RCH gets upgrades
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By KEN GARNER
MOUNT AYR, Iowa — The Ringgold County Hospital Board of Trustees were informed of staffing and facility updates during its October monthly meeting held last Wednesday in the NAT Conference Room.
A new provider, Amanda Lau (ARNP) has been hired to work in the hospital’s Emergency Department with a start date of November 10 for the nurse practitioner. She will training alongside Dr. Moretina and Dr. Ferhut. Also, the hospital now has a new laboratory medical director in Dr. Ramona Thompson as she succeeds Dr. Crowder, who is leaving MercyOne.
Also in regards to staffing, the hospital has announced that longtime physician, Dr. Bruce Ricker will be officially retiring on December 10. The hospital is planning a reception for Dr. Ricker on November 13.
The Board was also informed that several facility upgrades have been completed. The hospital has installed its facility wide cameras providing far more visual coverage of the facility.
According to Ringgold County Hospital Chief Executive Chief Financial Officer Trevor Toft, the project came in “ahead of schedule and under budget.”
In total 36 cameras were installed and are now fully functional and according to Toft provides the ability to see “almost the entire outside of the building at any given time during the day.”
The new camera system also stores footage for a reported 49 days. This provides the hospital with footage for a variety of possible issues, including accidents or issues in the parking lot, something in a corridor or nearly anywhere else on the hospital grounds.
“It gives us that piece of mind that we can go back and see what actually happened,” Toft said.
The hospital will also be receiving its new ultrasound machine as early as the middle of November. The new machine, which is capable of 3D/4d images was made possible the Best and Brightest Equipment grant the hospital was previously awarded.
“We will have some increased services that we’ll be able to offer with that,” Chief Clinical Officer Denise Coleman said.
In other facility upgrade news, the hospital continues to replace carpet in the building with the clinic scheduled to be done approximately the second week of November with the business office to follow.
The board was informed that the hospital has already seen its first case of Influenza A this season. As of last Wednesday hospital employee vaccination rate was at 71 percent.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Katie Wilcox stated that the vaccine is widely available in the area both at the hospital and at Hy-Vee.
As efforts continue to fill vacant positions, the hospital is exploring a relationship with the Ringgold County Development Corporation to maybe help provide a tour of the area to prospective providers and their families to show all that the area has to offer.
During the month of October, the hospital and its staff held several events promoting community health.
RCH sponsored a mammogram awareness event with a Donut Drive-thru to help promote breast cancer awareness. The hospital also hosted a Healthy Her event for area middle school girls that focused on health awareness and body positivity.
The board also held an additional special meeting on Monday in which they approved the CEO Agreement and CEO Target Incentive Agreement.
The board also went into closed session for approximately 90 minutes to discuss a matter of urgency pursuant to Iowa Code 21.5.1(l) “To discuss patient care quality and process improvement initiatives in a meeting of a public hospital or to discuss marketing and pricing strategies or similar proprietary information in a meeting of a public hospital, where public disclosure of such information would harm such a hospital’s competitive position when no public purpose would be served by public disclosure.”
No further information was available as of press time.
