WARREN, Ark. – The Bradley County Medical Center Board of Directors held its monthly meeting on Thursday, July 24 inside the conference room at the hospital with a design study presentation from WDD Architects, Ideal Construction, and EMA Engineering & Consulting beginning the gathering before normal business was conducted.
Minutes from the June meeting were approved before the design study presentation began with Chad Young and Steve Moss of WDD Architects presenting most of the information to the board members. The team went over three options for the board with one being renovating the current facility, the next option being building a new hospital on current land owned by BCMC, and the last being a new building at a new site.
The renovation would include shifting some departments to different areas of the facility and building a new covered entrance on Jolley Street that is further back off the street. The cost of this project is estimated at $24.4 million. The second option would be a new three-level building on current hospital property on East Church Street with an estimated cost of $34.4 million. The final option introduced would be a new one-level hospital at a new site with an estimated cost of $31 million but doesn’t include the cost of acquiring land.
Board members asked a few questions and had a short discussion before the representatives from the three companies were dismissed. CEO/CFO Leslie Huitt thanked them all for listening to BCMC’s needs and putting the hospital’s vision on paper. Huitt wanted the board members to have options to look at and isn’t pushing for any one proposal over another. Additionally, Huitt said there is no intention to ask for a new tax.
The gathering transitioned to normal business with Huitt talking about the effects of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and how the Medicaid cuts will be detrimental to rural hospitals. There was some money added to the bill late set aside for rural hospitals and it is up to the states to disperse. She recently attended a meeting with legislators, and their goal is to work towards sustainability for hospitals instead of temporary fixes. Huitt went on to inform the board that it appears BCMC met the requirements for the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that the hospital has been working hard to complete.
Huitt continued by going into the financial report. Volumes have been up and down with the summer months, but Senior Care has been busy for the last three weeks. Total gross patient revenue for June was $3,404,493 with the net operating revenue at $1,172,402. There was a net income loss of $758,760, while sales tax revenue collected was $111,561.49 to bring the sales tax fund total to $5,322,572.44.
She said that while the income statement did not look good, she was more focused on expenses, which are on track with what the hospital budgeted to lose. Huitt let the board know that the $240,000 from Medicaid that BCMC was owed from 2015 was received earlier this month along with $450,000 owed from this year. The last issue Huitt touched on during her update was concerning the installation of speed bumps on Jolley Street due to the proximity of the entrance and the speed of traffic traveling down the street. She has spoken to the City of Warren about it, and it was discussed in their last city council meeting before being referred to a committee.
Chief Nursing Officer Jamie Wolfe said they are working on getting quotes from Mindray after receiving a quote from ScottCare for new telemetry, including for cardiopulmonary rehab that the hospital will start soon. Chief Operating Officer Leeanna Williams also chipped in and said ScottCare has more capabilities with documentation. She thought they were the best choice for the hospital after talking with other facilities in the state. The board voted unanimously to use $50,000 of sales tax money to move forward with ScottCare.
Williams continued with an update about the Community Health Needs Assessment. The first meeting with the Community Advisory Council was held on July 10 with 27 stakeholders attending. This assessment is completed every three years to help identify healthcare needs in the community and how BCMC can best serve Southeast Arkansas moving forward. The goal was to get 150 responses and BCMC has already surpassed that goal with more than 200 completed. The survey remains open until July 31.
Respiratory Therapy and Utilization Review policies were up for annual approval. Both were approved by the board unanimously. Huitt touched on the BCMC Rural Health Clinic’s new physician, Dr. Russell Gregory, starting on Monday, Aug. 4. There has been a marketing push to inform the community with ads in the papers, social media, and a billboard. The last thing Huitt mentioned was that Arkansas Cardiology will begin sending a doctor to BCMC for an outpatient clinic once a week.
There was no executive session with medical staff recommendations approved by the board unanimously to round out the meeting.
For the latest news and updates regarding BCMC please like the Bradley County Medical Center Facebook page or follow us on Instagram (BCMCWarren) or X, formerly Twitter (BCMC Warren). To keep up with the most recent news and updates for the BCMC Rural Health Clinic, please like the BCMC Rural Health Clinic page on Facebook.
