The Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors met Wednesday night, Sept. 19, for their annual review of the medical center. The review covered a wide variety of topics, such as the medical center’s 2018 strategic goals. The three main goals were divided into the categories of cash flow, recruitment and retention, and the new facility.
CEO Robert Rang said that the medical center has had cash flow issues since before he came onboard. However, he said thanks to work with the billing department that the time between “patient interaction” and when the bill is sent out has been lowered to an average of five days. Getting insurance companies to pay is another story, he said, but sending out the bills within the industry standard timeframe is a good step in the right direction.
Recruitment and retention of employees is another area the medical center has sought to improve upon. Rang said that this has always been an ongoing issue, but they have been working to ensure they are offering marketable wages that line up with other facilities in the state. He added that they have been working with some recruitment firms, and have also advertised themselves heavily online. Maintaining a positive culture within existing staff is something Rang said is very important to him, and said they send out employee engagement surveys annually to see how they can make the Wrangell Medical Center a better place to work.
The new hospital is a project that has taken up a lot of time and attention on the part of the board of directors, as well as with many other groups within the Wrangell community. Rang said that there was some light at the end of the tunnel, however, with the recent update on the status of the project by Wold Architects. On Oct. 2, the people of Wrangell will vote on a proposition to allow the lease of the old medical center and construction of the new one.
Several other topics were also covered, such as the purchase of new equipment, new technologies being used by the medical center, the number of beds available in the hospital, and how the services the hospital provides are being used. According to the review, Long Term Care occupancy has decreased since last year, and so have the number of ER visits. The amount of people using the ambulance has increased, however. Participation in the annual health fair and number of medical tests taken at the fair have increased by nine percent and twenty percent, respectively, since last year.
Trudy Johnson aired some concerns during the persons to be heard portion of the meetings. She requested that the board look into some type of “adult day care” for the elderly members of the community. Johnson said that she knew there were no planned layoffs with the coming SEARHC takeover of the medical center while the new hospital is being built, but she asked the board to especially encourage WMC staff members Shelly Massin, Diana Nore, and Katrina Ottesen be kept on. Johnson also asked that the board try to find ways to improve the scheduling of physical therapy. She said that her sister recently had knee surgery, and scheduling physical therapy for her was a difficult process.
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