WARREN, Ark. – The Bradley County Medical Center Board of Directors met for its monthly meeting on Thursday, May 28 inside the hospital’s conference room with improved volumes, financial reports, executive updates, purchases out of sales tax funds, and annual policy approvals among the topics on the agenda.
Minutes from the previous meeting were approved before Controller Matt Pace spoke about financials. Volumes were up almost across the board other than acute days and surgery. The BCMC Rural Health Clinic also had its most visits in more than a year. There was some discussion about how these increased volumes could positively affect the hospital.
Pace reported that the gross patient revenue figure of $3,878,882 for April was the highest the hospital has had since moving to Meditech in early 2024 and happened despite a low number of acute days. The net operating revenue came in at $1,584,992 with a net loss of $178,334 for the month. Pace also said expenses have been down and despite some cash decreases the hospital has been able to reinvest $200,000 into certificates of deposit.
Accounts receivable increased 5% but are down 19% for the year. The net days in A/R is 46.2, which is better than the standard of 50 days. Total revenue for the BCMC Rural Health Clinic was also the highest it has been since the move to Meditech. Pace concluded by letting the board know sales tax collected was $115,659.13 to bring the fund to a total of $6,039,794.92.
CEO/CFO Leslie Huitt echoed some of Pace’s portion by saying April was a good month for the hospital. She also mentioned that she thought the clinic was heading in the right direction with 44 new patients during the previous month and a good number of hospital encounters. She informed the board that Rural Health Clinic Manager Paulette Tolefree is retiring and her last day is May 29 after 38 total years of service to BCMC. Manager-in-Training Jessica Hammock will take over the clinic. Additionally, Materials Management Director Terry Young is retiring with his last day also set for May 29. Ethan Gardner was hired for that position a month ago and has been training.
The Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) has been a struggle as entities attempt to get proposals in. The Thrive initiative was released but was different than expected as the bulk of the focus appears to be on EMS. There is some money available for telehealth and BCMC is part of a proposal through the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership for funds. Her goal is to increase the telehealth presence for ER patients so they can have access to specialty doctors without having to be transferred unless it is absolutely necessary.
There is an opportunity with UAMS to help get equipment as well to improve the networking to make telehealth run more efficiently. The Pact portion of the RHTP is expected to be released next. This is the part that would go more towards maintenance and improvements. She stated there is confusion in the state concerning the Thrive Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) being released prior to the PACT NOFO. She concluded her update by saying she hopes there will be more clarity soon.
Chief Nursing Officer Jamie Wolfe started by informing the board of the upcoming Mini-M*A*S*H Camp scheduled to take place June 15-19. The committee selected 12 students out of 18 applicants and are excited about the event. It takes a lot of time and effort from staff members, but it’s a vital event for the community and something he believes the staff looks forward to.
Wolfe continued with an update on med-surg staffing as the hospital recently hired a new graduate from UAM and filled two PRN positions. He reported there were four COVID-19 cases in April and five so far in May. The staff is also monitoring the Ebola outbreak.
The hospital auxiliary agreed to purchase 12 over-bed tables at a cost of $5,000 and Wolfe was incredibly gracious towards them. The hospital needs five more to get to 17 total to match the new beds and the board approved the usage of sales tax funds to cover the other five tables at $2,000. The surgery department had two insufflators, which are needed for laparoscopic surgeries, recalled. The cost to get new ones is $10,000 and the board unanimously approved the use of sales tax funds to buy the replacement insufflators.
Chief Operating Officer Leeanna Williams reminded the group about the 75th Anniversary Celebration of BCMC taking place on Thursday, June 11 at 10 a.m. There are families from former doctors and administrators expected to be in attendance along with local political leaders and more. Her other item of business was about the BCMC Home Health Department’s surprise survey from the Arkansas Department of Health last week. They did not have any deficiencies and were told it was the best survey they had ever done. Williams wanted to make sure director Deena Cornish and her staff were recognized for this achievement.
The meeting transitioned to annual policy approvals. Manuals from Compliance, Laboratory, BCMC Rural Health Clinic, and Materials Management were up for a vote. All four were approved by the board unanimously.
Huitt needed approval to use sales tax funds on two items. The ice machine in the Senior Care Unit has to be replaced, while the outbuilding that stores linens was damaged in a recent storm. The cost of the ice machine is $10,000 with the new outbuilding coming in at $6,000. Both items were approved unanimously by the board for the use of sales tax funds.
The administrators spoke a little about Hospital Week and thought it was carried out successfully at BCMC with Marketing Director Tiffany White leading the charge. There were several compliments from employees about how well it was run. This is an important event for community engagement as a number of local businesses contribute to making it a successful event every year.
The board then went into executive session. Once they returned, the last order of business was the unanimous approval of medical staff recommendations before the meeting was adjourned.
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.
