By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
The Memorial Hospital of Carbon County board addressed the two prominent issues — an ongoing energy savings project and a new step toward remedying hiccups in hospital finances — at its meeting Tuesday night.
The energy-savings project involves a complete overhaul of the existing heating, air-conditioning and ventilation system, and hospital windows, as well as an update on the fire-protection system. Although the approximately $2.2 million project was under way, it is currently at a standstill as the board awaits approval of the architect’s heating system by the Wyoming Department of Health.
The board elected two officers to manage an energy-savings lease. According to a movement by the board, the positions should be filled by the board chairman and the chief executive officer of the hospital.
The lease is intended to manage the cost of the project according to laws that prevent boards from entering agreements to be upheld by future board members. For example, the 10-year payment plan necessary to cover costs of the energy savings equipment requires the equipment to be leased until full payment is received. At that point, the hospital may purchase the equipment in full for $1, said attorney Kermit Brown.
The question of implementing a pay-in-advance system for elective care is second on the to-do list. “We need to do it and do it well so we’re ahead from the beginning,” the hospital’s Chief Financial Officer Florence Kostic said.
As a nonprofit, the hospital must care for its patients regardless of their financial circumstances. By having patients prepay for care, the hospital is assured to see some reimbursement from its services.
Kostic said some hospitals have already implemented this and are seeing positive reactions from patients. By addressing payment prior to care, patients can undergo procedures with fewer worries, she said.
The hospital expects to face obstacles such as physician cooperation, accurate cost estimates and consistent execution of the plan. As prepayment gets ironed out, it will be gradually implemented across the hospital departments as each shows it can effectively execute the program. The obstetrics department has already adopted the plan.
In February, the hospital board plans to visit with new physician and surgeon recruits from across the country. Drs. Manual Ybanez and Dwight Frisbee, both surgeons, and Dr. Bruce Sobko, a general physician, should meet with hospital staff and the board when they visit Rawlins. A family practitioner from Casper has postponed his visit and Dr. Clinton Seger has opted to take a position in Billings, Mont.
The board discussed changes to the health insurance program and received input from those attending the meeting. It moved to hold its decision until employee feedback has been collected.
Dr. Duane Ables reported positively on the progress of training at the Southeastern Wyoming Ambulance Service. He said many emergency medical technicians should finish training in March. He also pointed out that time was beginning to run out for hospital financial assistance, which is scheduled to end in July.
Discussing the second leading cause of death in Wyoming, colorectal cancer, the board approved receiving candidates for testing with Medicaid reimbursements ranging from $400 to $750.
In its final business, the board approved several items including the completion of the mammography survey, a plan required for hospital bed use, the state-required hospital program analysis and integration, a cohesive abbreviation list as required by the state and the allied health policy. All of these were previously reviewed and approved by the medical staff and appropriate committees before coming to the board.
The next board meeting is set for Thursday, Feb. 28 at 5:15 p.m. at the hospital.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Money issues get dealt with
By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
Working to plug numerous holes in the financial record-keeping process at the Carbon County Higher Education Center, Director Dave Throgmorton and accounts payable clerk Shelly Collier have made progress, certified public accountant Alexandra Wilkinson said in Thursday’s board meeting.
Many of the things she outlined have been addressed by Throgmorton and Collier, while some await attention. However, Wilkinson commended Throgmorton for calling her firm to make efforts toward correcting the holes in the system.
Wilkinson’s firm, Porter, Muirhead, Cornia and Howard, recommended instating a system of checks and balances across the board in every financial process. This would ensure the school’s accuracy with financial records, particularly in the accounts payable department.
“There is no need for more staff,” she said. She encouraged a rotation amongst the staff for performing bank functions and reconciliation of statements.
She said the school’s journals often showed disproportionate revenue or expenses when in fact the net flow was zero. She held the purchase and sale of textbooks and the funds flowing to the Kids Campus or the vocational campus as examples.
Additionally, Wilkinson worried about budget errors and monthly bank deposits. She said that budget errors often occur while comparing actual expenses to budgeted numbers. She recommended streamlining the accounting duties to avoid such errors.
Monthly bank deposits make accounting difficult because if there are errors, accounting must review a significant portion of the books to uncover it. Additionally, the time this process takes can allow for money to go missing, possibly by fraud.
Times staff writer
Working to plug numerous holes in the financial record-keeping process at the Carbon County Higher Education Center, Director Dave Throgmorton and accounts payable clerk Shelly Collier have made progress, certified public accountant Alexandra Wilkinson said in Thursday’s board meeting.
Many of the things she outlined have been addressed by Throgmorton and Collier, while some await attention. However, Wilkinson commended Throgmorton for calling her firm to make efforts toward correcting the holes in the system.
Wilkinson’s firm, Porter, Muirhead, Cornia and Howard, recommended instating a system of checks and balances across the board in every financial process. This would ensure the school’s accuracy with financial records, particularly in the accounts payable department.
“There is no need for more staff,” she said. She encouraged a rotation amongst the staff for performing bank functions and reconciliation of statements.
She said the school’s journals often showed disproportionate revenue or expenses when in fact the net flow was zero. She held the purchase and sale of textbooks and the funds flowing to the Kids Campus or the vocational campus as examples.
Additionally, Wilkinson worried about budget errors and monthly bank deposits. She said that budget errors often occur while comparing actual expenses to budgeted numbers. She recommended streamlining the accounting duties to avoid such errors.
Monthly bank deposits make accounting difficult because if there are errors, accounting must review a significant portion of the books to uncover it. Additionally, the time this process takes can allow for money to go missing, possibly by fraud.
Tigers look to zip up Baggs
By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
On paper, Friday’s 5:30 p.m. game between the Encampment High School girls and Little Snake River Valley School in Baggs is even.
The Lady Tigers average 34 points, 29 rebounds and a shooting accuracy of 32 percent. The Rattlers bucket 27 points on average, grab 27 boards and have a 31-percent shooting average.
“(Encampment) played Farson at home and won by one point in overtime,” Rattlers coach Jodi Stanley said. “We played Farson at Farson and won by one point.” She hopes those games will be an accurate measuring stick of what should come out of this weekend.
Speaking of measurements, Encampment played North Park, Colo., again on Tuesday night. The Tigers came home with a 59-33 loss, but according to Krein, Encampment has improved.
“(Encampment) played better than the first time,” head coach Jami Krein said. “(My girls) scored more and held them to fewer points.”
Speaking about the upcoming game against LSRV, Krein hopes to see her defense continue to step up, though she expects good outside shooting.
Offensively, the posts should get involved early in the game to try to open some options for Encampment. Krein hopes that what worked before will work again.
Stanley expects good things out of her five players. Isabel Quinteros is the Rattlers’ leading scorer and Stanley hopes she shines in Friday’s game. Cora Foster’s height should enable her to pull down some rebounds to keep the Tigers away from the offensive boards.
The nice thing about only having five players, Stanley said, is that they’re all MVPs. “I need every one of them now,” she said.
Stanley is excited about the message coming from the statistics. With the numbers the way they are, she is positive her team can compete.
Encampment’s Saturday game against Rock River has been canceled due to too few players on the Rock River squad. The Rattlers play Hanna Elk Mountain Medicine Bow on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Baggs.
Times staff writer
On paper, Friday’s 5:30 p.m. game between the Encampment High School girls and Little Snake River Valley School in Baggs is even.
The Lady Tigers average 34 points, 29 rebounds and a shooting accuracy of 32 percent. The Rattlers bucket 27 points on average, grab 27 boards and have a 31-percent shooting average.
“(Encampment) played Farson at home and won by one point in overtime,” Rattlers coach Jodi Stanley said. “We played Farson at Farson and won by one point.” She hopes those games will be an accurate measuring stick of what should come out of this weekend.
Speaking of measurements, Encampment played North Park, Colo., again on Tuesday night. The Tigers came home with a 59-33 loss, but according to Krein, Encampment has improved.
“(Encampment) played better than the first time,” head coach Jami Krein said. “(My girls) scored more and held them to fewer points.”
Speaking about the upcoming game against LSRV, Krein hopes to see her defense continue to step up, though she expects good outside shooting.
Offensively, the posts should get involved early in the game to try to open some options for Encampment. Krein hopes that what worked before will work again.
Stanley expects good things out of her five players. Isabel Quinteros is the Rattlers’ leading scorer and Stanley hopes she shines in Friday’s game. Cora Foster’s height should enable her to pull down some rebounds to keep the Tigers away from the offensive boards.
The nice thing about only having five players, Stanley said, is that they’re all MVPs. “I need every one of them now,” she said.
Stanley is excited about the message coming from the statistics. With the numbers the way they are, she is positive her team can compete.
Encampment’s Saturday game against Rock River has been canceled due to too few players on the Rock River squad. The Rattlers play Hanna Elk Mountain Medicine Bow on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Baggs.
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