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VAN DYKE -- In a meeting that took place
for the most part in executive session, hospital directors voted in
open session, without discussion, to authorize assumption of $6.5
million in debt for a major purchase of hospital diagnostic and
other equipment and software.
The Board of Directors of the Comanche
County Consolidated Hospital District, the governing body of the
Comanche County Medical Center and Doctors Medical Clinic, met in
regular session at noon on Tuesday, March 25.
The meeting was chaired by president Gale
Easley, with all members present including Joe Locke, Karen Petty,
Charles Mazurek, Janna Morris and Billy Ray Evans.
The first order of business on the agenda
involved a drawing for ballot position in the race between Gale
Easley and Larry Damron. Damron was in the room meeting Easley and
others on the Board before the meeting began, however he left before
the drawing. Easley drew the first ballot position.
Toshiba Sales Presentation
The next order of business was a fairly
lengthy sales presentation by Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation.
Various sales executives spoke to the
Board and showed computer slides that demonstrated the medical
imaging capabilities of their suite of products including a 64 slice
CT scanner, an MRI machine, Nuclear Medicine, and Ultrasound.
At the conclusion of the one hour and 25
minute presentation, the Toshiba sales crew was excused and the
Board took a brief break.
Financial Report
Chief Financial Officer Tom Letz
presented the financial report after the Board resumed session and
approved the minutes of the prior month's meeting. He first referred
to the statement of income and expense, which showed a loss of
$111,742 for the month of February, bringing the eight month
year-to-date loss to $553,341.
Patient service revenues for the month of
$2.334 million were $64,000 below the budget. Net patient revenues
were down $142,000. Total operating revenues were $174,000 below
budget.
Letz attributed much of the drop in
revenues to the non-receipt of Medicare Dispro funds since
mid-December and the hospital's election to take a very conservative
accrual for that eventual payment.
Chief Executive Officer Kevin Storey noted that part of the delay is
the hospital's appeal of a Medicare denial of Dispro payment
eligibility. He expressed confidence that CCMC would eventually be
ruled to be fully eligible and continue to be paid as before.
Total operating expenses were also under
budget by $95,000. Purchased and contracted services, employee
benefits, and supplies were well below the budget, although
salaries, payments to physicians and insurance costs were over
budget. Year-to-date, operating expenses are $683,000 below the
budget with the significant line item variances being similar to the
monthly variances.
At the end of February, the hospital had
cash and short term invested reserves of in excess of $1.3 million
and another $600 thousand set aside for the next bond payment.
Accounts payable were listed at $1.2 million with normal month end
accruals, but only $600 thousand as of the meeting date.
Letz presented a new financial schedule
comparing year-to-date patient revenues to the prior year as
detailed on a fifty line item departmental listing. Kevin Storey
said that the schedule's detail illustrates the decline in surgical
revenues from 2007.
Letz also presented a comparison of
revenues for both the clinic and the hospital that had been
generated by Dr. Chiang's work and patients. It showed a gross
revenue drop in eight months of more than $2.1 million.
Storey noted, "Even with the
reimbursement rate, that's a drop of more than one million to the
bottom line." He also expressed optimism that with Dr. Hubbard's
start with the hospital in March he would soon be replacing most
that revenue drop.
Storey continued, stating that the reason
for the hospital's revenue drop this year had not been from the lack
of patient support, because the average patient census had been
consistently good throughout. Rather, it was the combination of the
loss of Dr. Chiang and the drop in surgeries.
Both Storey and Letz mentioned the growth
in hospital and clinic revenues generated by Drs. Davis and Donham,
as well as the longer serving staff physicians.
Medical Staff Report
Dr. Dickey noted that the medical staff
had seen the live product demonstrations put on by Toshiba and he
added that they had been very favorably impressed with all the
products demonstrated. He listed five staff physicians who would be
available during the meeting to speak in support of the Toshiba
proposal.
Executive Session
At that point, Gale Easley announced that
the Board would go into closed, executive session for the discussion
of financial planning information related to the negotiation and
arrangement for the provision of services and product lines, as well
as to discuss personnel matters.
The executive session began at 2:40 p.m.
Public session was not resumed until 4:20 p.m. During the interim
various staff physicians and hospital staff were invited into the
closed Board session. Spreadsheet financial projections were
displayed on the screen.
Resuming Public Session
The first item acted upon was a motion by
Charles Mazurek for the Board to allow an exception on the
hospital's written personnel policy on hiring relatives of another
hospital employee in one case only, with any other instances also
requiring specific Board approval.
His motion was seconded by Karen Petty
and, after brief discussion of clarification, the vote of approval
was unanimous.
Kevin Storey noted that we live in a
relatively small community and that sometimes there are people who
are needed to be hired who may be related.
Toshiba Proposal Approved
Joe Locke then offered a motion to
authorize the administration to "go ahead with the signing and
financing as discussed in the executive session for the purchase of
the additional equipment." Karen Petty immediately seconded.
Charles Mazurek asked if the motion
specified the Toshiba proposal and was answered affirmatively.
Gale Easley asked if there was additional discussion, and there was
none. She then called for a vote.
Four hands immediately went up. Two lagged a bit, however, the vote
in favor was unanimous.
There were some expressions by Board
members that they had changed their minds on the proposal during the
meeting.
Executive & Clinical Reports
Kevin Storey noted that he really didn't
have his usual CEO report other than what had been discussed in
executive session regarding the Toshiba proposal.
EMS Director Danny Owen and several EMS
attendants had waited through the long executive session to meet
with the Board and now Owen asked for the opportunity to speak
regarding an EMS matter.
Gale Easley indicated that the matter had
already been discussed during executive session (under which stated
agenda item was not explained) and that there was no need for Owen
to speak on the subject.
Owen thanked Easley and then he and the
other EMS attendants left the meeting.
Steve Raines, the Medial/Surgical
Director, described the hospital's business as having been down a
little bit during February. Emergency Room business dropped
significantly, down nearly 100 visits. Surgical procedures were off
by one third.
Raines noted that the nursing staff would
be inservice trained on the new IV pumps beginning in April. |
