EPHC puts focus on CalAIM program
Eastern Plumas Health Care (EPHC) held a regular meeting of the board of directors on Thursday, July 27 with a busy agenda.
First and foremost, the board discussed changing the timing of the monthly board and finance committee meetings. After some discussion, a change to the meeting schedule was unanimously approved, with future finance meetings to take place at 4 p.m. and board meetings to take place at 5 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month.
Chief Nursing Officer Penny Holland then reported that nursing staffing was stable with no need to use travelling nurses, and that numbers were up in the emergency room.
Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Director of Nursing Lorraine Noble reported that financials and productivity were going up, with a census of 34 in Loyalton’s Skilled Nursing Facility or SNF and 27 in the Portola SNF.
“We have eight weeks until Cerner (the new electronic medical record system) goes live,” Noble added. “It’s been a real challenge.”
A report from Director of Clinics Tracy Studer was read, noting that at the Loyalton Clinic the new HVAC system should be installed by the end of the week. Studers’ report also noted that providers were “back to one hundred percent production capability” now that the transition to Cerner software had been made.
Grant Program Manager Joanna Garneau then spoke, sharing information on the the CalAIM program and the Covid 19 Test to Treat Equity Grant.
CalAIM is a Department of Healthcare Services initiative to improve quality of life and health outcomes for managed MediCal members.
“Currently we are serving patients at risk for high hospital or emergency room utilization,” Garneau shared. “We’re currently serving four patients and conducting outreach to others- we anticipate another sixty.”
Garneau noted that they were requesting more individuals from Anthem.
“We have $608,000 approved and have received $299,000 at the end of June with $175,000 going towards Cerner implementation. We also have $30,000 indirect costs that go with that,” Garneau explained.
“The goal of the program is to get people to the point where they have all of the resources that they need.”
For the Covid 19 Equity Test to Treat Equity grant, EPHC has received just over $433,000 thus far, with newly purchased outdoor shelters to arrive by November of this year.
EPHC expects $22,000 at the end of August to purchase a one-ton pickup truck to move items for the organization in future.
Chief Financial Officer Katherine Pairish then shared that the business office was still working to get Cerner implemented, and that financial reports were unavailable at the time of the meeting.
Chief Executive Officer Doug McCoy then moved into his report, thanking all staff for their hard work as EPHC works through the Cerner transition. He also touched on ongoing discussions regarding seismic standard plans for the hospital.
McCoy also noted that patient satisfaction surveys had been showing high satisfaction rates with patients of Eastern Plumas Health Care.
Outdoor shelters arriving in November? Are they tents? Or small RVs, with a Ramada at the parking space? Last November was lovely, with the drought broken. I need a bit more information before I shake my head in disbelief. There must be something I don’t understand.