved to accept the updated policy. 

Under new business, medical staff coordinator Lacy Andreen reported they are working on finding a location for their board retreat in the first week of June.