The Box Butte General Hospital (BBGH) Board of Trustees meeting was called to order at 12 p.m. Monday, July 26th in the Alliance Room at BBGH. The abbreviated agenda included updates on Quality Management & Safety, updates about the ongoing search for a permanent Chief Financial Officer, and the damage received during the recent hailstorm. The consent calendar and credentialing requests were all approved as presented.

Quality and Safety updates included information about the different brands of COVID-19 vaccines. Chief Quality Officer Mary Mockerman stated the state of Nebraska is no longer distributing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. BBGH does not stock the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but has Moderna and Pfizer vaccines available. (See the Center for Disease Control website for a fact sheet on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.) The Panhandle Public Health District does not anticipate any interruption for those wishing to receive a vaccine. Mockerman also mentioned BBGH, as well as the state of Nebraska, are seeing upticks in cases of the COVID-19 variant Delta.

Chief Executive Officer Lori Mazanec, MHA, ACHE, updated the board on the status of the search for a permanent Chief Financial Officer. Since working with Bryan Health’s Rural Division for recruitment, BBGH has received 20 applications with two individuals landing in-person interviews in the coming weeks. The BBGH leadership team is pleased the process has gone much faster than originally anticipated.

New BBGH employees include IT Helpdesk Tech Dallas Helms, EVS Tech Lora Cross, Staff Nurse Madi Morgan, LPN, and Sonographer Ashley Agler. Also recognized were July Employee of the Month Lucas Thompson, PT, DPT, Staff Nurses Jessica Hansen, RN, and Nikki Akers, RN for receiving CNOR certificates, and the Medical Staff of GNMSS for their teamwork.

The next BBGH regular board meeting is Monday, August 30th at noon in the Alliance Room. The public is welcome to attend via Zoom if preferred; contact Jennifer Dentler at 308-761- 3392 for the link.