The Bradley County Medical Center Governing Board met Thursday, July 27 inside the hospital’s conference room for its monthly meeting with a presentation by an architectural firm, financial reports, and discussion on a recent financial assessment as some of the items on the agenda.
The meeting began with a presentation featuring representatives from Orcutt | Winslow + TEG Architects, Ideal Construction, and EMA Engineering and Consulting. Dwayne Wilson led the presentation which centered around some plumbing issues and other architectural aspects of the building.
Previous board minutes were approved after the presentation and the discussion moved into the financials. Controller Matt Pace reported cash and investments are up 10% compared to last year and had a $32,000 net income in June. The Employee Retention Credits mentioned in last month’s meeting were reflected in this month’s financial report. There were a significant number of accounts receivable for Home Health that were written off and there was $115,000 in sales tax money collected.
Next up for discussion was the Strategic Financial and Operational Assessment by Stroudwater. BCMC CEO/CFO Leslie Huitt shared five different goals the hospital staff had identified which included raising senior care census, revenue cycle improvement, growing outpatient services, growing the market share in inpatient/swing bed services, and management accounting to reduce the divide between financial and clinical staff.
It was explained that a few items regarding these goals had already been put in place prior to the assessment with progress already being seen. Board members then held some discussion and asked the BCMC staff a few questions before there was a short discussion about a fire at JRMC in Pine Bluff on Wednesday and how it could affect BCMC for a short period of time.
An update on the electronic health records (EHR) system transition from CPSI to MEDITECH was given. The next few months the hospital will have to pay both EHR systems until BCMC fully transitions to MEDITECH and the board approved the use of sales tax funds to pay for MEDITECH during this overlap period.
Chief Nursing Officer Jamie Wolfe gave his report by stating the BCMC Med-Surg unit census has been up, including being completely full on some occasions.
The BCMC Senior Care department has also seen an increase and emergency room volumes are steady. The hospital is down to just a few travel nurses. However, Wolfe did warn that some staffing expenses may rise in the coming months due to MEDITECH training because some staff will have to be on the floor while others are in their respective training sessions.
Medical staff recommendations were approved, and the board went into executive session to conclude the meeting.
