The Texas County Memorial Hospital board of trustees last week received an update on the planned $17.5 million expansion of the institution.
Members met last week with JE Dunn Construction Co. and HMH Architects LLC during its monthly meeting. TCMH contracted with JE Dunn to construct the 38,000 square foot expansion project, and HMN is the architect.
Two members of the six-member JE Dunn project team devoted to the TCMH project – Kevin Wagner, senior project manager, and Matt Evans, project manager – gave short presentations about their company.
“JE Dunn understands the significance of the hospital in Houston,” Wagner explained. Wagner grew up in a rural Missouri town and works with JE Dunn solely on healthcare facilities.
Evans grew up in Cabool and has spent seven years with JE Dunn, also working on rural hospitals.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to work on this particular project,” Evans said, citing his close hometown connection.
Wagner explained that JE Dunn has formal quality controls and standards in place to “ensure consistent delivery.” These measures include constructing mock-ups of patient rooms prior to actually building the rooms, pre-installation meetings during the construction process and training hospital staff on using the new mechanical, electrical and other service equipment in the new construction.
“We train all of our field workers for working in a healthcare environment,” Wagner said.
Wes Murray, chief executive officer at TCMH, noted that in meeting with the construction companies that bid the hospital project, JE Dunn offered “impressive” quality and training measures for doing construction specifically in hospitals.
“Construction site cleanliness, noise levels and infection control are all things that we have to consider when going into a building project,” Murray said.
Wagner emphasized JE Dunn’s knowledge of the unique needs of healthcare construction, and he invited the hospital’s board and administration to ask questions and interact with the construction company throughout construction.
“We want the hospital to be as involved in this construction process as you want to be involved,” Wagner said. He noted that the goal of JE Dunn is to see its construction projects through to the end.
“We want to work with the hospital to make sure you have a smooth transition even as you move into the new construction,” Wagner said. “We don’t just build the building and leave.”
Gary Hansen, principal at HMN, explained that the architectural firm was also “very happy to work with JE Dunn.”
“We have worked with JE Dunn for a very long time,” Hansen said, “And it’s been our experience that in a project like this it’s always good to work with a contractor with 24/7 acute care hospital experience.”
Hansen and Steve Rutherford, architect with HMN, showed nearly final schematic drawings for the hospital’s expansion to the board.
“We are done with the schematic design,” Hansen said. “Now we will do more in depth design and development by creating the blueprints for construction.”
Blueprint development will allow contractors to bid on the construction portion of the project.
“We have committed to a certain debt service with this project,” Murray said. “Soon we will be able to put a pencil to paper and see what our actual cost will be.”
UMB Bank, NA, of Kansas City, the company that will handle the hospital’s tax-exempt revenue bonds to pay for the expansion project, prepared a financial analysis for the hospital. Murray presented it to the board.
The analysis looked at the hospital’s financial performance since 2003 and the available cash flow for debt service of $17.5 million – the estimated cost of the expansion project.
“The annual payment on the debt service will be $1,494,728,” Murray said. “We are currently generating two times as much cash flow needed to service the debt for the project.”
Murray noted that financial analysis “assumes no growth” by the hospital.
“However, we certainly hope that the type of facility we will be able to offer with the expansion will help with everything from recruiting of physicians to people choosing TCMH over other hospitals based on the what we will have to offer,” Murray said.
The hospital plans to host a series of public forums throughout the county to showcase the hospital expansion plans and to explain the funding process to community members.
Physician recruiting remains a high priority at the hospital. Dr. Diana Koenig joined TCMH to practice at the Summersville Community Clinic three days a week beginning June 2.
Dr. Charles Mueller and Dr. Rick Stubbs, general surgeons at the TCMH Medical Complex, and Dr. Lynn Hauenstein, emergency room physician, have renewed their contracts with the hospital.
Dr. Mohd Boda, internal medicine physician at the TCMH Medical Complex, has resigned his position effective July 15.
TCMH officials recently attended a physician conference in Branson to recruit. Joleen Senter Durham, director of physician recruiting, also continues to track physician leads and work with recruiting firms. Currently, two primary care physicians are being sought to work in the TCMH Medical Complex.
Durham is also working with the University of Missouri to bring a medical student to shadow physicians at the hospital this summer.
“We are continually trying to give our hospital more exposure to potential physicians,” Murray explained.
Annex Opens: The TCMH Annex, the hospital’s former business office, is open for business. The offices of Hospice of Care, the Healthcare Foundation and Deborah Belt-Kell, professional counselor, are in the building, as well as the new sleep studies lab.
“The sleep study equipment is in place and is being tested,” Murray explained.
Policies and procedures for the lab are being written. A formal open house for the public will be held in June, and the public will be invited.
Tree Planted: A pink dogwood was planted near the Annex building, and a memorial monument for former employee, Wanda Byler, was placed near the tree. Many years ago employees had planted a dogwood in front of the hospital and placed the memorial marker by the tree, but the tree and marker had been removed.
“Just like the marker for Glen Fisher Sr.which was recently replaced at the heliport, it’s important that these markers find new locations when they are removed,” Murray said.
Inpatient and outpatient revenues were down for April, but expenses at the hospital also decreased. The hospital had a positive bottom line of $55,681 in April and a year-to-date balance of $283,406.
The average daily census in April was 16.
Present at the meeting were Wagner; Evans; Hansen; Rutherford; Murray; Durham; Mueller; Doretta Todd-Willis, director of nursing; and board members Omanez Fockler, Jane Kirkwood, Janet Wiseman and Larry Southern.
Board member Mark Forbes was not present.
The next meeting of the TCMH board of trustees is noon Tuesday, June 24, in the downstairs meeting room of the hospital.