New year brings good news for Seneca
Good news was the order of the day during the last Seneca Healthcare District board meeting for 2017 on Dec. 28. These reports and board actions translate into a very positive start for the new calendar year.
The financial report indicated a strong year with substantial reserves and monies set aside toward strategic planning of a proposed new facility.
The medical staff is elated to have a new wireless network upgrade being installed that will make it much easier to fulfill the electronic recordkeeping requirement dictated by regulations.
Board member Dr. David Walls indicated this improvement alone would save the medical staff countless hours resulting in the ability to see more patients instead of waiting on slow computers.
The entire hospital staff is happy that they will soon have a new upgraded phone system in the facility that will have increased inter-hospital capabilities, be user-friendlier and cost less.
Maintenance Department Manager Linda McCurdy was also very happy about the purchase of a “newer” snowplow for the hospital.
Besides being more reliable than the 1983 Ford that has cleared the parking lots for many years, the 2010 Dodge, equipped with a SnowDogg “V” type plow, will make it much easier to move the snow with fewer passes across the lot.
One of the best pieces of news will not only affect the hospital and medical staff, but the board and the entire community.
Human Resources Manager James Kooyman reported that when the training of several new employees is finished in the next 60 to 90 days, the medical staff should be at what is considered a “fully staffed” level.
This is a goal the hospital administration and staff have been working toward for several years with active and innovative recruiting programs, compensation adjustments and cooperative programs with college programs.
In recent months, the hospital has also been asking folks to reply to patient surveys as a means to monitor the quality of patient services and Seneca.
It was reported that the responses have been 87 to 95 percent positive in the different categories and that all of the less-than-positive comments are being address to initiate positive changes.
“Not a bad way of closing out the old and beginning the new,” commented one attendee.
The last item on the board agenda was to elect board officers for the upcoming year.
The district officers for 2018 are President Dana Seandel, Vice President Jerri Nielsen, Secretary Ken Crandall, Treasurer David Walls and Assistant Secretary/Treasurer Rich Rydell.
