TCMH to receive $332,000 in grant funding

Texas County Memorial Hospital will receive a $332,000 Delta Regional Authority grant, hospital board members learned at their monthly meeting on October 31. 

In applying for the grant, TCMH pledged matching funds of $175,000.  The total funding of $507,000 will be used to purchase two Steris brand operating tables, two Olympus brand OER Elite reprocessors, one esophageal dilation (EGD) scope, and two Omnicell anesthesia workstations for the new surgical center.  

Jeff Gettys, TCMH Healthcare Foundation director, explained that the new equipment will help replace older units and equip the hospital with the latest technology to improve the quality of surgical services provided to patients. “The new equipment will be more efficient, increasing productivity and patient safety,” Gettys said.

"We are grateful to have received this funding from the Delta Regional Authority, as it will greatly enhance our surgical services and allow us to better serve our patients in the community," Stace Holland, TCMH chief executive officer, stated. "Our medical staff is dedicated to providing life-saving care to those who come through our doors, and we want them to have the best tools and technology to provide that care.”

Holland reported that John Harrington, MD, a board-certified general surgeon, has started seeing patients of all ages at the TCMH General Surgery Clinic. Harrington joins Hollis Tidmore, MD, a board-certified general and vascular surgeon, in providing top-notch surgical care to the community.

Tricia Benoist, MD, TCMH family medicine and obstetrics provider and chief of staff, expressed her excitement in welcoming Dr. Harrington to the TCMH medical staff. "Dr. Harrington is a wonderful communicator and has already proven to be a great fit for our patients, hospital, and community," Benoist said.

Work is nearing completion on the new TCMH surgery center.  Holland reported that work should be completed in early December.  Multiple inspections will be required before the center opens, but TCMH hopes to complete the inspections in December, too. 

"The new surgery center will greatly enhance the delivery of basic, vital health services to our rural area," said Holland.

TCMH plans to host an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new surgical center in early December. The event will be open to everyone, and hospital staff will be available to provide tours of the surgical center and refreshments.

April Crites, TCMH quality and risk management director, discussed the hospital's third-quarter Quality Assurance Performance Plan results. She commended Shelly Rust, TCMH medical surgical director, for significantly improving certified nursing assistant hygiene and vital signs documentation with patients.

"Our medical surgical department has made tremendous progress with patient care needs documentation and is now ranking in the 97th percentile, which is a major improvement from last year," said Crites. "We are extremely proud of these noteworthy results and applaud our certified nursing assistants for their attention to detail and dedication to providing excellent patient care."

Crites also recognized Jason Mayberry, TCMH education director and stroke coordinator, for achieving the hospital's blood donation goal of 125 units for 2023. "Thanks to his coordination and efforts with Community Blood Center of the Ozarks, we exceeded our goal with 144 units donated at the end of the third quarter," said Crites.

Linda Pamperien, TCMH chief financial officer, presented the financial report for September. The overall revenues for the month were in line with the budgeted expectations.

The hospital's profit/loss report showed a negative bottom line for September, with a loss of $199,561, and a year-to-date loss of $2,922,623. The earnings before interest, depreciation, and amortization (EBIDA) for the respective month were positive at $23,744, but year-to-date EBIDA remained negative at $228,832.

Present at the meeting were Gettys, Holland, Benoist, Crites, Pamperien, Courtney Owens, chief nursing officer; Helania Wulff, marketing, public relations, and physician recruiting director; board members, Jim Perry, OD, Steve Pierce, Joleen Durham, Allan Branstetter, and Ross Richardson. 

The next meeting of the TCMH board of trustees is Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 12:00 p.m. in the hospital board room.