Community Hospital board meets Decatur COO

McCook, Neb. --At the Community Hospital Board of Directors meeting June 22, board members met Kris Mathews, the new Chief Operating officer for Decatur Health Systems in Oberlin, Kan.

Kris joined the Community Hospital staff on May 31 and works in Oberlin full-time as part of the management agreement between the two hospitals. Kris is excited to be a part of developing Decatur Health Systems, and expressed that in the few weeks he has been working at the hospital, he has seen growth and strength.

The board approved the operating and capital budget for fiscal year 2017. The board also approved consulting medical staff privileges appointments and reappointments, and active medical staff privileges reappointments. Also approved were revision, privilege delineation description and standards for the specialties of certified registered nurse anesthetists, neurosurgery and plastic surgery.

Troy Bruntz, Vice President Finance, gave a report to directors regarding updating the Facility Master Plan. Three architect firms were interviewed this month and they plan to provide proposals to Community Hospital in July. The selected firm will start the process of updating the Facility Master Plan in August with the expectation of completion by October. The main reason for the plan is to guide Community Hospital leaders in the decision-making process regarding any future projects. Some rearranging of clinic space to meet compliance regulations may be foreseen in the future, Bruntz said.

The board was informed of the process to fill the new position of Vice President Nursing position and the current number of candidates applying for the position.

Karen Kliment Thompson, Vice President Ancillary Services, shared that she, Jim Ulrich, President & CEO, Steve Shaner, Director of Strategic Planning, Jon Reiners, Director of Materials Management and Troy Bruntz, went to Denver to receive the Peak Award at the Rocky Mountain Performance Excellence awards presentation. Jim, Steve, Troy and Jon all presented in breakout sessions to attendees. Also, in May, Community Hospital submitted an application for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Joleen Bradley, Patient Safety and Performance Improvement Director, presented highlights from Quality/Performance Improvement, Patient Safety, and Risk Management quarterly report and May results of the process scorecard. She presented the results of the latest DNV GL Healthcare Accreditation survey, which was performed April 12 and 13. Community Hospital undertook the survey to compare the Joint Commission survey process to the DNV survey process. She said the survey was very comprehensive and identified many things in which Community Hospital excels, as well as a few opportunities for improvement.

In her report showing the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) goals and Community Hospital's performance; Joleen said the hospital is meeting goal or achieving better than goal in eight of the ten goals. Root cause analysis and evaluating opportunities for improvement are tools being used for the two areas not meeting goal.

Thank you notes were distributed and read. As traditionally practiced, the board will take a summer break and not convene in July. The next Community Hospital Board of Directors meeting is Aug. 24.