Paris, Tenn.- There was no “magic fairy dust” or “magic wand” at the Henry County Medical Center Board of Trustees meeting Thursday night, but there sure was a lot of celebrating the success of 20 months of hard work and growth as CEO Lisa Casteel shared with board members the results of the fiscal year 2019.
After two years of millions in losses, HCMC reported a positive bottom line of just over $10,000 consolidated for the year end.
“News Channel 5 recently came to our facility to interview us about how we are still here as a rural facility while other facilities are no longer,” Casteel said. “The common thread throughout the interviews from the reporter was that patients, families, and staff from front line to the top including myself believe this is home and we continue to work to keep it our home for healthcare.”
Casteel discussed the many initiatives around the success of the last 20 months including pay raises for staff, rounding, purchase of equipment so staff can do their jobs effectively, recruiting physicians, education of staff, and doing this with a focus on quality. Volumes helped to drive the improvement with many departments helping that growth like The Women’s Center, Surgery, DME, Home Health and Skilled Care, she said.
Casteel also discussed our physician recruitment needs, announcing the addition of an OB/GYN to our organization arriving sometime in the late fall.
Chief Finance Officer Dale Guffey presented the total financial picture of the organization addressing the outstanding year and the huge growth achieved throughout the organization. Guffey also presented the investments and debt report to the board. Bad debt of $647,769 was approved and capital purchases of $449,972 were approved, with $300,000 of it going towards the cath lab build out. Additionally, the construction of the stereotactic room was included in this, a service for breast biopsy that has been suspended since January until state approvals were in place to begin this build.
The Summer Junior Volunteer Program will celebrate its conclusion tomorrow and Ben McCormick, a Senior at Henry County High School, presented to the board information from his summer volunteer experience and being an administrative intern under Casteel. This summer, 20 students took advantage of the program.
Other people recognized during the meeting included Rhonda Crossett, Director of Women’s Services for her Department Director of the Quarter recognition given to her at the Department Director’s meeting, Kelly Winston, Executive Assistant, receiving her Certified Healthcare Administrative Professional certification, and Jess Joiner, HR intern this summer, graduating and obtaining a job at the Med in Memphis in the HR department.
The Board of Trustees meeting was adjourned and the EMS Board meeting was called to order where Guffey presented the financial statements with a year-end loss of $784,000. EMS Director Twila Rose reported it had been a tough year in many respects with employee losses and retirements. But on the positive side, Rose reported that response time was at 7 minutes, 47 seconds, which was a minute decrease from the year before and much better than state and national averages. The department had 6,158 calls during the year with a reduction of runs to Nashville. She reported that they are already looking at some new projects for this next year to continue to improve.
“I am very excited about our future,” Rose said. “We hired three people today and have more interviews scheduled with paramedics and EMTs who want to come to work here because of the good things they have heard about us.”
Board Member Kreg Kyle (who also is a county commissioner) discussed the visits from the commissioners and asked how the request for a new ambulance was going. Casteel reported about the visits to the county commission this month and that she along with physicians and staff will be at the September meeting to discuss the state of healthcare in Henry County.
To learn more about the growth at Henry County Medical Center, the community is invited to attend the July Chamber Coffee on Tuesday, July 30 at 8 a.m. in the cafeteria.
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