Numerous updates for hospital trustees
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The Ringgold County Hospital’s board of trustees met for the regular monthly meeting on Monday, July 22.
Topics discussed included new OT programs, information on grant programs and reassessment of the contract for the athletic trainer provided by RCH to the Mount Ayr Community School.
Opening the meeting was an approval of new appointments and reappointments to staff.
New hires to staff are Kristen Collier, ARNP, who started employment on July 29 in the Mount Ayr Medical Clinic, and Dwayne Campbell, MD, an EP (electrophysiologist) from Iowa Heart in Des Moines who will be providing care through the visiting physician’s clinic.
Reappointments were for current medical staff.
Amy Mobley reported on the recently implemented LSVT Loud program in the Occupational Therapy department. This therapy program is designed to help patients with Parkinson’s or other neurological illnesses to help them learn to use their voice and to make their voice stronger.
The second part of the program, LSVT Big, focuses on helping patients learn to take bigger steps and use bigger actions overall.
The program is four days a week for four weeks as patients go through the various aspects of the therapy.
Mobley shared a personal story of a recent patient’s success with the therapy and remarked at the difference this program is making for these patients.
Jessica Bishop gave an update on the current grant programs with the facility.
Two programs, an internship and an apprenticeship, are currently running. It is the second year for the summer internship and this summer RCH hired six interns hoping to get at least 600 hours of internship training.
Areas using the interns included three interns for medical training, one intern in the lab, one intern in purchasing and one intern in IT.
Two returning interns from the previous summer’s internship program returned as part time employees helping fill needed medical spots.
Bishop said, “Going forward we hope to find sources to continue this program,” as she explained the internship program is applied for annually and not a renewable or guaranteed grant.
The larger apprenticeship grant, a total of $602,000, provides dollars for many areas. Six employees received apprenticeship grants—two who were current employees and two new hires. Other items purchased with this grant money included wheelchairs, pediatric CPR dolls and four pair of virtual reality glasses which simulate situations for EMT’s and CNA’s.
Bishop said she hopes the glasses will also be used on a regular basis by the CNA class offered through MACHS.
Additional spending of the grant money, so far, was also used to cover the cost of removing cabinets in the former pharmacy area.
CEO, Nicky Gilbertson shared recent discussions with the athletic trainer provided to schools by RCH and with MACHS superintendent, Jason Shaffer.
In going over time on campus compared to the original contract agreement between RCH and MACHS, it was found that the athletic trainer was spending “quite a bit more time on campus than the original contract set out”.
In response to these discussions, the athletic trainer will be cutting back on service to the original contract time for 10 hours per week with 9 hours of the school’s choosing and one hour for playing time.
Sandra Christensen, MercyOne liaison, was available to round out the meeting and share some positive financial updates.
She noted a comparison of the 22/23 fiscal year for RCH being at just breaking even to 23/24 fiscal year end coming in with a 9.3% total margin. Christensen also gave credit to departments that have been working on bringing down supply costs per patient, with that number also significantly lowered from $205 to $119.
She concluded, “There is still work to be done, but it has been a great financial year for RCH.”
