WARREN, Ark. – The Bradley County Medical Center Board of Directors met inside the BCMC Conference Room Thursday, Sept. 26 for its monthly meeting with a wide range of topics discussed including financial reports, budget, capital budget requests, patient volumes, policies, and more.
The minutes from the August gathering were approved to kick things off before Controller Matt Pace updated the board on financials. He reported that volumes were up in general and that the 117 acute patient days were the second most during the past year. Pace continued by informing the board of a total gross patient revenue of $4,354,291 in August and a net operating revenue of $2,110,699. A net income of $55,410 was reported, while the sales tax revenue for the month was $115,871.18 and the total in the sales tax fund is $4,744,751.97.
CEO/CFO Leslie Huitt echoed the point of increasing volumes and complimented the Senior Care Unit on a daily census of 5.7 as they continue to get closer to the goal of six set during the DRCHSD Grant. Huitt also touched on expenses decreasing as a good trend to see. She also spent some time talking about renegotiating with payers as several have not been done in years. She mentioned United Healthcare for Home Health as the first she is targeting.
Huitt explained to the board about being in the design and development phase of the Master Plan. She expressed some frustration with the process but said they have made good progress recently and that the architect wants to meet with the board next month.
The final point Huitt touched on was concerning budgets, which include a cost of living raise for employees. The board decided to unanimously approve cost of living raises, which will go into effect for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Additionally, the capital budget items requested were unanimously approved by the board.
Chief Nursing Officer Jamie Wolfe spoke about the inventory process currently underway and how nurse managers were handling it. Both him and Huitt talked about one of the DRCHSD goals was to involve managers more in the budget process and going through inventory they are starting to eliminate some waste to help the bottom line.
Wolfe concluded by letting the board know Dr. Scott Claycomb, who performs surgeries at BCMC, complimented our surgery department on their professionalism and thoroughness. A board member also said that they had received a positive report from a recent patient in swing bed and first station with Wolfe saying he had received a compliment from a patient on the care they received while at the hospital.
The meeting shifted toward policy approvals with annual approvals for Pharmacy, Radiology, and Risk Management all unanimously pushed through. Individual policies for Medication Preparation – Compounded Sterile Products; Medication Waste; Minimizing Loss of Mammography Images and Reports; Mammography Storage and Disposal; and Mammography Follow-Up were also approved unanimously by the board members.
Huitt touched on some air conditioning problems within the facility and proposed the use of sales tax funds to replace the air conditioning unit in the MRI room. The board made the motion to approve and was passed unanimously.
The board went into executive session and medical staff recommendations were approved before the meeting was adjourned.
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