Texas County Memorial Hospital board members received a report last week about the first month of business at the hospital’s new Mountain Grove ambulance.
“We began ambulance service in Mountain Grove on Aug. 23 and already it’s our busiest outlying ambulance base for primary runs,” reported Wes Murray, TCMH chief executive officer. Primary runs do not include transfers to other facilities, which the Mountain Grove ambulance does not do.
Of the 215 primary runs by ambulances from the four hospital ambulance bases located in Houston, Licking, Cabool and Mountain Grove, the Mountain Grove ambulance accounted for 25 percent of the ambulance service provided by TCMH in the past month.
Fifty-four primary runs came from the Mountain Grove area. Houston accounts for the majority of primary runs for TCMH ambulances with 34 percent or 72 primary runs in the past month. Cabool had 50 primary runs, and Licking had 39 primary runs.
“We receive approximately 50 percent of the ambulance calls that are generated in Mountain Grove,” Murray said.
Currently, Mountain Grove residents that call Wri-Tex 911 are routed alternately between the TCMH ambulance and the St. John’s ambulance based in Mountain Grove unless the caller specifically requests a particular ambulance service.
TCMH is also providing ambulance service at no charge for the Mountain Grove High School football games. “We were pleased to be given the opportunity to provide another community service for Mountain Grove,” Murray said.
Murray described the ambulance involvement at football games, noting that when Mountain Grove scores a touchdown at football games the ambulance flashes its lights. “It’s fun,” he said.
TCMH has a longstanding tradition of providing ambulance service for school and community events in the towns where TCMH ambulances are based.
“I am pleased that we are able to do what said we were going to do when we entered the Mountain Grove community,” Murray said.
TCMH awarded the general construction bid for the Mountain Grove clinic and ambulance base to Bales Construction of Waynesville, which met all of the criteria for the clinic including a low bid, healthcare facility construction experience and use of local subcontractors.
Ground was broken for the new TCMH construction in August, and construction work should begin in October. Weather permitting, the clinic should be ready for occupancy in April. The clinic is near highways 95 and 60 in Mountain Grove.
TCMH continues recruiting efforts for primary care physicians for the hospital’s clinics in Mountain Grove and Houston. Joleen Senter Durham, director of physician recruiting at TCMH, is working with three physicians that are interested in the Mountain Grove opportunity.
Murray reported that Dr. Russell Huq, family practice physician, joined the TCMH Family Clinic in Licking on Sept. 10. Huq is already busy with established patients that have seen Dr. Eugene Honeywell in the past.
“Dr. Huq’s patients are very pleased with him, making follow up appointments without hesitation,” Murray said. Huq has already admitted patients to the hospital as well as staying busy seeing patients in the clinic.
With the addition of Huq to the TCMH medical staff, all of the TCMH family practice physicians are sharing a medicine call for hospital inpatients. There is a separate call arrangement for family practice physicians that provide obstetrical care.
“Everybody is working together,” explained Dr. Charles Mueller, chief of staff at TCMH.
“This call arrangement is beneficial for everyone,” Murray said. “It eliminates confusion about who is on call and who isn’t on call, and a larger call group helps with physician recruiting efforts.”
Murray reported that hospital chief nursing officer, Doretta Todd-Willis, is working with TCMH nurse managers to develop a comprehensive plan to address H1N1 influenza.
“When the vaccine gets here, we’ll have guidelines and protocols on giving it out,” Murray said. TCMH will be limited in the number of vaccines received at the facility.
A waiting area plan is also being established. “We will also have masks available in waiting areas for patients that possibly have the flu,” Murray explained.
TCMH also recently met with area nursing homes to discuss the swing-bed program at TCMH. Although not licensed as a skilled nursing facility, some area patients may qualify for up to 90 days of hospitalization as a “swing bed” patient.
“We need to better utilize our swing bed program,” Murray said. “We are not competing with nursing homes for long-term care patients; our swing bed program is a way to cut down on our hospital readmission rates.”
Some patients that would meet swing bed criteria are discharged from the hospital only to return for readmission to the hospital after a day or two. Swing bed patients receive limited physician visits and the usual hospital nursing care such as help with bathing and meals. The hospital’s social worker, Angie Gimpel, works with swing bed patients to ensure they have the proper care when they return home or to a long-term care facility like a nursing home.
“The swing bed program allows patients that can use a little extra hospital recuperation time to stay at the hospital and receive care,” Murray said.
Murray also pointed out that those patients in hospitals in Springfield or St. Louis that require an extended stay or swing bed care must ask their provider to be transferred to TCMH rather than to a nursing home or extended care facility that’s part of the out-of- town hospital system.
“Many patients do not know that they can get extended hospital care at TCMH rather than in a facility that’s far from their home or family,” Murray said. “However, patients or their family members must specifically request that a healthcare provider transfer them to Texas County Memorial.”
Linda Pamperien, chief financial officer at TCMH, provided the August financial report. Revenue and expenses at the hospital remained down in August. The hospital had a $167,312 positive bottom line for August – improving the year-to-date loss to $691,401.
Murray explained that recent Missouri Hospital Association figures show that of the 149 MHA member hospitals, each’s expenses exceeded revenues for 2008. “Although 2009 date is not available, it looks to be the same,” he said.
“What we have experienced financially and are currently experiencing is similar to hospitals large and small across the state,” Murray said.
Present at the meeting were Murray; Pamperien; Durham; Todd-Willis; Mueller; Kathy Carr, TCMH cardiac rehabilitation nurse manager; Dr. John Duff, CoxHealth representative; and board members Omanez Fockler, Jane Kirkwood, Janet Wiseman and Mark Hampton. Board member Mark Forbes was absent.
The next meeting of the TCMH board of trustees is noon Tuesday, Oct. 27, in the downstairs meeting room of the hospital.