GRANTS, N.M. - Cibola General Hospital has altered the way community members access information about the facility. The hospital began posting a “review” of monthly board meetings via social media platforms last month.
Hospital officials emphasized that current health orders limit the number of people who can be present in the boardroom. The public could participate in the CGH board March 22 meeting via telephone conferencing, according to the CGH website.
Previously CGH officials had provided a variety of data to the public. These included the reports by the CEO, CFO, and nursing department in addition to other information.
“Moving forward, I’m putting together a summary for the public of the [March 22] meeting and other hospital services/activities. I will post the summary via social media and on the ‘What’s Happening Email’ I have recently restarted,” said Marketing Director Cynthia Tena in a March 25 email.
(A summary of the March 22 meeting is available at https://www.facebook.com/cibolahospital/)
Action items
The nine-member board approved the proposed agreement to financially support the NMSU-Grants Nursing Program. Director of Development Aimee Bennett, New Mexico State University Foundation, met with CGH administrative staff in February to discuss renewing the previous financial commitment to the local campus for the program. The program seeks to address the statewide shortage of trained and qualified nurses.
“Cibola General Hospital is proud to partner with NMSU-Grants to develop and foster a ‘grow our own’ program for local students,” announced hospital officials.
The board approved proposed updates to the CGH contract agreement and authorization policy. This change designates signatory and approval authority and defines general responsibilities for reviewing, approving, and executing company contracts.
Agenda items
The March 22 agenda included board approval of the Consent Agenda: Feb. 22 meeting draft minutes, reports from Finance/Chief Finance Officer, the CEO, Co-Chief Nursing Officers, human resources, medical staff, QHR (Quorum Health Resources) Annual Benefits, along with annual board training compliance. The summary posted on Facebook did not clarify whether the board had approved the Consent Agenda during last month’s meeting.
March meeting ‘summary’
CEO Thomas Whelan commented that the hospital recently completed the second year of its contract with Fedco Emergency Physicians, LLC for the ER department. The hospital has also completed the second month of the Cerner Electronic Medical Records conversion process. Administrative staff are reviewing references for three vendors who offer advisory management group services to hospitals and their board of directors.
Financial reports
Jim Hermes, chief financial officer, reported that CGH posted its first operational loss since last September. Conversion to the Cerner EMR system resulted in a 17 percent revenue decrease for February compared to January. The hospital recorded 243 days of cash-on-hand “despite the revenue shortfall and capital outlays,” according to the CFO.
December’s operations yielded a slight excess of revenue above expenses. For the six months ended [July-December] the hospital posted a $300,000 profit and invested $1.2 million in capital improvements, the CFO reported at the Jan. 25 hospital board meeting.
The March board meeting “review” did not include the CNO, human resources, a medical staff report, QHR updates, or information on board training compliance.
Information on previous meetings
Agendas and approved minutes of monthly meetings, July 2020 through January 2021, are available a t https://cibolahospital.com/ under the Public Info tab. The site also includes the February and March 2021 meeting agendas but does not provide approved minutes for those board meetings.
Visit cibolahospital.com or call 505-287-5208 for additional information.