Texas County Memorial Hospital board members approved a 2008 operating budget at their monthly meeting last week that projects a 1.9 percent profit margin with gross operating revenue of about $57.1 million and net operating revenue of about $25.5 million.
“Again, we have taken a very conservative approach with our operating budget,” said Linda Pamperien, chief financial officer at TCMH, when she presented the operating budget request.
The budget reflects an attempt to keep expenses down with an operating expense increase of 3 percent. Two full-time and four part-time medical personnel positions will be added in 2008, according to the upcoming year’s operating budget.
In other financial news, Pamperien reported a positive bottom line of $28,287 for the November and a year-to-date balance of $499,502. Revenues were down at the hospital for November, but expenses also remained down.
The average daily census in November was 15.
Dr. Charles Mueller, chief of staff at TCMH, presented the medical staff report. Mueller commented on the response of hospital personnel to the multiple trauma accident that occurred on South U.S. 63 on Dec. 6. It killed two and injured four.
“I’ve come to expect that our staff will respond in ways that go above and beyond when our medical services are needed to handle multiple traumas and casualties,” Mueller said, “But I and the other members of the medical staff also appreciate the way our TCMH staff respond during events like these.”
Mueller noted that he asked someone to call in one extra operating room nurse and three showed up. “Help was everywhere you looked,” Mueller said.
Wes Murray, chief executive officer at TCMH, explained that several members of the hospital’s medical staff had come by his office to personally express their thanks for their response of the TCMH employees who helped out during the crisis.
“It was impressive to hear such positive remarks from the physicians about the way our staff worked together,” Murray said.
Murray explained that on-call employees were called in, employees who saw the accident on their way home from work turned around and came back to the hospital to assist, and employees working in other departments came into the emergency room to help with the accident victims and with several other emergencies being handled at the same time.
“I’ll put our group of employees up against any hospital’s employees when it comes to compassion and caring,” Murray said.
Murray noted that emergency department nurse manager Charolette Horn has prepared a survey to distribute to medical personnel involved in the event to gain feedback from everyone. “This was a large enough multiple trauma event that we can learn from the experience,” Murray said.
In other business, the TCMH Office Annex work is still under way with the projected start date moved back slightly due to weather, delays in shipping for equipment needed for the lab and the holidays. The sleep studies should begin in late January or early February.
Dr. Brian Kim and Dr. Donald Wantuck, pulmonologists with the Chest and Sleep Institute of Springfield, will be reading the sleep studies done at TCMH.
Murray noted that the visit to TCMH from Sen. Kit Bond went well with a large turn out of hospital employees and visitors that filled the hospital’s front lobby.
“We received a very nice letter from Sen. Bond following his visit,” Murray said. “Due to his early arrival in Houston, we were even able to give him a quick tour of the hospital.”
On the same day as Bond’s visit commemorating the $432,500 USDA and Rural Development loan and grant, TCMH received notice it had received $15,000 from Cardinal Health to promote education and to receive training regarding MRSA, an infection.
“The grant from Cardinal Health puts us into receiving over $550,000 in grants since 2004,” Murray said.
HMN Architects of Springfield continues to meet with staff and conduct interviews regarding blueprint design for the proposed hospital expansion project.
“According to our requirements per state statutes, we are advertising for a construction manager for the project,” Murray said.
As construction firms begin to look at the project with HMN, the hospital will gain a better perspective on the true cost of the overall project.
Present at the meeting were: Murray, Pamperien, Mueller, Doretta Todd-Willis, nursing chief; Joleen Senter Durham, director of public relations; and board members Janet Wiseman, Omanez Fockler, Jane Kirkwood and Larry Southern. Board member Mark Forbes was absent.
The next meeting of the TCMH board of trustees is noon Jan. 23 in the downstairs meeting room of the hospital.