Hot Springs Health board approves audit report

At the January 30 Hot Springs Health board meeting, during special introductions, CEO Scott Alwin introduced Mia Barreda and a new physician assistant from West Virginia, who is working in the Emergency Department. Second, Alwin introduced nurse Ann Strenger, who is now the clinic director. Alwin also presented Neil Todhunter a plaque recognizing his dedication and years of service to Hot Springs Health. 

Dave Studebaker of Eide Bailey presented their audit of Hot Springs Health and said, “The process went pretty smoothly.” Bailey went over the highlights of the various components in the audit, which included data related to their funding programs and the USDA loans they have. Studebaker commented on how the COVID relief fund programs are “winding down” which is one of the big changes they will see year to year. He also reflected that the audit went well due to the financial team at Hot Springs Health and their efforts in their accounting. The hospital board voted and passed the approval to accept the fiscal year 2023 audit.

Dr. Mattson Mathey presented the medical staff report and said that Dr. Nicole Jamieson called them up for her reviews and “she’s doing a good job bringing learning opportunities to the E.R. providers.” Mathey also explained some of the providers got to practice some emergency procedures to keep up their skills honed.

Regarding the pharmacy and therapeutics committee, they are getting a lot of updates on lots of drug shortages. Mathey added, “They’ve been doing a fantastic job with circumnavigating those or having alternatives for us available. It hasn’t really affected patient care too much.”

Mathey reported that Dr. Stephen Asay, who is their Worland provider, is taking over as the physician chair. Previously, it was Dr. Hallie Bischoff, but she is going to remain head of the OB committee. Dr. Megan Olsen took over as our infection prevention committee chair. For the utilization review, they continue to make efforts with chronic care management and transition care management. Mathey said they are a “good opportunity for the hospital to capitalize on some reimbursement that’s available and improve patient care.” He also emphasized the importance of having high-quality documentation.

Regarding the lab, Mathey said they had a new analyzer go live at the end of last year. He said, “All the providers have been quite happy with that a lot faster turnaround” and with its increased capabilities. 

Regarding the Rural Training Track (RTT), Mathey said. “We continue to have a lot of medical students with us right now.” He went on and explained that they have a relationship with the University of Utah to have one of their attending students receive training at Hot Springs Health. Their current student is originally from Laramie. Mathey added, “We kind of keep that spot for Wyoming students who are attending the University of Utah and have an interest in coming and getting some of their home state rural medicine.”

The Rural Training Track has already produced a series of residents over the past five years. There are approximately 200 applicants each year for the program. Dr. Jason Weyer and Dr. Travis Bomengen helm the curriculum for the RTT program for the training to become a physician. 

In the CEO report, Scott Alwin said they had their recent holiday party with 130 attendees. During the party, they celebrated their team members and gave out awards for their services. Alwin also reported they will add additional vinyl signage to them to the main entrance door. He said, “We have found since the remodel project that we have difficulty in way-finding to know where is the main entrance is by pulling up to the building and it looks like that’s the E.R. So where do I go?” This signage is to help properly direct people to the right entrance and not get lost. The new signage will be in place next month.

Alwin then presented to the board a new report format for their pillar goals. In the past, each month they would have their current numbers and their goal for the year. In this new report, they will show monthly trends of the pillar numbers and their goals. This will allow them to see the progression over time of their numbers. 

The pillars are metrics for People, Patient Experience, Finance, Quality and Growth. People’s metrics are based upon their Leadership Empowerment Surveys. Patient Experience is based on the Likelihood of Recommending clinics or physicians. Finances is based upon the decrease in Accounts Receivable and Positive annual Net Operations. Quality is based upon 30 day/90 day competencies completed on time and Do-It Projects. Growth is based upon the Swing Bed daily averages and Annual Medicare Wellness visits.

Interim CFO Gregory Brickner gave the financial report and said, ”November had a net loss of $315,000 on a net operating revenue of $2.9 million. December was a net surplus of $420,000, with net operating revenue at $3.3 million. That brings us to a fiscal year to date, a net surplus of $125,000 with net operating revenue of $18 million. We’ve seen a decline in both patient discharges and outpatient visits this fiscal year at 11.6% and 19.9% respectively. Our ER has seen an increase in visits, 16.9% for the fiscal year.” 

CCO Dan Hemann gave the compliance report and said that they had a restructuring where Nina Landis will take over as the Chief Compliance Officer. Hemann presented a new Code of Conduct Policy. The board voted and passed the approval to accept the new policy.

Chief Human Resources Officer Linda Veylupek reported that their overall turnover rate is now 16.85% which shows a slight increase.