Veterans Memorial Hospital notes number of changes taking place in near future, suffers $41,000 loss for month of March
by Brianne Eilers
The month of March ended with a financial loss of $41,638 for Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukon, with a decrease in acute patient days and a decrease in surgeries both playing a large factor in the loss. Looking at year-to-date statistics, VMH is at a $64,105 loss.
“We had a very strong outpatient month,” VMH administrator Mike Myers noted, indicating that outpatient revenue came in about $300,000 over budget for March. Myers also noted that for the month of April, the hospital has been “extremely busy” with deliveries the past couple of weeks and he anticipated that statistics will show the hospital “slightly ahead” of its deliveries last year at this time.
The number of days in accounts receivable for the hospital is at 78.9, an improvement over this time last year when that figure was at 86.6. Currently, VMH has $2,158,000 in cash reserves.
Total expenses for March were 0.2% below budget. “So we are definitely living within our budget,” Myers pointed out.
In other matters, work is commencing on adding 10 new parking spaces around the hospital campus, with the hopes that this will help ease some of the congestion of parking on the streets around the hospital. Myers mentioned that a new ophthalmologist will be coming on the local healthcare scene and working to get the backlog cases cleared and then grow the patient base.
The new ambulance is expected to arrive at the hospital next week. Myers explained that it is slightly larger than the current ambulance, so the existing garage will need to be added on to, Myers noting that the City of Waukon will be taking care of that expansion. The new Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system is set to go live in mid-May. Staff will be going through training and the transition period. “We are excited to get it going and get on with it,” Myers said of the new EMR system.
VMH will also be offering a walk-in lab with discounted prices, set to begin in May. There will be select testing done, which includes cholesterol, thyroid, uric acid, calcium, Vitamin D, potassium, blood sugar/diabetes, kidney function, hemoglobin, liver function, prostate health and sodium. Patients will need to register at the front desk and get their Community Wellness form to select the tests that they want. Payment will be taken care of with the receptionist and then patients can go to the lab to get their lab work done. Results will be mailed directly to the patient within five days, and patients will be responsible for getting their results to their primary care physician. For more information about that new service being offered to the public, visit the VMH website at veteransmemorialhospital.com and click on the Lab Community Wellness Testing link, or contact the hospital directly.
In keeping track of the Press Ganey patient satisfaction scores, Myers noted that the scores are “okay,” but noted that the scores are “not as good as we would like them to be.” Staff is looking into the causes for that lull and how the hospital can improve scores and get back to the level where they have been nationally recognized for high scores. VMH will also be working on improving IT wiring and routing to make the facility’s high-speed internet more effective and efficient.
