Members of the Texas County Memorial Hospital board of trustees met last week and heard a report on finances and recruitment.
POSITIVE FINANCIAL REPORT
The TCMH October financial report provided positive numbers. Outpatient revenues were up $70,448 over budgeted expectations for September. Inpatient revenues were up $10,995 over budgeted expectation for the month, too.
For the second straight month, TCMH had a positive bottom line. September’s bottom line totaled $99,656, bringing the negative year-to-date balance up to $543,956.
“We have made up some of the ground we lost earlier this year,” said Linda Pamperien, chief financial officer at TCMH.
Pamperien attributed the increase in inpatient and outpatient volumes to the additional healthcare providers seeing patients at TCMH clinics and doing procedures at the hospital.
Pamperien also complimented the hospital physicians on their efforts to manage the patients they have in the hospital.
“Our physicians are being extremely conscientious about managing the length of stay for their inpatients,” Pamperien said.
TCMH has been recognized by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services as providing high quality patient care at a lower cost per patient than the state and national averages. According to Pamperien, properly managing a patient’s length of stay helps the bottom line of the hospital and affects the federal quality data that is collected monthly.
Amanda Turpin, quality management director at TCMH, compiles the monthly quality date and TCMH and submits it to federal and state agencies. In mid-October, Turpin passed her board exam to become an internationally board certified healthcare quality professional.
Turpin is one of 11 nurses in Missouri to attain the certification.
“We are very fortunate to have Amanda here working for us,” Murray said.
HHS GRADUATE RETURNING
Also returning to the area is Heather Ragsdale Lobough. Lobough grew up in Bado and graduated from Houston High School. She is a certified registered nurse anesthetist and has been working for the past few years at CoxHealth in Springfield.
Lobough signed an employment contract with TCMH. She will provide surgical anesthesia services at TCMH beginning Nov. 10.
Jenny Sawyer, of Houston, a registered nurse at TCMH, took over the duties as infection control nurse manager in September. Sawyer has been a nurse at TCMH for nine years, and in that time has increased her education and licensure to grow her nursing career. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in nursing in addition to working full-time at TCMH.
Sawyer made a brief presentation to the hospital board regarding Ebola preparedness at TCMH.
“From the beginning, we have adopted the most aggressive approach,” Sawyer said.
Sawyer began working with hospital departments to put Ebola protocols in place in early October. Roundtable drills and personal protective equipment testing is being done at the hospital.
“We have the federal guidelines in place,” Sawyer said. “I feel like we are ahead of the curve of many other hospitals our size.”
PROSPECT VISITS PLANNED
Joleen Senter Durham, director physician recruiting at TCMH, reported that site visits with two family medicine and obstetrics physicians were planned.
“Both of these physicians are looking at the TCMH Mountain Grove Clinic opportunity,” Durham said. “They are seeking a small town family medicine practice where they can practice obstetrics and deliver at TCMH.”
In addition to hospital and clinic tours, the physicians will bring their families and spend time in the area looking at the communities in Texas County.
Present at the meeting were Murray; Pamperien; Sawyer; Durham; Doretta Todd-Willis, chief nursing officer; Dr. Schaun Flaim, chief of staff; Dr. Jonathan Beers, vice chief of staff; Dr. John Duff; and board members Janet Wiseman, Mark Hampton, Dr. Jim Perry, OD, and Russell Gaither. Board member Omanez Fockler was absent.
The next meeting of the TCMH board of trustees is noon Tuesday, Nov. 25, in the hospital board room.