Hospital Board approves mower purchase
The Pinckneyville Community Hospital Board of Directors authorized the purchase of a diesel grasshopper mower before the end of the calendar year for $13,025 from Dietrich. PCH will get a government credit of over $4,000 if the mower is purchased this year. The credit may not be available in 2015.
Hospital Administrator Tom Hudgins was authorized to make the purchase so that the mower will be available for use with snow removal this winter.
The board specified that the new mower not be used at the new facility site until it is finished. While the area is still being graded there is too much potential for accident and/or injury.
In other business, the board:
• reviewed the financial reports for June 2014. The operating income for the month was $60,800 and net income was $98,051. Net income includes income from sources other than operations. The year-to-date figures remain in the red with an operating loss of $114,490 and a net loss of $49,263. Hudgins said that the budget predicted an operating loss of $109,000 and a net loss of $44,000 at the end of June. "Four out of five years, the first few months are slow," Hudgins said. The hospital's fiscal year began May 1.
• approved spending $5,000 for a surgery service line analysis from Wipfli. total cost of the analysis is $10,000. PCH received a $5,000 grant from ICAHN to cover part of the cost. The analysis will collect and study data on local surgeries and make comparisons to other critical access hospitals so the board may make an informed decision before hiring a surgeon or expanding the hospital's surgical offerings.
• heard from Hudgins that nearly all of the steel at the new facility has been erected. The next Owner-Archictect-Contractor meeting will be Wednesday, Aug. 13 at 11 a.m. at the Robins Morton trailer. Hudgins also said that he will meet with the Illinois Health Facilities review board to ask them to extend the completion date for the new hospital to Oct. 1, 2015. He does not anticipate any problems. Due to several factors, including weather, the construction got a late start.
• heard that wind has damaged the roof of the Family Medical Center. Roofers are evaluating the situation and the board will hear their recommendation at the next meeting on whether to patch or replace the roof. There is also a leak in the upstairs sprinkler system. It was turned off after the insurance company indicated there would not be a problem with that. The sprinkler system downstairs is still in working order.