The Washington County Hospital had their monthly Board of Trustees meeting last night.  Cindy Auld with the Kaskaskia College Nashville Extension Steering Committee made a presentation on the new building with the new video, as well as talking about donations for the project.  Chief Financial Officer Elaine Matzenbacher reported that numbers were up in many categories, after being down the past couple of months.  There were 30 admissions, while only 25 were anticipated, but 3 less than January 2013.  Patient days was at 1,108, which was 14 more than anticipated, but 128 less than last January.  Outpatient visits was 1 more than budgeted with 2,667.  That is 105 less than January 2013.  Emergency room visits was well below the anticipated 250, with only 189 this year, while there were 242 last January.  Surgery was also down from an anticipated 41 to 32 actual surgeries.  That is 13 less than last January.  The year to date numbers for all of those categories is below budgeted, but the numbers are very close, except for outpatient visits, which are 2,010 more than anticipated.  Also, there was an income of $120,727, as there had been losses for a couple of months.  For the year to date, there is a positive income of $206,910.  Next, Kim Larkin, Chief Information Officer made her report on the Informational Systems and she said they are doing updates on virtually every program, much of which is needed for the Meaningful Use Act.  Chief Executive Officer, Nancy Newby told the Board of a new physician joining the staff in July and that is Dr. Ginger Fewell, originally from Breese.  She is completing her residency as Chief Resident at Saint Louis University Family Medicine Residency Program.  Newby thanked Dr. Phillip Apprill, a cardiology specialist who comes to WCH, for his recommendation of Fewell, after working with her.  The budget is being put together and there are a couple of capital equipment requests that needed approval.  One is for a physical therapy rehab machine called the NuStep T5XR. 

It is used for both upper and lower extremities to strengthen many injuries and can be used by young and old individuals.  The cost is $7,714 and it was approved by the Board.  The carpet in the clinic is original and is bad, so it needs to be replaced.  The lowest bid for the project was from The Flooring Company of Nashville for $10,377.62.  This will be for the removal of the carpet and replacement with a wood-like material that is being installed in other areas of the hospital.  This will not include the lobby, just the clinic.  It was also approved.  Newby talked about the Quarterly Status Report for the 3^rd quarter, which ended on January 31^st.  The Quality Plan has been updated for the year.  She explains that the first goal is to improve the health of the community, strengthening operations using joint commission standards and other quality measures.  In this section, there was 1 medication error, but there were no ill effects for the patient.  This also includes the successful lab survey.  The upgrade of the building includes the completion of 2 patient room renovations and 2 more have begun.  There was an emergency repair of a collapsed sewer line and some electrical wiring, which was accidently cut during that repair.  Financially, there were a couple of negative months, but it is positive for the year still.  One major change has been the implementation of the H-CAP survey for patient satisfaction.  This new survey is sent out after the patient’s visit, instead of their previous method.  The response rate is very low, in fact they received only 4 back in the quarter.  This is a federal program, so it is not optional and it is used to set a benchmark for hospitals, so they are all evaluated on the same criteria.  They provided CPR classes and had some physician lectures.  Doctors have more coding and documentation about a patient and each visit.  The coding has increased 4 to 5 times, so they have been doing some training for the coders and doctors.  This is important for the claim to be accepted for payment.  Building and Grounds Committee Chairman J.W. Metcalf talked to the Board about their meeting and decision to table for a year the idea of purchasing an emergency generator for the whole hospital in the amount of approximately $270,000.  It was mentioned that the hospital is generally one of the first to get power back on anyway, therefore it isn’t a priority for the hospital at this time.  Newby added that grant money is out there somewhere, it is a matter of finding it for something like this.