WARREN, Ark. (2/5/24) – The Bradley County Medical Center Board of Directors met Thursday, Feb. 1 for its first meeting of 2024 with several topics covered including volumes, financials, MEDITECH go-live, ARPA funds, and updates from hospital executives.
The previous meeting’s minutes were approved before Controller Matt Pace went into his report. Pace stated the total gross patient revenue was $3,837,347 while the net operating revenue was $1,797,874 in December of 2023. Sales tax revenue was $121,362.60 and there is a little over $4.2 million in the sales tax fund.
CEO/CFO Leslie Huitt updated the board that patient volumes are down from a year ago except in surgery, senior care, and emergency room visits. The most positive trend for December for Huitt was that over $2 million in cash was collected and accounts receivable was lowered by over $300,000. The MEDITECH go-live date was Jan. 23 and while there have been plenty of kinks to work out, overall, it has been better than expected. The staff has been great during this change.
Huitt informed the board the request for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds was approved by the state legislature but reminded them that there are goals of the plan that have to be met to keep the initial funding or receive any in the future. Additionally, she updated the group on some damage done to the building during the recent storms on Jan. 12.
Chief Nursing Officer Jamie Wolfe echoed much of what Huitt said concerning the MEDITECH transition. He thanks the staff and physicians for stepping up during this time especially since census was high. The census has come back down a bit since the week of go-live and the volume of people with flu, COVID-19, or RSV has also trickled down from what the hospital saw in December.
Chief Operating Officer Leeanna Williams added some input on the MEDITECH go-live as well and commended the staff. She pointed out that staff has been able to deal with the patients’ needs first despite how smoothly MEDITECH was working or if something needed to be changed in the system. Additionally, she mentioned BCMC is hosting a Community Connect Event on Feb. 12 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. as part of the DRCHSD grant and there is a video shoot scheduled for Feb. 6 in conjunction with a company that is doing work for the City of Warren. The BCMC Auxiliary will also being hosting their district meeting this month.
The board then moved into the policy approval section of the meeting. The group conducted annual approvals for the Administration, Social Services, and Fire and Building Safety manuals. The members then approved three different new policies for the BCMC Rural Health Clinic concerning vaccine storage, COVID-19 vaccination, and RSV vaccination in infants and young children.
The board went into executive session before coming back to adjourn the meeting.
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