The July 2022 Box Butte General Hospital Board Meeting was called to order at 12:03 p.m. Monday, July 25. The topics of discussion largely included financials, COVID-19 hospitalizations, MEDITECH updates, and HCAHPS scores.
Employee recognitions were also acknowledged, including Medical Assistant Amber Benge as the July Employee of the month, new employees: Gerald Woods, Maintenance Tech, Amanda Ylander, Nurse Aide, Kaylee Kinser, Surgery Unit Clerk, Tina Baxter, Cook, Emily Bartling, Staff Nurse, and Sarah Monahan, Staff Nurse.
With the absence of Chief Quality Officer Mary Mockerman, Chief Executive Officer Lori Mazanec provided the Quality and Safety Report. She shared that there are only six COVID-19 hospitalizations currently in the Panhandle Public Health District region, with none locally in the last week. Lori said, “We aren’t seeing patients stay [in the hospital] as long as they had compared to last fall.”
The June 2021 audited financials were presented by DA&E Auditor, Kurt Moural. He said there were no changes to bottom line and offered more explanation about the Provider Relief Fund. The delay in the final report was due to the single audit requirements issued later, offering a delay in conducting this piece of the audit. The audit was approved unanimously.
Following the 2021 audited financial report, BBGH Chief Financial Officer Michael O’Dell shared the June 2022 financials with the board, who unanimously approved. Michael said BBGH is having a “fantastic year” and that while there was a loss for the month, it was related to year-end entries and inventory. He hypothesized that revenue is growing because procedures/services that were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic are resuming, and because of work previous Interim CFO Bill Luke did to clean up bad debt.
Chief of Staff Dr. Timothy Narjes updated the board about having a reversal agent for anti-coagulants and anti-venom in stock and available for patients in the Emergency Department. He added that free sports physicals are still available to students on August 4th.
Information Technology Manager Mandy Greve, reported on the progress of the MEDITECH conversion. MEDITECH is the new Electronic Health Records system BBGH will be converting to in November. She said testing will be starting in August. She also said the IT department will undergo a risk assessment to evaluate software, hardware, and physical security. She is hoping to get the firewall replaced in the coming months, as the current one is about 8 years old and needs updated. She added, “We will also be adding a secondary firewall to have a robust fail over system.”
CEO Lori Mazanec offered insight to current HCAHPS survey results. She said the overall trend for the last two years is on a downward slide. She added, “I’m hopeful the new performance development model, focusing on goals relating to the mission, vision, and values of the organization, will naturally raise those scores.” While there could be a number of reasons for the marginal decline in scores including a small number of respondents and perceptions versus reality, COVID-19 can’t be counted out as a significant factor. No matter the cause, Lori insisted, “The goal is not to raise scores, but the experience of the patients.”
With all credentialing approved, the meeting adjourned at 12:59 p.m. with no executive session. The next meeting is August 29 at noon in the Alliance Room, the public is welcome to attend.