During her monthly Physician Recruitment and Retention report to the Box Butte General Hospital (BBGH) Board of Trustees, CEO Lori Mazanec reported that Dr. Brian Bossard, director of Bryan Health Telemedicine, will be visiting the hospital to help plan moving forward with the Hospitalist Program announced last meeting by Ms. Mazanec. “Dr. Narjes will join me and members of the executive team a week from Thursday to discuss with Dr. Bossard the pros and cons of various Hospitalist programs and what model would work best for BBGH,” she said. Ms. Mazanec has also visited with the Vice-President of Physician Relations at Columbus Community Hospital, who was instrumental in starting their hospitalist program over eight years ago. She reported that BBGH is fast tracking recruitment for an OB physician, working with Dr. Myers and Dr. Narjes in the endeavor, along with the recruitment division at Bryan Health. Ms. Mazanec said she, Dr. Narjes and Dr. Ott recently visited with a resident currently in Scottsbluff who plans to do a residency rotation with BBGH in August. The resident will complete his studies in spring of 2019 and plans to practice OB when he obtains his Medical Degree. Chairman Tom Furman, DVM, commented that he had possibly found an opportunity the hospital can utilize in its physician recruitment efforts and that he would like to discuss that with Ms. Mazanec at a later date.
The board also conducted the following business.
The Trustees congratulated Jared Carter, Assistant Cook in the Dietary Department, for being named the March Employee of the Month. Also recognized was GNMSS Clinic Manager Joni Sautter for passing her exam to become a Certified Rural Health Professional; James Koeteman for completing requirements for all levels of the Federal Incident Command System, earning certification of ICS 300 and 400; the Dialysis Department receiving two $1,000 Eagles Auxiliary grants; BBGH being awarded the Nebraska Hospital Association 2017 Advocacy Team of the Year, next to Deb Wegehoft’s efforts with Medicaid at the state level; and BBGH being named as a Top 100 Critical Assess Hospital for 2018 by the National Rural Health Association’s Rural Health Policy Institute. BBGH was one of 12 out of 67 other CAHs in Nebraska named in the list.
After unanimously approving the consent calendar, CQO Mary Mockerman presented the Quality Management & Safety report. The Nebraska Coalition of Patient Safety mentioned four areas member hospitals should focus on: Medications; Patient Falls; Surgery’ and Sterile Processing. Each area mentioned protocols that should be in place to optimize patient safety. The Joint Commission (TJC) Leadership Standards for CAH ongoing improvement performance and the responsibilities of the Governing Board (BBGH Trustees) was briefly discussed. Ms. Mockerman reported that Influenza in Nebraska remains widespread, resulting in the BBGH visitor restriction requirement staying in place. Hand Hygiene Surveillance campaign includes front line staff who have boots on the ground. She also gave TJC accreditation updates.
Ms. Mazanec presented a number of Nebraska Legislative Bills (LB) that NHA is supporting, going through a list of prioritized LBs as well as a shorter list of LBs NHA opposes.
Three months ago the Trustees decided to meet over the noon hour on the last Monday of each month as a test. One Trustee, Hemingford resident John Annen, has not been able to attend during that time due to conflicts. The Trustees unanimously approved moving the meeting to 6:30pm on the last Monday of each month.
The Trustees were presented information on the 22nd Annual Western Regional Trustee Symposium, which is being held June 6-8 in Omaha this year. Trustees were encouraged to attend to learn and connect through educational sessions, networking and exchanging information with other hospital and healthcare trustees and executives across the region. Trustees interested in attending were asked to contact Ms. Mazanec or Executive Assistant Jennifer Dentler.
After approving all credentialing requests, the Trustees moved to go into executive session to discuss medical staff. They re-entered open session and adjourned at 1:08pm with no action taken. The next board meeting will be held Monday, April 30 at 6:30pm in the hospital’s Alliance Room. As always, the public is invited to attend.
Box Butte General Hospital is an equal opportunity provider and employer.