The Washington County Hospital Board of Trustees met last night, and Nancy Newby started the meeting by going over the financials. The hospital had 20 admissions on a budget of 18, but patient days were actually under budget at 793 days on a budget of 956. Newby said part of that discrepancy is a result of turnover in extended care, which had several admissions but also had several patients expire. Outpatient visits exceeded the budget, but emergency room visits and rural health clinic visits were under budget. Newby attributed that to the fact that three doctors took days off during the month. Patient revenues were below 12.2 percent below budget and net operating expenses were 16.1 percent below budget. Salaries were two percent higher than what was budgeted, but Newby said that was due to payouts to two employees who left the hospital. The total operating expenses came in under budget. Overall, the hospital operated at a loss of $169,435 for the month. The board approved the report. The Board of Trustees discussed the employee satisfaction surveys and other items during the new business part of last night’s meeting. According to Human Resource Director Dave Davenport, 88 percent of the surveys were returned with the majority of employees indicating they were satisfied. Despite mostly positive responses, a couple of items raised concerns among the Board members. Several employees said they do not feel safe from retaliation and that communication could be better, and Newby and board chair Victor Lopez commented that those two could be related. Following that discussion, Chief Information Officer Kim Larkin brought to the board’s attention that the company that handles support for several of the billing systems was bought out, and that while they will continue to provide support for the system, they may not continue to do so indefinitely. Were the company to stop supporting the current system, there would be a substantial cost in both money and time to replace it with something that complies with Medicare and Medicaid. The Board also approved the prevailing wage resolution and the revisions to the Washington County Hospital Auxiliary Bylaws. Newby lauded the work the auxiliary has done in support of the hospital since 1963.  Newby also presented the board with her findings from her trip to the Illinois Hospital Association’s Small and Rural Hospitals meeting. She went on to say that these hospitals generate and economic impact of almost $11.1 billion dollars.