PETERSBURG – The Petersburg Medical Center board of directors passed a motion on Sept. 19 to invest up to $1.5 million at the CFO and CEO’s discretion in bonds and treasuries.
The decision came at the suggestion of hospital CFO Doran Hammett. He said that PMC’s operating cash in an account at First Bank was increasing at a rate of .5 percent in interest per month, but the bank was only crediting the hospital a sufficient amount to offset bank charges.
“Over the last 13 months, we earned almost $11,000 in excess of our bank charges, and that’s money that we did not get,” said Hammett at the board meeting on Sept. 19 through teleconference. “They only credited us enough to cover our charges.”
He suggested that the he take about $1 million to $1.5 million out of the account and use it to purchase treasury certificates earning about 2.5 percent in interest. Hammett said the money could earn about $30,000 to $50,000 a year.
“I just feel like it’s important to keep the money working as much as we can,” said Hammett.
There would still be enough money in the bank to cover daily operations and to accrue enough interest to pay banking charges, said Hammett. Plus, there are deposits being made into the account every day, he said.
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