BBGH February Board Meeting
BBGH continues to see financial stability, success with hospitalist program, and is moving forward with renovations to the Kitchen/Cafeteria areas.
During Staff Reports, Chief of Staff Dr. Timothy Narjes briefed the board on recent hospitalist coverage. “We’re starting the fourth week of continuous hospitalist coverage, which is going well. Just like any other thing, there are kinks you have to work out that you weren’t anticipating. We’re working hard to sort those issues out.” BBGH CEO Lori Mazanec added in response to how the program has been received, “I’ve heard a lot of positive feedback, as well as some constructive criticisms for things we might be able to improve, but I think it’s been very receptive overall. I think the nurses really like having someone constantly available to ask questions.”
Jim Bargen, BBGH COO, presented plans for the Kitchen and Cafeteria renovations saying, “Right now we’re finalizing the plans in the next couple weeks and will have pricing by the end of March. We’re looking to start construction June 1 with 4-6 months of work. This design will have a much better flow. We’re looking to bring in a temporary kitchen trailer to make food, and also use the preparation area upstairs in the PCU. Patients will still have meals available during the time of construction.” The Dietary staff played a big role in this design process, and will continue to work with Bargen and his team to make sure the concept is as efficient as possible. CNO Carolyn Jones added, “We don’t want to lose any of the employees we have and anticipate temporary work flows to require us to shuffle things around a bit.”
BBGH CFO Luke Senden presented the monthly Financial Report, stating the hospital had a good month in January and is “still stable and drastically outperforming our budget.” He also said the EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) continues to show strong performance. According to Senden, “EBITDA is a great way to measure the overall success of an organization, showing profitability through the course of normal business operations. It shows how well a company uses its assets and can be a more precise measure of the performance of the company since it is able to show earnings before the influence of accounting types of expenses.” Other financial notes included the drop of Medicare patients’ clinic rates, how the hospital is curtailing unnecessary spending, and changing cost reporting processes.
Mary Mockerman, CQO, reported that influenza is still widespread across the state, and it really likes the cold weather. She said there have been 54 deaths related to influenza across the state, as well as an increase of children 3 years old and under admitted with pneumonia and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus).
Box Butte Health Foundation (BBHF) Director Brooke Shelmadine introduced five new BBHF board members to replace those whose terms have ended. They were approved unanimously.
Recent accomplishments of employees were acknowledged with Dr. Jessica Ott receiving Provider of the Quarter, GNMSS Administrative Assistant Brittany Stull selected as February Employee of the Month, and Lucas Thompson becoming a certified Physical Therapist. New employees starting this month include: Radiology Tech Bailey Gorsuch, Registered Nurse Charlie Pile, Hospitalist Doctor Terri Myers, and Assistant Cook Taylor Williams.
The board entered into Executive Session at 7:07 p.m. to discuss Quality and Safety matters. After discussion, the open meeting convened at 7:25 p.m. and adjourned at 7:26 p.m. with no action taken.
The next board meeting is Monday, March 25th at 6:30 p.m. in the Alliance room. The public is welcome to attend.
