The Box Butte General Hospital (BBGH) Board of Trustees met Monday evening to enjoy presentations from five Alliance High School students who participated in the hospital's Summer Intern Program. Brooke Vaughn, who also participated in the program, was not available as she is attending classes at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Three seniors, Kameron Heckman, Bridget Amm, Lauren Reiber, junior Miranda McDonald and sophomore Brayla Alwin presented their programs detailing the wonderful experiences each had this summer. For some, the experience has "paved" their future career path and for others, the future is still not clear. All were complimentary of the hospital staff and how welcomed they felt while shadowing in the many departments of the hospital. Additionally, they even had fun with several projects they were involved in such as inventory, moving boxes and boxes of paper records, and helping at the dedication of the Veteran's Cemetery to name a few. The presentations of Miss Amm and Miss Heckman, as second year veterans of the program, offered specific details following high school to include their academic institution of choice, costs associated with their related curriculum and the number of years it will take to reach their professional goal. All thanked the Trustees for this opportunity provided to them.
In other business, the board:
- Recognized Donna Weingart, Dietary Manager, as the Employee of the Month for August.
- Recognized Leslie Faber, Radiologic Technologist, for the successful completion of a National Certification in Mammography.
- Was introduced to new employees Danny Custard, RN, Stephanie Amm, Transciptionist and Marsha Schramm, Nursing Assistant/Ward Clerk
- Celebrated a gift from the BBGH Auxiliary. A guest guidebook was donated for each patient room to better inform patients and their loved ones of the many services available to them while a patient at BBGH. Maps and phone numbers are included as well as other details such as local restaurants and lodging, Internet access, meal delivery times, etc. to help make a patient's experience at BBGH more satisfying. "The Auxiliary continues to be a steadfast partner and supporter of BBGH through not only their financial gifts but also through their many hours of service" stated Dan Griess, CEO. "Our hospital is very lucky to have such a committed group of individuals."
- Enjoyed a presentation from Carolyn Marlatt, Purchasing Manager, who chairs a performance improvement team titled Pain Management. The mission of this team is to "create accountability for the results of our HCAHPS pain control and medication survey questions by developing a comprehensive 'pain management program' that includes patient empowerment, staff and patient understanding of pain and its multi-faceted management, and the ability to clearly communicate by speaking the same language." She shared a short "silent movie" to demonstrate the importance of communication as it relates to managing a patient's pain.
- Listened to a report from Mary Mockerman, Director of Special Services, on the West Nile Virus (WNV) activity in Nebraska. As of August 20, 8 human cases have been confirmed with one case in Scotts Bluff County and one case in Cheyenne County. The seasonal peak of WNV will be early in September and Ms. Mockerman encourages everyone to continue to take precautions regarding mosquitoes. She also completed her review of standards from The Joint Commission covering Human Resources, Information Management, Performance Improvement and Record of Care, Treatment, and Services.
- Heard a report from the Chief of Staff, Dr. David Isom. Dr. Isom informed the board that the annual mass casualty disaster drill is scheduled for sometime in September. He also mentioned the medical staff was made aware of multiple services offered by both Respiratory Therapy and Pharmacy. Dr. Isom polled providers regarding satisfaction of the hospital's Sleep Lab to which he reported the medical staff is quite "happy" with this service. He also mentioned a number of education programs that will be offered to the medical staff in the near future.
- Was given a preliminary financial report for the month of July, the first month into the new fiscal year. The report is preliminary due to the fact the audit of the previous fiscal year's financials has not been completed. The audit firm of DA&E is scheduled to provide the results of the audit during the regularly scheduled meeting in September.
- Heard a report from Scott Alwin, Practice Administrator, regarding the three Rural Health Clinics located in Alliance, Hemingford and Hyannis. Additionally, Mr. Alwin updated the board in regards to recent activity in Physician recruitment. Finally, he updated the Trustees regarding progress related to the operational topics of workforce, the electronic scheduler and electronic filing of claims.
- Listened to a brief report from Jim Parks, Chief Operations Officer, who introduced a new online education program BBGH will be using for staff education. Swank is an E-Learning software program with approximately 3,000 educational videos specific to healthcare. This new tool will supplement new employee orientation, annual orientation and department specific orientation as well as provide clinical and non-clinical education for staff on numerous topics.
With no further business, the trustees set the next board meeting for Monday, September 27th, at 7 p.m. in the BBGH Alliance Room. As always, the public is welcome to attend.
