It was a short meeting for the Magnolia Regional Medical Center Board of Commissioners meeting Monday.
Molly Burns, board chairman, officially stepped down as chairman. New officers will be Steve Nipper, chairman; Dr. John Alexander, Jr., vice-chairman; and Wally Wood, secretary. Burns stated she is to begin serving a two-year term on the Arkansas Hospital Association Board, and as president of the Trustee Board.
Roxanne Stewart, chief financial officer, reported that inpatient admissions were down in September to 102, which was the lowest for the fiscal year. In September, there were 92 surgeries, 17 newborns, and 881 emergency room visits with 30 patients admitted.
There were no withdrawals in September from the sales tax fund, she said, and year-to-date sales tax revenue totaled $591,725.
Stewart reported that net patient revenue in September was down due to higher contractual allowances, noting that it was 59.2 percent compared to 55 percent last year - mainly attributed to changes in inpatient and outpatient revenue.
The hospital had a negative earnings before interest depreciation amoritization (EBIDA) of $188,191 for the month of September, and ended the fiscal year with a negative $379,027 EBIDA.
Margaret West, chief executive officer, stated that the Arkansas Hospital Association has worked on behalf of hospitals regarding contractual allowances with insurance companies both on the national and state level. “We have tried to fight it, ask questions, tried to negotiate,” she said.
Stewart noted that the Health Care Exchange had also impacted contractual percentages.
West told the board that after studying and reviewing the iMed proposal, hospital officials have decided not to pursue that program.
West said the hospital’s auditors had requested the CEO spending limit of $50,000 be established as a policy. Also, the auditors had requested that the conflict of interest policy statement be disclosed to all board members. It was agreed to change the term “administrator” to CEO in the by-laws.
West told the board the hospital is working on a new contract with UAMS. She reported that a physician being recruited by UAMS had declined the offer. In the Sept. 26 meeting, the board had voted to assist UAMS financially with recruitment of this doctor.
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In other business:
•The Hospital Foundation fundraiser, “Holiday Open House,” will be Dec. 10 at the home of Therral and Jan Story. Burns said invitations will be going out the middle of November.
•Board members approved medical staff appointments and re-appointments, presented by Karen Weido, marketing director and medical staff coordinator.
•The next meeting will be Nov. 28 at 12 noon in the hospital boardroom. West said this would be her last meeting as the hospital’s CEO, as she is set to retire in December. Weido said a retirement party will be scheduled for Nov. 29.