WARREN, Ark. (12/4/25) – The Bradley County Medical Center Board of Directors met Tuesday, Dec. 2 inside the hospital’s conference room for its November meeting that was pushed back due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Annual meetings, financial reports, executive updates, annual approvals, and nomination of officers were all on the agenda for the gathering.
Annual meetings for the corporations of the Bradley Medical Foundation, Bradley Medical Services, and Bradley Medical System were first on the list. All three entities had their minutes from the previous year’s meeting approved before the bylaws for all three were approved as there were no changes. Additionally, all three retained officers of Freddie Mobley as Chairman, Joe Don Greenwood as Vice Chairman/Treasurer, and French Wynne as Secretary. Those officer positions mirror each one’s on the Board of Directors, which was voted on later in the meeting and approved for the next year with no officer changes.
The meeting moved into its regular session with the adjournment of the annual meetings and the approval of the minutes from October’s gathering. Controller Matt Pace began his report by stating most services were down from the previous year aside, from occupational, physical, and speech therapy, though most service lines were showing improvement from the previous month. The gross patient revenue came in at $3,450,448 for October, while the net operating revenue was $1,446,217. The net loss for the month totaled $223,616. The sales tax fund is at $5,826,641.74 after collecting $129,743.95 during the previous month.
CEO/CFO Leslie Huitt began her update by touching on volumes trending up from the previous month despite lagging compared to last year. General Surgeon Dr. Sam Arnold returned last week, and his schedule is filling up quickly. Huitt was glad to report expenses are down almost 16% compared to a year ago. The hospital is in the middle of audit and cost report gathering, which is taking some time and effort.
Huitt continued with an update on the Rural Health Transformation funding. There are more questions than answers at this point, but the state did submit their plan to the federal government. There will be a LEADS cohort, and she is researching how BCMC can be included. The biggest takeaway is that this funding will not be a saving grace for hospitals. It appears that some of the key aspects will involve wellness and food insecurity. She thinks there is an opportunity to explore adding a food pharmacy and teaching kitchen. Moving forward, grant writing will be important and she said the hospital may seek consultation for grant writing.
Her report transitioned to an update by Maintenance Director Tim Saunders concerning the generator. The hospital has been weighing the pros and cons of diesel versus natural gas. Saunders explained that hospitals must have 96 hours of storage, which is a con against natural gas because it’s more expensive and difficult to store. The hospital’s current generator currently has an output of around 600 kW, while the goal is to get one that has an output of 800 kW to add the MRI and CT scan machines to it. His recommendation was to get engineers involved to decide on the best course of action because once you choose a new one, you have to decide where to put it and where to put a temporary generator, if you use the current site.
Saunders finished his time with a brief update on the “ambulance house” located on Jolley Street where EMTs stay until the ambulance is called out. EASI (Emergency Ambulance Services, Inc.) pays rent on the house, but it’s in bad shape and needs a lot of work. The idea is to build a different house on one of the lots the hospital owns on South Bradley Street. The house would be around 1,600 square feet.
Huitt concluded her update by letting the board know that Chief Nursing Officer Jamie Wolfe, Chief Operating Officer Leeanna Williams, and HR Director Brooke Hatch recently had a strategic planning session over a couple of days. One of the items that came out of those meetings is the need for a new marketing position. One focus of this person would be on improving swing bed numbers among other service lines. The salary will also have some incentives built in dealing with volume increases. The board unanimously approved the creation of the position.
Wolfe followed with his portion and began with a positive story about the hospital’s senior care department. They recently had a transfer in who was experiencing mental health issues during their stay and came back for a follow-up visit with Dr. Althea Conley, BCMC’s psychiatrist. During this visit, they wanted to go talk to the senior care staff and thank them for turning their life around. They were not in a state to thank them during their stay but wanted to let the senior care staff know that since they were better now. Wolfe reiterated the importance of that staff, the work they do, and the impact they can have on their patients.
He continued by giving some praise to Steven Smith of the emergency department, who was voted as the SouthArk students’ favorite nurse during their clinicals. There has also been an APRN student shadowing Dr. Bradley Biggers and other doctors in the area. This student bragged about BCMC and said it was the best site he’d been to and told Wolfe how wonderful Dr. Biggers has been along with the nurses and other staff. Next, Wolfe informed the board of a Diabetic Education Class on Dec. 15. He also took a moment to echo Huitt’s point about Dr. Arnold coming back, so surgeries will be increasing.
Wolfe carried on with some discussion about current vacancies and how it is getting tougher to hire bedside nurses. More nurses are looking for office jobs with regular hours, but this isn’t just a problem at BCMC. He concluded by informing the board that Clinical Nurse Educator Krissy Morrison completed the AgriSafe Nurse Scholar program. This helps nurses increase their competence in prevention, identification, and assessment of diseases and conditions commonly experienced by people working in agriculture.
Next up was Williams with her update, and she began by letting the board know that BCMC passed their mammogram inspection with no deficiencies. This inspection is very meticulous and differs from the state inspection. She wanted to recognize Radiology Director Deedre Pierce along with technicians Jessica Dawson and Taylor Norton for this achievement. Radiology doesn’t get any rest however as their general inspection is scheduled for Dec. 9.
Two items were up for approval concerning the use of sales tax funds. First was the purchase of two new EKG (electrocardiogram) machines for $40,000. Second were funds to remodel a room at the Brunson Medical Complex for pediatric patients in occupational, physical, and speech therapy with an estimated cost of $27,000. There has been an increase in pediatric patients and none of the rooms there are ideal for kids with autism or other sensory impairments. Both items were approved unanimously by the board for the usage of sales tax funds.
There were a number of policies submitted for annual approval. They included the Auxiliary Policy, Dietetic Manual, BCMC Board Bylaws, Authority Statement from Infection Control, Compliance Plan, BCMC Staff Bylaws, Medical Staff Required Committees, Medical Staff Officers, Home Health Bylaws, Home Health Emergency Preparedness, and Quality Improvement Plan. All were approved by the board unanimously.
The board went into executive session with medical staff recommendations approved unanimously to finish the meeting.
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