Hospital waiting on USDA architect to set pre-construction meeting date
Pinckneyville Community Hospital Administrator Tom Hudgins said all of the minor changes required by USDA to move forward with the loan to build a new facility have been met. The next step is a pre-construction meeting with the USDA architect, construction manager and others involved in the project. He hopes to have a date for the meeting within the next week.
Due to the long-range weather forecast, it is unlikely construction will begin before March.
However, the weather delays have been put to good use finding ways to cut costs on the drawings.
In other business, the board:
• reviewed the financial information for December which showed an operating income of $356,940 and a net income of $385,987. PCH received $208,000 in adjustments after filing an interim cost report with Medicare. The year-to-date figures are $459,093 in operating income and $901,707 in net income. Net income includes revenue from sources other than operations.
• approved the purchase of $97,000 in software applications for the electronic medical records system. Training will cost an additional $18,000.
• voted to change the agent of record for the retirement plan from an agent based in Chicago to the local office. The plan remains the same.
• approved a contract with ECI for emergency room services beginning May 1, 2014. Hudgins said that ECI was not the low bidder. However, their offer was the best in other ways for PCH. The three-year contract has a 90-day out clause after the first year. ECI doctors will also be available to help cover patient rounds in the evenings, allowing staff doctors to have more free time which is a recruiting tool.
• agreed to lower the PRN per diem from 25 percent to 15 percent, which is the going rate. Dr. Bill Roe said the personnel committee will have other recommendations to bring PCH's compensation in line with area peers after the budget is prepared. It is important for the hospital to remain competitive to retain their employees.