Hospital Board holds teleconference meeting

Tuesday night, the board of directors of the Howard Memorial Hospital met by teleconference to discuss the business of the hospital.

CFO, Bill Craig reported outpatient visits were 14 percent above budget, but surgery cases and emergency room visits were below budget. Craig said financially, the hospital recognized $69,715 in stimulus monies on it’s income statement for COVID related costs. He also reported an increase in point of service collections for the month of January.

CEO, Debra Wright reported the Foundation received in excess of $19,000 in donations for the Pediatric Therapy Center. She said the new facility on South Fourth Street is almost complete. Wright said they are working on assembling furniture and gym equipment, as well as completing the IT infrastructure.

Wright said 75 employees have received the COVID-19 vaccine at the hospital and eight other employees obtained the vaccine at other locations.

Wright stated there were 620 COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state. She said the Metro region had 246 hospitalizations, followed by 122 in Southwest Arkansas.

Wright announced Human Resources was looking into behavioral health grants through the American Hospital Association for health care workers who have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The grants provide $2,000 over a 12-month period of time for out-of-pocket treatment co-payments, including prescription drugs, counseling, psychotherapy and transportation.

HMH received $68,000 in reimbursement funds from the Arkansas Department of Human Services for the negative pressure project.

Wright reported Dr. Samuel Peebles submitted his eight-week retirement notice and Dr. Chinedu Ede Chuh-nah-du Eday submitted his 90-day notice of resignation.

Board members also approved a revision to the board’s by-laws to allow for the change of meeting time. The board will now meet at 5:30 pm on the fourth Tuesday of the month.