The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

The Big Sandy Medical Center (BSMC) Board of Directors and the Administration held their 56th Annual Meeting on Tuesday November 27th. On the agenda was the minutes from the last annual meeting, appointment of new board members and an annual financial report.

The board members are: Chairperson-Gordon Moes; Vice-Chair Harvey L. Keller; Secretary –Treasurer Diana Webster; Robert Nelson and Nicole Allderdice. Both Bob Nelson and Nicole Allderdice were reappointed.

This was an opportunity for the community to attend a very important meeting, however it was not well attended with only four community members present. Jim Ray mentioned that he was a Sophomore in high school when the center was built. “We’ve had great health care and emergency services for 56 years and it is important we support and actively stay involved to keep it.” Dr. Carley Robertson, told everyone that the medical center is an excellent facility in a great community and mentioned the care people receive at BSMC is superior.

A representative from Douglas Wilson & Co, P. C. reported that though this was a challenging year for the BSMC she wanted to report that the balance sheet was still in excellent shape and she could confidently say the medical center is “good and solid”. BSMC lost $680,443.34 of contractual write-offs from insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid.

They also provided $25,497.50 in “charity care”. According to the Audit Summary and findings, “Total assets have decreased by approximately $1 million.” Which is primarily due to three issues, the number of patients has decreased, cuts in Medicare and Medicaid and insurance companies not paying. “Total liabilities have not significantly changed from the 6/30/17 audited balance.”

Total hours worked by all employees was up by 10 thousand hours, while total salaries paid were down. Acute Care Admissions was down from the year before. Emergency room encounters was up by 44, and Clinic visits were also up by almost 400.

By-laws were amended to included: “One Director shall be appointed each year by the Board President to serve on the Special Grievance Committee. This committee performs the initial review of grievance initiated by BSMC employees who are directly supervised by the C.E.O./Administrator.” It continues to explain how the Grievance Committee will work.

They have 49 regular employees. New hires during the year was 13, 3 were re-hires and 27 resigned. The longevity is impressive with Pam Gasvoda working there the longest for 30 years! Regina Jappe has worked for 12 years, but announced she is retiring at the end of December.

Regina represented the Big Sandy Medical Guild and gave a report for the year. The 2017 rummage Sale and donations was $7289.00 plus $5,000 from the Lippert/Clawiter Foundation for a total of $12,289 for the year. They spent $14,709 on necessary items including $6,000 on a Blood Gas Machine. This year, 2018, the rummage sage brought in $9,858.00 and they are still waiting to hear from the Lippert/Clawiter Foundation.

Finally, BSMC is required per their licensing that they do a community Health Needs Assessment every three years. Out of the 520 surveys sent to community members only 73 were returned. Leah Griffith, CEO compiled and summarized the information.

They use that information to develop objectives. The objectives are: Improve patient care and satisfaction by increasing additional services and developing a patient advisory committee. The second objective is to collaborate with other community stakeholders on projects working with grants and education of the community on health-related issues and topics.