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Two join Community Hospital board; two retiring members recognized
McCook, Neb. -- Community Hospital board members, Bruce Bair and Kristi Daum were recognized and congratulated at the December board of directors meeting as they completed their terms and retired from the board. Bair served two, three-year terms and Daum served one, three-year term. Newly elected Community Hospital board members, Julie Gillespie and Curt Swanhorst, began their first terms at the meeting. Re-elected and commencing her second, three-year terms was Roselyn Remington, M.D.
Under Action to be Taken, new officers elected at the meeting were Chair, Wayne Watkins, DVM; Vice Chair, Mark Eiler; Secretary, Mike Langan and Treasurer, Todd Thieszen.
Community Hospital Board of Director Committee Appointments include:
Budget and Finance Committee: Todd Thieszen, Chair; Wayne Watkins, DVM, Warren Jones, DDS, Connie Olsen and Curt Swanhorst.
Policy, Personnel and Planning Committee: Mike Langan, Chair; Roselyn Remington, M.D., Mark Eiler, Wayne Watkins, DVM and Julie Gillespie.
Annual appointment of two Community Hospital board members to serve on the Community Hospital Health Foundation board members includes Connie Olsen and Warren Jones, DDS. The Community Hospital Board of Directors' Chair, Wayne Watkins, DVM and hospital President and CEO, Jim Ulrich, also serve on the board.
Strategic Update/Discussion
Focusing on the two of the three hospital's strategic objectives at this board meeting, the board reviewed these items:
Strategic Objective 1. Advance Community Hospital's Journey to Excellence through further adoption of the Baldrige criteria. The board was updated on the Peak award awarded to Community Hospital in December. Community Hospital will be honored in Denver at the Rocky Mountain Performance Excellence celebration in February. Winning this regional award allows the hospital to apply for the national Malcolm Baldrige award in May.
Strategic Objective 2. Enhance local access and value to healthcare services along the continuum of care through collaboration and improved coordination with the hospital's local healthcare providers and other healthcare entities throughout the region. The board was brought up to date on how Community Hospital is collaborating with other critical access hospitals in the region.
"Through these three objectives, we can enhance our advantages or strengths as an organization while we are also addressing the challenges that face us today and will likely continue to face us in the future," Ulrich said. "By better focusing our organization on these objectives and having the strategic seeds of People, Service, Quality, and Finance focus on these same three objectives, our ability to move forward in a unified direction and a very positive manner are greatly enhanced. We feel confident that this strategic plan will move us forward in our ability to uphold our Mission and strive toward the achievement of our Vision," Ulrich added.
Other items at the board meeting include:
Review of Activities
Janelle Kircher, Vice President Patient Care Services & CNO, introduced the new Community Paramedicine program to the board of directors. Community paramedicine is a population health initiative that is being implemented at an astonishing rate across the U.S. The McCook community program establishes a methodology for paramedics to make planned visits at no charge to the patient into the homes of select individuals as identified through the collaboration of healthcare professionals. The visits will help to decrease the cost of medical care by reducing emergency room transports, visits and readmissions of the participants of the program. Paramedics will educate and validate whether the participants in the program have filled their prescriptions, understand the purpose of the medication, how to take it and possible side effects. Paramedics can also provide in-home fall assessments, as well as other health assessments and checks.
Consent Agenda
Minutes were approved from the November 18 regular meeting of the board of directors. The Annual Corporate Code of Conduct Acknowledgement and Conflict of Interest Disclosure was received and charted.