KDH board member resigns, keeps mill levy the same
August 5, 2020
As the Kiowa District Hospital Board of Directors met for their July meeting, their first order of business was accepting the resignation of one of their own members, Miranda Walz-Allen. She reportedly took a position as CEO of the Seiling Municipal Hospital who is managed by Cohesive Healthcare.
The board expressed their appreciation to Walz-Allen for her service to the board the last three years. Board members present were: President Pat Myers, Chantae Simpson, Jeff Miller and Jim Parker along with CEO/CFO Janell Goodno; Tara Girty, Business Office Manager; Philip Anton, Operations/IT/Manor Administrator; Robyn Whitaker, Hospital DON; Brandy McKitrick, Quality Manager; Lacey Volker, RHC Manager.
Goodno said KDH received proposals from seven contractors for the new therapy addition. The board members were to review them in executive session at the end of the meeting, and then select three or four of them for bids and continue in the process.
Regarding the 2021 Tax Budget, board members were unanimous that they did not want to increase the mill levy. They voted to keep the mill levy the same at 35.003. This means KDH will receive about $220,000 less in tax dollars due to the property tax value of each mill being reduced by over $6,000. The tax budget hearing will be at KDH on Friday, Aug. 14, at 4 p.m.
Whitaker spoke at length and in great details about equipment for the OR – specifically for a new (second) colonoscope and processor. She presented three options. She recommended the least expensive option, which includes a newer processor and one colonoscope, as KDH's current colonoscope would fit this new processor. This gives KDH two to use in rotation on busy surgery days. She said that is what Dr. Porter prefers. The board approved the purchase not to exceed $47,587. It will be paid for with HHS stimulus funds. The equipment is an EC-600LS colonoscope, processor and light source from Fujifilm.
Whitaker discussed other equipment that will be decided at a future meeting.
Manor and Hospital Reports
Reporting on the manor, Anton said they are almost fully staffed. The fire marshal mandated rewiring to be done. They are considering revamping the east screened-in porch for visitation. The manor remains on lockdown with COVID-19. An access control system is ordered.
Giving the hospital report, Goodno said they continue to mitigate the risk of COVID and the incident command meets weekly. She praised Lacey Volker for doing well in the clinic manager position. Courtney Larson is the new business office tech assistant. Two new night shift nurses are starting soon.
Approved medical staff appointments are: Dr. Jarret Kuo, MD (Consulting Radiology); Dr. Gregory Peters, MD (Consulting Radiology); Dr. Fan Yu, MD (Consulting Radiology)
KDH Finances Solid with Stimulus, Business Slowly Building Back
Giving financial and statistical reports for June, Goodno said KDH is finally starting to see a little comeback from March when the COVID pandemic shut everything down.
The hospital had 23 admissions of which 77 were acute and swingbed care. Total swingbed days were 45. Both clinic visits, 386, and outpatient visits, 525, were up significantly from May.
The hospital's financial reports show the increase in business. Total Gross Patient Revenue was $473,409. With total contractual adjustments of $118,338 and 340B (discount drug program revenue), total operating revenue was $609,144. Total operating expenses were $735,290. This made a loss from operations of $126,146. The addition of grant, tax and stimulus revenue gave the hospital a profit of $66,947. Year-to-date, the hospital is in the black by $4,526,817.
The manor's patient census was 23. The manor had a loss of two residents, which makes them about $8,000 off of their budget. For June the manor had total operating revenue of $135,649. Their expenses totaled $201,082. This made a loss from operations of $65,433. However, with the addition of tax dollars and stimulus money the manor showed a profit of $64,367 for June.
The combined balance sheets of the hospital and manor show cash on hand of $6,559,788. That's due to all the stimulus money. Goodno explained that in March she applied for the accelerated Medicare plan for any Critical Access Hospital affected by COVID. They prepaid KDH for six months, which was $1.3 million. She wired that amount back to Medicare in one lump sum because KDH didn't need it and it was going to be a bookkeeping headache.
KDH still has $130,895 in uncollected taxes from the county. The info shows that the combined gain for the two entities is $4,445.898. Goodno reminded that is predominately stimulus money.
The next board meeting will be Aug. 25 at 7 p.m. at the KDH lobby.
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