Hospital CEO proposes board retreat

PORTALES — Roosevelt General Hospital administration reported making strides toward improving the hospital’s quality during its Tuesday board of trustees meeting.

Newly appointed CEO Kaye Green proposed to the board a “retreat” at which the board could become more involved in the quality of the hospital.

Green said she was recently contacted by a member of the state hospital association who expressed interest in helping the board fund a retreat.

“We would love to have an educational session and tap into that money, where they come and assist us with educating the board. Then, we’re kind of tossing about some sort of a community event to educate the community, all about preventive health and why it’s important to get screened,” she said.

The board tentatively set the retreat for October.

Chief Nursing Officer Mercedes Lopez reported that the quality of patient care has improved.

According to Lopez, RGH participates in the Hospital Innovation and Improvement Network — an institution which researches the cost of harm caused to a patient by a facility — which reported the hospital has prevented four patients being harmed in the last six months.

“Overall, those four harms, we prevented and have a cost savings of about $56,000 for our hospital,” she said.

The following were other actions taken at the meeting:

• Board members approved the formal appointment of Green as the hospital CEO, as well as her inclusion on the hospital’s payroll.

• Board members approved credentials for two staff members.

• Board members approved the May 2017 financial statement.

• Green reported that the hospital’s total fund balance as of the end of May was $6.3 million, though the balance sheet “is somewhat fluid as we make necessary adjustments related to ongoing audits.”

• Board members approved the capital budget for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 fiscal years.

$1.6 million in expenditures are planned for 2017-18 and $2.8 million are planned for 2018-19 and are planned for purchasing roof replacements, new air conditioning units and medical equipment, according to Green.