During their meeting Tuesday, the Alva Hospital Authority (AHA) approved the purchase of a new portable X-ray machine for Share Medical Center. CFO Chris Lauderdale said this machine will be purchased using Covid funds. The hospital received three quotes with the lowest being from Canon for $109,000. Lauderdale said after studying the quotes he recommends the Canon machine. This is also the recommendation of the radiology department. They have had good experience with the CT scanner from Canon.

Share Medical CEO Kandice Allen said the hospital is eager to get the new portable X-ray machine as the batteries in the current one no longer hold a charge, requiring them to plug it into an outlet. She said the portable machine is used in the ER, especially for Covid patients because they don’t take them to the hospital X-ray department.

Lauderdale went through options for a warranty from Canon on the equipment. The first year is covered in the purchase. He said a six year warranty would be $14,000 per year while a four year warranty contract would be $13,000 per year.

Assistant CFO Steve Knox who handles all the accounting for Covid funds said, “In my opinion that warranty does not qualify for Covid funds.” He did admit that he tends to take a conservative stance.

AHA Chair Jason Gaisford asked how much the annual maintenance will cost on the machine. No one knew the answer.

Lauderdale said the decision on the warranty could be delayed at least until March without changing the price. Trustees agreed to hold off on that decision but they voted to purchase the Canon portable x-ray with Covid funds.

Payroll Protection Program Application

Under the first round of the Small Business Administration Payroll Protection Program (PPP), Share Medical Center qualified for $1.42 million. That money was left in a savings account until the hospital payroll qualified them for forgiveness of the low cost SBA loan.

Tuesday night, the AHA voted to approve applying for a second round of PPP for about $1.5 million. If received, they discussed whether or not they needed to follow the same policy of holding the money in a savings account until the loan is forgiven. Knox said he would recommend not doing that. He recommended reserving the money until April when the CMS (Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement) loan to the hospital will start needing to be paid back.

Renewing Line of Credit

The hospital’s line of credit at Community Bank requires renewal every year. Gaisford said currently nothing is owed on that account. However, he likes to have that option available if needed. The line of credit is a guarantee of money available for a loan as needed.

The trustees approved continuing the line of credit agreement.

Financial Reports

Lauderdale said his department is behind on updating the financial reports. The first half of January was spent preparing information for the annual audit. He said he expects to get financials up to date by the next one or two board meetings.

On the Share Medical report for Nov. 30, Lauderdale noted the accounts receivable balance was $5,287,305, an increase of $427,366 during the month. He attributed this to the TruBridge problem. That company is supposed to be handling hospital billing but has had difficulty getting the billing out on time.

Hospital gross patient revenue for the month totaled $1,405,041, a decrease compared to the prior month. Hospital operating expenses excluding salaries, benefits and depreciation for November totaled $475,228, a decrease compared to the prior month. Lauderdale noted that CARES funding is being used to buy a lot of personal protective equipment.

Hospital salaries and wages for November totaled $405,729, which was a decrease of $24,871 compared to the prior month. In November, the hospital started paying nurses a Covid pay increase which will come from Covid funds. The hospital had a net loss of $14,443 for November.

Stimulus Funds

Knox gave a brief report on stimulus money received for the hospital and the nursing home.

The hospital has received $3,569,103.23 total from three funding sources. Of that amount so far, $711,528 has been used for lost revenue due to Covid, $11,195.26 has gone toward operating expenses such as personal protective equipment, $177,133.45 has gone toward extra payroll due to Covid, and $746,531.85 has been used for capital expenditures. This leaves $1,423,016.37 in stimulus funds to be spent by the hospital.

Share Convalescent Home has received less stimulus money although in the last few months Health and Human Services has given added funds to the nursing home. As of December 31, the nursing home has received $618,594.28 in funding. Share Convalescent has used $286,585.58 for loss of revenue, $112,013.39 for operating expenses, $73,536.92 in extra wages, and $79,788.27 for capital expenditures. The remaining stimulus funds available total $66,670.12.

Knox said currently the hospital and nursing home have until June 30 to spend the funds although that date keeps moving.