Hospital board renews contract with Quality Products

The Nevada Regional Medical Center is not making as much money as they had budgeted for on their investment income, but remains on solid ground, financially. The hospital keeps a reserve on hand to meet bond obligations as well as other necessities and that money draws interest. With the economy in flux the income they receive from their investments has been disappointing, but it is safe, hospital CFO Cindy Buck told the board.

"We budgeted for 75 percent," Buck said. "We thought we'd see a 25 percent reduction and we had a 55 percent reduction. We don't rely on investment income, we rely on operational income. We don't make risky investments, we're not losing money, we're just not getting as much interest as before."

The hospital is set to begin a monthly schedule of stereotactic breast biopsies starting in July under a new contract with United Medical Systems. UMS provides equipment and a technologist to provide on-site procedures once a month. The procedure allows a surgeon to take specimens through one needle insertion into the breast and leaves a titanium marker in those locations. The cost is $24,300 annually.

The one-year contract with Quality Products for document shredding has been renewed for $14,000. The sheltered workshop provides receptacles where documents to be shredded are placed and does all the work to ensure the information is destroyed.

In CEO Judy Feuquay's monthly management report, she states that an internal physician recruitment team, consisting of Feuquay, Mandi Jordan and Michelle Casey, has been formed to help organize the hospital's efforts to recruit doctors more efficiently.

The committee is expected to review NRMC's physician recruitment policies and procedures; plan to contact area residents who are, or plan to be, in medical school; plan for visits to residency programs; and identify up to five recruiters with which to partner.

Holly Bush, the hospital's administrative officer of performance improvement, told the board that several organizations responsible for oversight of hospitals have proposed many new quality measures.

When all of the new measures from all of the oversight groups are added together they number at least 75, probably with more to come. Bush said that NRMC was ahead of the curve in adopting the measures and had already implemented many of them.